Thursday, January 17, 2013

A public service announcement

Why can't any of the contestants to American Idol* actually sing?  They all "interpret" the song, which means that they won't sing and hold a note.  Maybe none of them can stay on pitch.

Sing, people.  And get off of my lawn.

* The Missus likes watching this, which means that I like watching it.  Or so I'm told.

6 comments:

  1. Songs today are not written to be sung for fun. That went away after the 1940's. The boy learned to sing by listening to our old Brunswick; mostly Al Jolson songs. A good singer can be heard from the back row of seats without the benefit of a microphone. That changed with Rudy Vallee, then other crooners after the microphone came along. Oh Well. Hoagy Carmichael was one of the last writers/performers who wrote music that was fun and easy to sing. He was greatly influenced by his mother, who was a pre-microphone performer. But, I do love Rudy Vallee, as did my Dad's mother. She always greeted us with a Heigh-Ho!

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  2. Sam, Rudy Vallee wrote (or made famous) the school song from my alma mater - the Maine Stein Song. So I have a soft spot in my heart for him.

    But you're absolutely right that there was a big change in music brought on by the microphone. Enrico Caruso would probably never have become famous in an era where most music was amplified.

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  3. I'm half deaf, so I ignore those programs... :-)

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  4. Granted it's not a hard song, but I thought the girl who die "Baby it's cold outside" was pretty good.

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  5. No, they can't. A friend of mine auditioned and was told that she would win easily (is a professional background musician and does musical stage) but she doesn't have a "story" and that's what the producers are looking for.

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