<p>I just YouTubed one of her songs from last night, and this is not a mildly pitchy performance; this is an intonational train wreck. Were a lot of the other singers pretty bad in this regard? I wonder if there was something wrong with the monitoring system. She sounds like she has no idea what notes she’s singing, so maybe she couldn’t hear herself. A singer with a good ear can adjust to that kind of problem and stay fairly well in tune, but that’s a learned skill that a 20-year-old might not have picked up yet.</p>
<p>HisGrace- Taylor’s live concerts are great. Don’t turn down an opportunity based on the TV shows.</p>
<p>Favorite phrase of the day: “intonational train wreck.”</p>
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<p>JHS, thanks for the earworm…“Tommy Mattola…”</p>
<p>I just wish they would stop giving Taylor Swift “pity awards” to make up for what happened to her at the VMA’s! Lady Gaga was definitely the most brilliant perfomer with the best album! I didn’t see Elton John wanting to pair up with Swift! C’mon - there are 4 number one hits off of Lady Gaga’s album!</p>
<p>I think Taylor gets her limitations. You can tell by the way she limits her notes, for lack of a better term. She’ll sing “you belong with me -ee -ee,” bringing the last note down because she know she can’t hit the high ones. She does it in all her songs. In "Love Story, she often transitions to talking --“It’s a love story (snging) baby just say yes (talking).”</p>
<p>^^^^^That is soooooooooooooooooooooooo true!^^^^^</p>
<p>And yet, I still find her adorable. Not sure why she gets such a pass in my mind. She just seems so NICE, I guess. But she needs to pull a Shania and quit performing live.</p>
<p>nightchef…I didn’t watch them all but, of those I heard…no one was out of tune like that. I agree, maybe she had an earpiece and it wasn’t working, but…yikes! Many on here have said she does seem to sing like that. </p>
<p>Wow, for the first time to have heard her, I’m gonna say…</p>
<p>The Emperor has no Clothes</p>
<p>(To whomever mentioned this being just “not liking Country”…I def don’t like country but this had NOTHING to do with a twangy country sound. You are either someone who hears this problem…or you just don’t. Example…who sang with Bon Jovi? She HAS to be country, right? I know nothing about country but she HAS to be. And she was a gut belting piece of strong and fabulous. Some would like her, some wouldn’t. She’s got a very strong persona/style. But she could SING the note. (and then some!)</p>
<p>Youdon’tsay – Thanks for bringing that up, because Swift’s last “Baby, just say . . . yes” in “Love Story” is one of my favorite pop moments of recent memory. And it’s the phrasing that makes it, not the pitch.</p>
<p>JustAMom – It’s Tommy Mottola, of course, one-time Mr. Mariah Carey and CEO of Sony Music. But how he got his foot in the door of the music industry was as Dr. Buzzard’s original manager. Worked out better for him than for anyone.</p>
<p>Yeah, who WAS that with Bon Jovi? All I heard was “Jennifer” something, and I didn’t recognize her. Miranda Lambert, who grew up about half a mile away (at least metaphorically) might have been a good choice, but she isn’t famous enough, and I had no idea who was doing that.</p>
<p>Jennifer Nettles from Sugarland sang with Bon Jovi. She’s awesome.</p>
<p>I’m sure for some it’s the overall “WATCHability” of the performance that is important. That’s just not me- not for MUSIC. I expect the WORDS in great books to be used and arranged in a way that I would never have imagined. I expect the subtle look of an actor to speak volumes (heck YEAH I stole that from Sunset Blvd). And I expect the SOUND of music (teehee…another reference) to move me inside in ways I cannot describe. </p>
<p>So…since the awards are more like MTV “videos”… which is half “appearance”, not sound…then I get it. BUT…this person sells CDs (to unsuspecting children still developing their ear?). If/when you turn off her lights…this is what is playing in their ear on their ipod).</p>
<p>In a video (or awards show), there is color and maybe plot and character and sparkle and bling. But that’s true of a Broadway production too…and, while I DO want a good actor in each part-he must first MUST be able to do what I paid to come and see him/her do - sing. </p>
<p>One must FIRST DO NO HARM (before ADDING “spectacle” to the equation). I understand style differences of course. Some don’t even care if the diction is there at all (Bruce, Tom… you know who you are). Phraseology is a STYLE…but carrying a tune is TECHINIQUE. </p>
<p>Doesn’t matter HOW far you can throw the football if you can’t aim it. (go COLTS!!!)</p>
<p>JHS, it was Jennifer Nettles. She did that duet with Bon Jovi a few years ago and it was a very successful song across genres. She’s a country singer who has been around for a while, with her own band, as a part of Sugarland, and singly. Performed with the Lilith Fair Tour a few times. Very talented woman.</p>
<p>R124687- I’m sure Taylor’s songs will still sell and her concerts will still sell out (was it in 9 minutes that the NY concert sold out) even without you as a fan. I’ve bought all her songs, I love listening to them on my iPod and love seeing Taylor in concert and around town.</p>
<p>Mom - I’m sure they will too. Sorry you seem to be offended. JMO.</p>
<p>TS’s fans take her very personally, I’ve noticed.</p>
<p>I have nothing against her, didn’t see the performance. But it’s a bit dismaying when the highest accolade for a young woman performer is “nice.” Aren’t we a couple decades past that yet?</p>
<p>Irritated more than offended. I always get irritated when someone feels the need to totally and tediously slam a successful celebrity of ANY kind just because they don’t like them. Happens in sports, music, whatever.</p>
<p>Highest accolade isn’t “nice”. She is amazingly successful as an entertainer and look at the sales of her songs? She’s won every award there is this year. I guess she has a lot of fans…</p>
<p>A-ha! So that was Jennifer Nettles! I’ve seen Sugarland on TV, too, and heard them on the radio a few times as well, but never anything that got me interested in hearing more or paying attention to the names. She did a great karaoke job with Bon Jovi, but that’s not going to get me to listen to her, since I don’t generally care about them, either. (Notwithstanding that they are great, professional entertainers, and nice guys. Jon Bon Jovi vs. Bruce Springsteen = someone who can sing vs. an artist.)</p>
<p>I’ve gone through phases with mainstream country. I loved it and followed it closely in the mid-70s, and again in the mid-80s when there was sort of a traditionalist revival with George Strait, Dwight Yoakam, Mary-Chapin Carpenter. But I watched the CMAs this year and was bored silly by almost everything.</p>
<p>JHS, looking at your list, you’re obvioulsy not into great vocals. That’s fine, I also happen to enjoy a lot of artists who should be paid NOT to sing (Elvis Costello, John Darnielle, Billy Corgan, David Byrne). But there is no question that most of the music last night, particularly the vocals, was painfully horrible. Taylor Swift and Dave Matthews made my ears bleed. I admire Taylor’s lyrical connection to tweener and teenage girls and have nothing against her success. But there is no question she is successful in spite of her vocal limitations (which her songs help mitigate). I have nothing nice to say about that band who stole Best New Artist from Silversun Pickups, what the heck was that – besides screechy and annoying? I would have loved to hear all of the final hip hop performance, but CBS apparently thought we couldn’t handle some marginally racy lyrics after 11 PM. The only saving grace of the evening award-wise was Kings of Leon beating out Beyonce and Taylor for Record of the Year. But why their song didn’t also win for songwriting is beyond me. “Off in the night, while you live it up, i’m off to sleep, waging war to shake the poet and the beat” hits me a little harder than “if you liked it then you shoulda put a ring on it.”</p>
<p>I thought Zac Brown Band won Best New Artist. They are generally not screechy at all. I don’t know what they sang last night on the show, but they are fabulous.</p>