Female solo singers are as popular as ever and much more popular than most of those men. There's Adele, Taylor Swift, Rhianna, Beyonce, Lana del Rey, Sia, etc. It's just that the belters' style of warbling (all that 'melisma' as it's called) now sounds so naff and dated... you only hear it now in X Factor auditions!

I was thinking more melodrama and melancholy that melisma.

Here's an interesting article on 'melisma'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17039208

Whitney Houston will be remembered as a master of "melisma". But what is it and why did it influence a generation of singers and talent show aspirants?

Tbh I'd give Mariah more credit than Whitney when it came to popularizing melisma.

Celine Dion's last album managed platinum in the UK which i was delighted with. There is still a lot of great female singers around but none that could belt out songs like Celine, Mariah and Whitney.

The reason that talent show contestants use melisma so much is that they want to hear that judges' cliche 'you made it your own' - better described as 'over singing!'

god did you hear that guy on txf?... he sang 'you' but sang yououououououououououououou .... bloody awful.

This is what makes me laugh about the whole "melisma".

When Jessie J was on The Voice, there was a young lad who had a very laid back style of singing. His voice suited big band music which my dad has always loved.

Yet because this lad didn't need to scream and shout to showcase his vocals, you had Jessie J screwing her face up and saying "i wanted to hear more from you".

Can you imagine if someone like Frank Sinatra was starting out now in 2015 and being told by Jessie J "i just didn't feel it, it was all very flat to me".

...and there is your problem. Jessie J has grown up hearing the likes of Whitney/Mariah/Celine/Christina style of singing and thinks that is what an incredible singer sounds like, and then expects male singers to sound exactly the same.

Sometimes less is more. My dad was gutted when the young lad on The Voice didn't make the final. lol

If melisma continues to...erm...progress (???), eventually you'll get girls walk on stage, the music starts and they will literally scream down the microphone deafening the entire audience, and then get a standing ovation at the end. You have been warned...

i just dont get the attraction for melisma, warbling like that doesnt = emotion, emotion is something you can portray with your voice because you understand the spirit of the track, and have the ability to get that across.

there was barely any of this vocal gymnastics in the 60's and 70's when soul and blues were at its best (arguably, but thats a different argument). and when it was employed it was done so aptly, and not to show off.

nowdays its just an unpleasant noise, the worst i heard was the aforementioned jessie j who a couple of years ago produced the worst racket ive ever heard pass as singing (on the voice i think).

I've had more than enough of these warbling witches, screeching harpies and wailing banshees (and all their X-Factor imitators). If this type of female vocalisation is now considered past its sell by date then that can only be a good thing.

The question I'd like to ask with regard to female singers is:-

Why are there no artists like Ella Fitzgerald, Dusty Springfield, Karen Carpenter these days?

So it's not just a girl thing......


Well , there is Adele and there was Amy Winehouse, although she was more of a jazz singer. I also listen to Julia Holter, Wolf Alice, Holley Maher, Marie Hines, Patty Griffin and others.
The problem is the XF, time it was gone.

I think the decline of these type of artists and style of music has a lot to do with the fact that extensive touring is very important in the music business now and is really the only way most artists make money.

It is very hard to do that type of singing and do it well night and night. It would destroy most people's voices.

Thus now although there are some female singers that do a few ballads in that style such as Kelly Clarkson, generally touring artists do other types of less strenuous on your voice type of singing. This is necessity if you are going to do lengthy tours.

Leona and Christina are great balladeers. Christina does tend to go overboard at times but when she reigns it in and sings with real emotion I think she's incredible! I've always adored Leona's voice and I don't think she ever overdoes the singing too much.

I'm more into female singers like Lana Del Rey, Amy Studt, Nina Nesbitt, Emiliana Torrini, Sara Bareilles and Sia these days, as well as my old faves Madonna and Kylie and I still do like Mariah. Also, never under-estimate the brilliance of Shirley Manson! She's as great as ever, imo!

For me it's simply tastes and trends it's arguable to suggest without Britney bubblegum would never have had a resurgence which means no Katy Perry which means no Taylor Swift 1989 (it's an analogy that isn't so tight i know ). The trend for high wailing MOR diva's has gone. But in it's stead we have the bland every person singers such as Adele, Ed Sheeran, Emeli Sande in it's place. Or High NRg thrills like Perry, Gaga, Swift.

Also those three acts were also backed by a different industry each had their men whether it be Motolla, Angeli or Davies marketing them plugging them in the radio and establishing the sound that defined one part of the 90's.

Their legacy lives on it's just they are no longer viable. People want cheap instant thrills that's easily digestible.

For someone with 18 #1s and such high levels of album sales I feel Mariah is rather under-appreciated by the music business nowadays. Like I've heard people put her in the same category as J-Lo who I love but comes nowhere close in terms of achievements.

But with tastes its swings and roundabouts, I really hope Mariah can pull a Cher and bring out a "Believe" type hit and snag another #1 at some point in the future.

I don't think she's under appreciated as a singer. Her success as a songwriter isn't spoken about enough though. Anybody putting JLo in any category with Mariah is stupid IMO. And I love JLO too.

I don't see Mariah having another #1 single but I don't think she needs one either. She's had a lot of success and I don't think she's chasing #1 singles. I think she's just producing music she wants to produce and (again IMO) she's doing a great job of it going off Me. I Am Mariah.

But least they have talent not like most of today's musicians, the only artist that is up to there standards vocally is leona Lewis, say what you like about her but she can sin anything.

but not pleasantly.

But it seems to me if you have vocal talent, you should be able to sing in lots of different styles. Why do have to do that screaming belting thing with ultra high notes on ever song? I think it's okay to do a couple of ballads like that, but a whole album of that is really tiresome. I think some of these singers can sing in a more appealing low key way but they're been told that the screaming thing is good singing and is the only way to show your talent. It's not true.

I have to agree and Mariah is the only one of those artists I still like listening to. I get why people aren't fans of it though, it's just one of those personal preference things.

Whilst I like Mariah's belts and whistles, I love her lower register too. My All's opening verse and Anytime You Need A Friend.

She did not really produce that type of music during the mid nineties. Honey was not like that at all.

Honey is a Hip Hop song..Its produced by P.Diddy and Q-Tip. Its based around samples of songs by The Treacherous Three and the World Famous Supreme team (Hip Hop acts) and features rap verses from Ma$e, Da Brat & The Lox.

*fascinating fact - Malcom Maclaren also has a production credit on Honey (because of the world famous dream team - Hey DJ sample)

Rock & Roll once ruled the airwaves. Not anymore. R&B ruled the 90s/early 00s. It doesn't any more. Music styles and tastes change all the time.