<p>I have to admit I am not a great follower of the show so am basing my opinions on my occasional few minutes clicking over to it. I was flipping back and forth on the final performance day because I was DVRing something for my husband and was torn between the final and the final of another show (our machine can only record 2 shows or watch 1 and record 1 at a time). I did not see the fighting gravity performance for the final but seem to recall having seen them earlier in the season and being impressed.</p>
<p>Prince Poppycock seems more of a novelty act to me. I could imagine him as part of a show, not the whole show. I think Piers had it right that he made a mistake in trying to sing a serious peace in the final rather than sticking to the humorous stuff. he is not a good enough opera singer to pull off the serious stuff. In all honesty I enjoyed him the first time because he was so unexpected but the other 2 performances I have seen did nothing for me. The Yanky Doodle Dandy one just was not my cup of tea.</p>
<p>Jackie is a sweet little girl with a huge voice. Love her. Love Vegas. The thought of her and Vegas - shudder!! Let her be a child for the next few years.</p>
<p>musicamusica, absolutely. IMHO, Barbara Padilla wasn’t a real opera singer, either. She had a good crossover voice and would do well on Broadway, if she can act. I can’t see her at the Met.</p>
<p>I agree that there was something horribly forced at times in her lower range. I can mimic that sound too.</p>
<p>Agree msuicamusica. She has a natural talent that you could hear come through her high notes when she was not pushing or mimicing. Given a natural development would undoubtedly be beautiful. But I too am afraid she will burn out early. I was also distressed at her treatment of lower range. It is not opera. There are periodically some naturally talented kids that show up in the pop culture, pushed into this too early and you never hear from them again. More like a circus act.</p>
<p>I pretty much hate precocious child acts of any type and Jackie Evancho (like the rapper and the ballroom dancers who appeared on the show) was no exception. It’s just silly for a little girl to be singing adult pieces filled with passion and emotion that she neither comprehends nor expresses. And it can’t be good for a child this age with a still undefined talent to experience all the effusive praise from the the judges and the repeated standing ovations. I wish this and similar shows would put an age limit of 18 on their entrants, so no more parents will parade their kids like performing monkeys.</p>
<p>As a matter of fact, there is some music and video on YouTube of what Charlotte Church has been doing lately. Apparently she now has children (how time flies) and has recently returned to recording.</p>
<p>My point was not whether or not C Church is still performing, but that her voice has been trashed.
As a young singer, she was described as a “budding young operatic singer” as well.
Just a heads up, but youtube links on cc are verbotten.</p>
<p>I really liked Jackie’s voice, but I was uncomfortable with the idea of a young girl embarking on a singing career at 10. I really believe that if she does have a future as an opera singer, this would hurt her voice in the long run. Plus … she is such a cute, well adjusted (seemingly) kid. Why push a career on her at this time? She needs the chance to be a kid. Haven’t people learned from Drew Barrymore, Michael Jackson, Lindsay Lohan … fame at a really young age isn’t always a good thing. Sure, there have been famous kids who haven’t experienced issues (and Drew has been able to get past her early trials & tribulations) … but as a parent, I wouldn’t take that chance if I didn’t have to !</p>
<p>Beverly Sills was a phenom at age 8 singing opera arias, and did mature into an incredible opera singer… and her early work on radio, etc. did not ruin her voice. Just sayin’… check out the youtube of beverly sills at age 8 on youtube. I won’t link due to rules here, but you can find it easily… :)</p>
<p>If you listen to Beverly Sills, she sang with the healthy,natural voice of a child. None of the artificial darkening or mimicry that this girl employs. It is the WAY this kid on TV is singing that is problematic.
I’ve got nothing against kids singing and I’m in no way a vocal pedagogue. My D has been singing since she was seven and her first juvenile role was with a major opera company at twelve. But she NEVER pretended that she was a 30 year old soprano in the body of a child. Today she is a powerhouse of a mezzo whose unamplified voice can cut through a full symphony like a hot knife through butter. Like her first teacher always said, “It’s not how you sound when you’re 12,it’s how you sound when you’re 32 that counts .”</p>
<p>"Today she is a powerhouse of a mezzo whose unamplified voice can cut through a full symphony like a hot knife through butter. Like her first teacher always said, “It’s not how you sound when you’re 12,it’s how you sound when you’re 32 that counts .”</p>
<p>I was so sorry to see that guy who was the bicycle stunt rider go. It was really fun to watch him, and a little scary in a fun way. After that my interest waned and although I liked all the rest of the final acts, I didn’t really care who won. They’ll all get some work and some well-deserved attention from the show.</p>
<p>Sorry about posting the you tube link. I forgot about that…</p>
<p>But my point was that Charlotte Church’s voice is still beautiful. No, she is not a professional opera singer, but that is not the be-all and end-all for vocalists, imo.</p>
<p>But I do agree that it is A) a bit creepy to hear a young child imitate vocal stylings of an adult singer and, B) it’s disturbing as well from a vocal health perspective to hear that. Young voices are just not meant to do those things (speaking as a long-retired speech pathologist with some experience in vocal rehab).</p>
<p>See, for those of us with no music or voice training, Jackie’s singing was amazing. I learned a lot here from those of you with the knowledge you shared with us. That said, these tv shows are popularity contests; voting is by the general public, most not educated or exposed to what is the best in the real world. I am not sure when people voice they think about if they want to watch a Vegas act of an hour with the winner, or if the winner is the correct act for Vegas; they vote for the act they like at the moment.</p>
<p>I happen to have enjoyed Prince Poppycock at the start as I found his act entertaining and different for the 2 minutes. Would I watch and entire solo show of Prince Poppycock, I think not!</p>
<p>Yes, I shouldn’t comment on this sort of thread.Though I love all sorts of music–my favorite singers are Bessie Smith and Joni Mitchell,I try to keep away from stuff I really don’t appreciate—this show, American Idol, Dancing with the Has-beens et al. D was home yesterday and we were chatting about this after a neighbor we encountered asked the inevitable “howzabout that little opera singer on TV? isnt she amaaaaazing? I bet you’re jealous and upset!” D just smiles and nods. That’s what I should do.
But then again if I can get one person to listen to REAL classical voice and turn their back on the sort of dreck that network TV serves up…well my job is done. As Tim Gunn would say on my favorite show: “carry on”.***</p>
<p>***now for those of you who have kids in clothing design: it is time you set ME straight.</p>
<p>Musicamusica…thanks for the heads up…I would never have watched the link if you didn’t mention it.</p>
<p>So you can rest…
I like many different singers…</p>
<p>I now like Cecilia too.</p>
<p>I like Ella, and Nat King Cole, Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Pavarotti, Streisand, Garland, Sarah Vaughan, Sarah Brightman, Beverly Sills…Joe Williams…Maria Callas…I can listen to O Mio Babbino Caro…</p>
<p>What’s interesting about this show is that it touts itself as looking for variety acts, but with one exception, all of the winners have been singers. Are they looking for the best act, or the best Vegas-type act? The judges are fond of saying that this show has acts that can’t be seen anywhere else, but singers seem to have an advantage, and that’s been done before (Am. Idol??)</p>
<p>Will Terry Fator end up the only variety act to ever win this thing?</p>
<p>musicamusica, Thanks for the pointer to the Cecilia Bartoli youtube clip. It was fantastic! Unfortunately, though, I clicked on another clip of the same piece that came up on the right. It was Pavarotti singing it with Sheryl Crow! She was awful. My ears still hurt.</p>
