How many American Idols does it take to sing a song? According to Scott Borchetta CEO from Taylor Swift’s label, they can only sing the high notes.
A few days ago there were many articles discussing Taylor Swift’s performance at the Grammy’s, especially her duet with Stevie Nicks. A long time fan of Fleetwood Mac, I have always found Nicks’ voice fantastic, but I have no idea why these two artists were paired together for a number. I hesitated to comment, as I am prone to favor David Archuleta’s voice and talent over any singer these days. Recent articles about the incident have come full circle, so I feel a need to voice my opinion, even though it might be biased.
Like many others I find Taylor Swift a sweet young lady but to me her singing ability is average. It’s no better or worse than most of the singers today. I won’t name them all but many are the Disney Machine group that can’t perform without glorified lighting, costumes, big loud sound effects and great hair and makeup. Oh, let’s not forget about auto-tuning on their albums!!
Taylor Swift may have a gift for songwriting but many feel the jury is still out. Many of her performances have been less than good, let alone great. She enjoys great promotion by her Label that hypes her beauty and youth. Well, that’s not all it takes to be a good singer and I wonder ten to fifteen years from now if we will remember her.
David Archuleta needs no gimmicks and certainly could do with some better promotions by his Label, but years from now we will know who he is and still be singing his praises. No auto-tuning, no off pitch, no flat tones, no constant embarrassing performances to endure! After his performance with Jordin Sparks in a duet of “No Air,” I realize he is a SINGER, one who can hold his own above American Idol and The Disney Machine. He can definitely hit the right notes!
The following articles express the feelings of many:
Breaking News: Taylor Swift Sucks
by Jimmy Fowler
Like most of America in September 2009, I was harrumphing about what an *bleephole Kanye West was for interrupting sweet urchin Taylor Swift’s MTV VMA-winning moment. After watching her performance on last night’s Grammy telecast, I now see that West had a point.
I was clued in to Swift’s painful amateurishness a couple of months ago when I first saw that award-winning video for “You Belong With Me.” It was overly packaged and “cute” in the torturous sense of the word. Even studio enhancements couldn’t hide her small, tinny voice. Miley Cyrus sounds like Janis Joplin in comparison.
Fast forward to last night’s Grammys – Taylor’s vocals during the showcase set with Stevie Nicks were loud, flat, and so excruciating even Nicks seemed to flinch. Swift sounded like the Sueleen Gay character in Altman’s “Nashville.” But wait, say the excessively chivalrous – she’s only 20, and needs time to master her musical gifts. Then why the *bleep* is she winning top honors during the U.S. commercial recording industry’s most important awards night? If songwriting is her primary strength – and the jury is still out on that – then she needs to sweep the ASCAP awards instead.
Last year, an extraordinary 22 year old British singer-songwriter named Adele won Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocals with her sophisticated soul and jazz inflections. Apparently, not all Grammy voters are driven by some combination of hype and misguided sympathy, but those who are long ago made these awards a joke among serious music lovers. As one anti-Taylor Swift blog post noted: “It’s a good thing for her they listen with their eyes instead of their ears.”
Kelly Clarkson blogs
Big Machine Records CEO Scott Borchetta came out swinging at critics who bashed the label’s princess Taylor Swift for her shaky Grammy performance, but he might have made things worse for the country-pop singer.
In an interview with the Associated Press, Borchetta defended Swift as a star who might not be a technical singer, but should be hailed for her artistry. “This is not American Idol. This is not a competition of getting up and seeing who can sing the highest note,” he said. “This is about a true artist and writer and communicator. It’s not about that technically perfect performance.”
His statement hit an extremely sour note with American Idol’s inaugural winner, Kelly Clarkson. She took to her blog to write a scathing response, in which she says Borchetta is “throwing blame.”
“I understand defending your artist obviously because I have done the same in the past for artists I like, including Taylor,” she wrote, “so you might see why it’s upsetting to read you attacking American Idol for producing simply vocalists that hit ‘the high notes’… We not only hit the high notes, you forgot to mention we generally hit the ‘right’ notes as well.”
Clarkson suggested to Borchetta he take a page from her crew’s book when she has a rough performance and “simply take a breath and realize that sometimes things won’t go according to plan or work out.”
Clarkson’s sentiments were shared by fellow Idol singer David Cook, who tweeted to Kelly saying, “Kudos, @kelly_clarkson. Love it.”
In Taylor’s Defense
Taylor Swift’s shaky performance at the 52nd annual Grammy Awards is being defended by the CEO of her record label home, Big Machine Records.
“She is the voice of this generation. She speaks directly to [her fans], and they speak directly back to her,” Scott Borchetta said in an interview with the Associated Press. “This is not American Idol. This is not a competition of getting up and seeing who can sing the highest note. This is about a true artist and writer and communicator. It’s not about that technically perfect performance.”
Swift has been slammed by critics and fans alike for her Grammy-night medley, that included an off-key duet with the legendary Stevie Nicks. Borchetta feels the criticism has become “over the top” and is just “that classic thing that critics do of building something up and then wanting to tear it down.”
He also blamed a technical issue on Swift’s rocky performance. “We had a volume problem in the ear. So, she was concerned that she wasn’t able to hear everything in the mix,” he said. “Unfortunately, on one of the biggest stages, we did have a technical issue. She couldn’t hear herself like she had in rehearsal.”
There was no shortage of backlash against the 20-year-old country star, who won Album of the Year, right here at Neon Limelight. “You realize how weak of a singer Taylor Swift is when put side by side with Stevie,” one commenter wrote. “If you thought her singing was good, maybe you need to remove the earplugs,” another harsh comment read.
Other comments didn’t bash just this one performance, but trashed Swift as a live performer based on past performances as well. Commenter Anthony noted: “Taylor’s been doing this for four years now and still has yet to improve her singing…she sounds just as bad as she always has.” A fan by the name “TaylorFan” writes: “I love Taylor Swift, but she cannot sing live… The studio productions of her songs are wonderful and fun. The live performances are always lacking in basic pitch and tonal qualities.”
Borchetta disagrees, and thinks anyone who doubts Taylor’s abilities should see her on tour. “You’re welcome to come out as my guest to a Taylor Swift show and experience the whole thing, because it’s amazing. You can see her in her element. There’s a reason tickets are selling like they are.”
Responses to “Record Label CEO Defends Taylor Swift’s Grammy Performance Against “Over The Top” Criticism”
February 4, 2010 at 12:59 pm
Have you read Kelly Clarkson’s response to Scott Borchetta?
http://iamkelly.wordpress.com/
I love Kelly.
February 4, 2010 at 1:06 pm
Love her! And couldn’t agree more!
February 5, 2010 at 8:05 pm
I love Kelly too…and I love country music…taylor swift is awful…always not just at the grammys…she cant hold a light to any Idol winner, especially Carrie…
February 4, 2010 at 2:47 pm
I’ve never gotten all the HYPE w/ taylor, and actually am tired of hearing her/ seeing her everywhere, and BTW borchetta b/f you slam AI alum check out Jordan and David Archuleta two posts down singing no air!!!! AMAZING!!!!!
February 5, 2010 at 12:16 am
Taylor is pitiful…Teens relate to her songwriting about boys and silly mess like that…She cannot carry a tune…this was not the first time…she was awful on the country music awards…she cannot sing…its embarrassing…David Letterman is bashing her now…It’s not just me…I don’t know anyone who thinks she can sing…and I’m not saying this was a talent show…she should have been way past that to be on the stage she was on…Simon Cowell would not have put her thru the first interview…she’s terrible…I turn the radio every time she’s on it…so many people can beat her…please give us a break…and no thanks, i don’t want any concert tickets….
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Tags: AMA Awards Shows · Auto-Tuning · David Archuleta · David Cook · Grammy Awards · Kelly Clarkson · Scott Borchetta · Taylor Swift
Filed in: career|David Archuleta|music|news|opinions|performances|voice
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