If only she'd sounded like her

Hah! Truly a level to aspire to

Gimmicks and weirdness?

That's her style, it's how she feels comfortable. Say what you want about her 'gimmicks', but she has an amazing voice.

Does she? She must normally sing somewhat different to how she sang tonight then.

I'm pretty sure one of Amy Winehouse's back up singers/dancers was in the audience last night. The ones called zallon or something similar to that.

As for TB, I foind that performance to be slap dash. I once heard him say in a radio interview that he saves his best for concerts where people have actually paid to come and see him or words to that effect. I think this shows a lot with him.

They stood there and sang two difficult songs with panache. He looked like he was reading, but the voice was still there and she was excellent. they were not overshadowed by the amazing dancing, it was a fantastic combination, I would imagine if you asked Natalie and Trent about that they would describe it as one of the highlights of their careers. Unblock your ears folks.

I've seen her live and she sounds incredible. Anything Goes is a very hard song to sing, by the way.

I haven't seen her live so I will have to take your word for that. Anything Goes isn't that hard for someone who is a good enough singer - I have seen 'Anything Goes' live at the theatre several times but I have never before heard the title song performed quite like it was tonight.

Yes, it was awful and Gaga looked like she was playing dress-up. Usually I really like her, but not tonight. Whose idea was this, to sing with Tony Bennet? An odd pairing that just didn't work on any level imo

The minute I saw her I thought "Barbra Streisand"

So who was that then? Her less talented twin?

That's an opinion, but I'd suggest that neither song was anywhere near difficult for any half-way decent professional singers.

They're known as "jazz standards" and in the repertoire of most band singers.

The first was "Anything Goes," from the Cole Porter 1934 musical of the same name.

No end of different versions on YouTube.

The second, "It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing." is a 1931 song written by one of the one time "big band" leaders, Duke Ellington.
A favourite of Ella Fitzgerald.
Again no end of recordings of that on YouTube.

Hayley would have been able to sing both, without any problems, so would Lance Ellington, if he were there.
and Dave's band? I bet they could play both without the music they are so well known amongst musicians who are comfortable with that sort of music.

I, too, got the impression that Gaga was channeling Babs Streisand.

This wasn't a performance to write home about - the link to the official recording shows that they sound better together in a controlled environment. I have to give props to Gaga though. She sang in a key that was chosen because it was in Tony's range - not hers. She was doing the heavy lifting in those songs and the strain showed sometimes.

She didn't sound the best she could, but under the circumstances, it wasn't all that bad either.

I seem to be in a minority but I enjoyed the performance. I had recently seen a programme and interview with Tony Bennett and Gaga, about Gaga's change in singing style. The show showed them singing various songs so I knew what to expect. The icing on the cake was the beautiful dancing by Natalie and Trent. Fabulous.

I met him once, through my job. He was an absolute gentleman, funny, kind and of course, extremely talented. To hear him sing live is something I never forgot. I thought he did a good job on the results show but nowhere near his best. Which was only to be expected given his age.

It's like going to see an ancient rock group like the stones - largely channelling the group that once was rather than now is and it was a bit like that with TB last night but still the best results show performance this season and Lady Gaga gave a competent performance, covered for Tony, praised the dancers and connected with the audience. So much better than boy band pap.

I though LG was more like a toned down Bette Midler.

I do like Lady Gaga, always gives a good performance and a very courteous individual by all accounts.

The albums very good indeed, particularly in the more gentle moments.

This live performance in Brusses a few weeks back of "But Beautiful" is lovely.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQ013viL6rs

Thanks. I have never heard her before and can't name any of her songs. She seems not too bad as a singer and can hold a note. But Hayley of the SCD band is just as good.

http://youtu.be/uQ013viL6rs?t=2m25s

Tony Bennett was painful to listen to on that link particularly at this point. Not good to be in the open air at his age.

http://youtu.be/uQ013viL6rs?t=2m25s

Yes, scared a few cats no doubt. Gaga's reaction quite sickly.

I thought she looked like Cher, my wife thought she looked like a drag queen.

Admittedly, the line between those two is a short one...

He's 88, of course it won't be perfect, it might have been one of his last performances. I enjoyed it for what it was.

Trying to get the senior vote, dahling. Trouble is, I do prefer Paravotti, Andrea Bocelli, the Three Countertenors and Il Divo. Wonder if the BBC leaves it too late to book the top singers.

You've got to chose singers who can sing songs to which the professionals are able to dance, it's pointless dragging these artists into a show that's about ballroom dancing.
Otherwise, it seems daft to me. Can't see the point of attempting to "educate" the audience to appreciate different music styles.

I have never understood why nearly all modern pop singers (except for Barry White) sing Castrati rather than tenor or baritone as per their speaking voices.

Mick Jagger for example speaks Baritone but sings Castrato.