Joglo,

I can see your point here. Looking back at what it was like in the early – mid 70s groups like Genesis, ELP and Queen hardly got the airplay that would pushed them straight into the charts.

I feel would have been a great deal more work than appearing on “Britain’s got Talent!” and the rest. No doubt a singer has to train his voice…………………..

Pete

Let’s go back to the 50s or 60s to see how many trained voices were around on the pop scene.
Very few is the most likely answer.
How many of the following had/have trained voices?
Sir Cliff, Elvis, Jagger, Eric Burdon, Ray Davies, Alvin Stardust, Eddie Cochran, Little Richard, Johnny Cash, Connie Francis, Peggy Lee, Alma Cogan, Patsy Kline, Shirley Bassey, Jerry Lee Lewis, Adam Faith, Andy Williams, Everly bros, Roy Orbison, Gene Vincent, Billy Fury, Buddy Holly………. I could go on for hours.

I’m well aware how important natural ability is, be it in music, photography or anything artistic, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have to work to develop your skills.

Paul

I’m sure that all the above worked hard, but some of the lucky ones just don’t have to, thanks to talent spotting and shows like Opportunity Knocks.

Who remembers, Jane Horrocks????
Was she trained to sing in the voices of so many different artists, doubtful.

If you can’t accept the opinions of others then you shouldn’t start threads where people will express them.

Exactly, but you have the option to not reply to my opinion?;)

However sterile the performance may be to some of us, do you honestly think you get a voice like Leona Lewis’ without working for it?

I’d like to answer that, because I don’t believe a voice is something that one ‘works’ to get, one either has one or not, although improving it is another story.

Paul Potts is a good case to cite as an example, he had an untrained, natural voice to begin with, that may not be to everyone’s taste, but…………….

From my personal point of view, it’s taken me thousands and thousands of hours of serious work over the last 16 or so years to get to where I am now as a sound engineer and as a musician, and because of that I’ve been able to mix and play some pretty serious shows in theatres, arenas, stadiums and festivals all over Europe in the last few years, but it’s taken a hell of a lot of effort, dedication and frustration to get me to a level where I can do so. People generally don’t walk off the streets into a show like X Factor, win it, then go into a studio and record a successful album without having put in one hell of a lot of work beforehand. I genuinely don’t intend this next line to come across as patronising in any way, but if you played an instrument or were involved in music production to any serious degree your opinions would probably be somewhat different.

Paul

I think you might have overlooked the possibility that some people are natural singers, while others have to work harder to make it in the biz, especially instrumentalists?

You do realise that you are addressing your remarks to a working and touring professional musician, don’t you? :rolleyes:

Does that make him an expert in all musical fields?:confused:

As I tried to say earlier, I’ve been there, done it and have the T shirt, but I’m now old enough to see more clearly.;)

Everyone has a right to an opinion, whether or not he/she is a professional musician or a teeny bopper in wherever town?

I don’t need to prove it. As a reasonably experienced musician who’s played on stages ranging from pubs to arenas and as a very experienced sound engineer who’s mixed 1000+ bands, solo artists, orchestras and glorified karaoke, I know the difference and it’s vast.

Says it all for me, especially the ‘pub’ part.

Did the musician/singer bit, been there, don’t boast about it, mainly because there’s nothing much to boast about, no sour grapes, just didn’t get the breaks.

Ring any bells for you?

In many ways I also agree with Paul, but singers are given songs to sing/record and their managers are to blame for not choosing the perfect songs for them to sing, probably because the perfect song for them hasn’t been written yet or wasn’t written at the time.

Timing is all important!

A good example was Elvis, an amazing voice, but a crappy manager choosing the wrong material in many cases.
_____________

What Paul says that I can never agree with, is that the amount of work one puts into anything, has nothing to with the end result.
Just because someone is spotted on a talent show, don’t let your own sour grapes control your thinking!

If that was the case, I for one would have been a musical star of the early sixties, both vocally and probably playing bass guitar with Procul Harum, but sadly I didn’t have the 50 quid needed to buy the bass guitar at the time.

Ahhh come on! Everyone has a right to an opinion. Personally I don’t care if someone did come from a TV program, I judge every artist I see purely and simply on how they perform and if someone from X Factor blows me away, that’s good. Sadly, the fact is I’m still waiting for that to happen.

That said, in the performance you point out she’s very, very clearly absolutely blown away to be stood on the same stage as Beyonce and is totally in awe, yet she still delivers. Funnily enough, as soon as Beyonce comes on stage, Alexandra’s performance becomes much more energetic and believable. Her feelings at the time affect how she performs, and it’s that aspect that’s missing so often for me. It would be interesting to see her with a live band instead of a backing track.

Paul

You’re not by any chance, Les Paul, are you?:diablo:

So you watched all of Alexandra’s performances on XFactor and didn’t see her deliver before her date with Beyoncé?

I only have one thing to say about your comment ref live band vs backing track and that is, a well rehearsed live band is no different from a backing track and I await comments from anyone who can prove otherwise?

Many vocal artists would have gone down the pan if their backing group had been rubbish and not managed to play the ‘keep up with me guys’ game!;)

Sorry, another vote for Snow Patrol.

Apology accepted.:D