i dont understand why G4 are so popular? They arent opera or pop and do neither very well. Even the hybrid stuff is novelty value at best?

cant see the attraction for the average pop music lover (13 to 18 year old girls) - they arent good looking or cool or even new and different?

what goes on?

X-Factor wise, they dont have it. They are 'nice' and 'cute' and a novelty....but they dont have that XFactor that will take their career over decades of success.

do they....

If it was all about looks, then Roberta would have definately have been in the final.

I think so, yes

I could post why, but it wont change your mind, and to be honest if you don't 'get' G4 by now, when we're approaching the final, I doubt you ever will

Ha ha...v.true.
So perhaps u should it explain it to me....

someone please?
or can u?

I don;t get them but pensioners love barber shop singers, add to that the people that vote for someone fanciable and you have the voters for G4. Nover underestimate the granny brigade on these shows, they have the final say

.......how long have you got dear?

"One-hit-wonders" springs to mind!

xverso xxxxxxx

.......not forgetting the young girls who love them, my age group 25, right through to perhaps their oldest fan who wrote to them at the show (71).......not forgetting my 2 neices age 8 and 9 who adore Jonathan

Yeah, but Pen....you bribed them with toys and then hypnotised them

but opera is the future - Simon says so in the new radio times....

......normally that would be correct Zip, but no bribes needed in this instance - it`s true love they assure me

I'm probably the wrong person to ask.

I have always loved operatic voices, long before G4 came along, and I know a fair bit about the technicalities of classical singing. I love G4's collective sound, their voices blend beautifully. I can appreciate the 'cleverness' of what they do and, for me, it's great to hear my favourite style of voice put a different slant on modern songs.

Their arranging skills are great, they have a good ear for harmonies. They are very 'together' and aware of each other when they perform. They make full use of the range and tone of their voices and know how to interperate a song with reference to colour, phrasing and emotion. Plus they give me the shivers

You say they are nothing new, I disagree. Ok, so we have had barber shop groups before, but barbershop is not exactly what G4 do.

At the start of the X Factor, SC said the aim was to find an act that was totally different. IMO G4 fit that criteria more than any of the other contestants.

So that's what I see in G4, but you'd probably learn more from someone who doesn't have a passion for operatic voices

Mmmm...very good.

but they arent different. There has been many rock/pop songs put to opera classical music. Malcom McClaren (creator of the sex pistols) was doing it in the early 80-'s - before that we had Queen and there have been so many 'rock opera's' in various 'guises.

I think the whole show was about the 'XFactor' - people who have something that will make them last the test of time. People like Sinatra, Presley, Lennon and McCartney, Jagger and Richards, Madonna, U2, ....Black Lace with the Birdy Song...

u know - proper talent.

no question, G4 have bloody amazing voices, but i would be in no rush to get their album, as a lot would say about steve. G4 will walk the final, much to my disgust! they have what the public want, but i still think steve should win

Sorry, I can understand that they are all gifted musicians, but there is absolutely no emotion in any of there performances.

I agree wholeheartedly. While technically brilliant, their performances for me are just hollow. A lot of people have said how they show a different interpretation of the songs they do which is all well and good but music is about art, heart and soul as well, not just about being technical. I can see them doing an album of covers, but in my opinion they would struggle to offer original material.

Just my opinion!

xverso xxxxxxxxxxxxx

who says you need emotion? Pet Shop Boys anyone....

I am neither a pensioner, granny or a teenager and I love G4!

They have fans of all ages who appreciate their talent and adore Jonathan's voice in particular. My friends and my mum all appreciate G4.

One of the benefits of this sort of forum is to find people coming to precisely the opposite views to one's own in virtually every respect!

Sound? I find that G4's voice don't blend, or provide a good collective sound as Jon always seems to dominate, and I am not a fan of (IMO) his rather shrill tenor voice. I have some doubts as to how good technically the voices of the other three are by comparison. I respect you views, Spellbound, but I am just a bit surprised that as an opera buff you find them that good.

Material ? I don't like the way they have re-arranged some great songs and come up with an inferior version. Other choices (eg Britney) have been weird to say the least. I am not sure what songs, other than classical style opera, do actually suit them. Is there enough material here for a career?


Style? I think they are trying to be different and quirky partly because they wouldn't really have anything particularly outstanding to offer if they stuck to their traditional genre. I expect the stuff they do sounds fine busking out in the streets, but add the musical backing and the whole effect tends to be lost.

Presentation?...stools and walking forwards. Enuff said.

Expression? Well you can't persuade someone else that emotion is or isn't there .. but I don't find it. It may be something to do with forcing other styles of songs into their format/arrangements, the poor stage movements, and the rather strained/astonished facial expressions that the operatic singing style tends to produce.

Otherwise I really like them

I agree. G4 hit all the right notes (normally, though not last Saturday), but music is not just about hitting the right notes. They have, in my view, no 'feel' for the song they are singing. They can sing (though their sound doesn't particularly appeal to me), but they lack emotion and style. I am very surprised at the level of support they have from young girls. When I asked my 15-year-old daughter what she thought of them, she was very scornful.

In my opinion, they are great, but i suppose its as simon says, you either love them or hate them, right? Not too sure if they will have years of success either. Lets hope so though lol. VOTE G4!!!

One of the benefits of being an 'opera buff' (although that should really be 'voice buff', I am both in equal measures ) is that I can 'measure' how good these lads are against the many other young male voices I have heard. Of course, if I take them individually and compare them to my personal favourite opera singers, they will fall short at this age. Classical voices mature slowly with age, and these lads are only 22-24.

But the whole point of G4 is that they are a group, this is not about their individual merits as opera singers (although there is no doubt in my mind that each of them could have operatic careers in their own rights if they so wish.) Their finesse as a group is outstanding. Their voices absolutely do blend, but I'll agree that some of this has been masked by the material/backing track etc. If they stick to their original arrangement of Creep this week and the backing track is not too loud, you will see what I mean.



I guess time will tell and the rest is opinion. I have loved some of their arrangements, you haven't, as I said, horses for courses!



I think the truth is that they formed the group, as they said, for a little light relief from the opera they were studying, found that people seemed to like it, entered X Factor on a whim and were astonished to get this far. I don't think for one minute they are doing this because they are not good enough to be opera singers, on the contrary, I wouldn't be suprised at all to see them singing opera on stage in the future.



I actually meant the way they present their voices. I couldn't give a stuff what the choreographers get them to do for X Factor, as long as it doesn't detract from their vocal abilities (unlikely to see stage-slides this week, although I might be wrong !)



I'm glad you recognise that some of the 'face-pulling' is part and parcel of singing in an operatic style. When you use your head (and indeed, whole body) to produce a sound and are not miming(!) then it's not always possible to stand there and look pretty. A classical singer has to express emotion in a different way to singers of other genres because they use their whole body to produce the sound. The slightest bit of tension ruins the quality. The first place emotion manifests itself is in the throat. Thus classical singers have to remain 'detatched' to a certain extent, and use their voice to convey emotion. I can appreciate that this isn't appealing for some people, but hey ho!

Hey ho indeed! Thanks for your thoughtful and well argued reply.

Right back at ya

Sorry to drag this one back up but I think I have pinned down my problem (or one of them) with G4...the need for opera singers to rely so much on tremolo (or is it vibrato?) in their voices.

I suppose this technique goes back to the days when opera singers had to project to a large audience with no amplification. It seems to make it difficult to bring much variation into the vocal style.

For example, Freddie would blend pure notes into vibrato (eg in BR, singing "Momma...a.a.a.a.a"), would smoothly slur different notes together (eg as in Ohhhhh baby), and would use a throaty rasp for emphasis (eg the ALL in "now I've gone and thrown it ALL away".....

As an aside on BR, I must say that having now listened again to G4 and Queen versions, the arrangement and execution of G4's harmonies bears absolutely no comparison to the Queen version...even allowing for the live vs studio issue.

But as to technique, listening to Jon, every note of any length is just vibrato-ed. This leaves no room, it seems, to introduce all the subleties necessary to pull off a complex song like BH.