Why don't people like Ariana Grande

[Le Bete]

Posted: 4/14/17 at 7:28am

I did not know much about her until I heard she was on Broadway in a show called 13. Been a fan ever since

[haterobics]

Posted: 4/14/17 at 8:01am

She can't annunciate. If you don't know the lyrics, and can't get them by context, you're out of luck...

http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/music_box/2016/07/can_you_understand_what_ariana_grande_is_singing_a_quiz.html

[CindersGolightly]

Posted: 4/14/17 at 8:08am

People are threatened by the fact that someone so young has such unshakable talent. She'd be a spectacular Marta in "Company" - and she was great in "13" and "Hairspray" as well. I love watching her do theatre.

[DramaTeach]

Posted: 4/14/17 at 8:12am

I don't dislike Ariana - she's a young person who still has a lot to learn.  I had very high hopes for her in Hairspray, but unfortunately she never found the character.  She played Penny as Ariana.  There were glimpses of what could have been in her performance (especially in her dialogue), but she's supposed to go from a shy, nervous nerd to a carefree powerhouse.  That transition was never clear since she sang and mostly spoke as Ariana the entire time.

[Alexander Lamar]

Posted: 4/14/17 at 8:34am

CindersGolightly said: "People are threatened by the fact that someone so young has such unshakable talent.

 

"

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 4/14/17 at 9:12am

I agree with Teach's appraisal of the HAIRSPRAY performance, but Miss Grande was surprisingly good when she hosted SNL.

[SkylarElizabeth]

Posted: 4/18/17 at 9:49pm

DramaTeach said: "I don't dislike Ariana - she's a young person who still has a lot to learn.  I had very high hopes for her in Hairspray, but unfortunately she never found the character.  She played Penny as Ariana.  There were glimpses of what could have been in her performance (especially in her dialogue), but she's supposed to go from a shy, nervous nerd to a carefree powerhouse.  That transition was never clear since she sang and mostly spoke as Ariana the entire time.

 

"

I felt the exact same thing.  I think if she really was invested in a character (playing it 8 times a week instead of rehearsing for one live performance) as she was in 13, she would have been more convincing.  Keep in mind as well, that she was around 14 years old in that show, and is now much older.  Obviously her voice, personality, and even interest in acting have changed.  In terms of people "hating her" I think that most people just don't think she "fits" the musical theater bill anymore.  

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 4/18/17 at 10:42pm

I think if she really was invested in a character (playing it 8 times a week instead of rehearsing for one live performance) as she was in 13, she would have been more convincing.

HAIRSPRAY: LIVE! not only rehearsed for a few months for that 1 "live" performance, the entire telecast was performed countless times in its entirety (from beginning to end) so she had over 10 "performances" as Penny before the "live" broadcast.  It's not like they only performed once the entire show - they did it completely for camera blocking, timing, etc.  

[dramamama611]

Posted: 4/18/17 at 10:47pm

So, movie actors aren't "invested"?  What a silly statement.   Every performer should be invested in every performance they take on....a simple assumption.

 

I don't know why this question is even here....I don't remember any Grande "hate".   I don't see a lot of b'way opportunity TO discuss her.  (That being said, I'd be happy never seeing her perform again - while I don't think she's awful, there isn't enough there to get interested in.  Ho-hum.)

[BenjaminNicholas2]

Posted: 4/18/17 at 11:42pm

She can hit note, but how she does it and how it sounds is completely wrong from a training standpoint.

Basically, she's a circus act.  Until she learns to properly support, enunciate and form proper vowels, I don't have a lot to say about her.

[Theatrefan2]

Posted: 4/18/17 at 11:48pm

Who really cares about her on a Broadway message board??????

[SkylarElizabeth]

Posted: 4/19/17 at 10:03am

BrodyFosse123 said: "I think if she really was invested in a character (playing it 8 times a week instead of rehearsing for one live performance) as she was in 13, she would have been more convincing.

HAIRSPRAY: LIVE! not only rehearsed for a few months for that 1 "live" performance, the entire telecast was performed countless times in its entirety (from beginning to end) so she had over 10 "performances" as Penny before the "live" broadcast.  It's not like they only performed once the entire show - they did it completely for camera blocking, timing, etc.  

 

"

I understand that, but its still no comparison to playing a character to a live audience every single night.  Along with the initial rehearsals.  

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 4/19/17 at 10:18am

It honestly doesn't matter whether Broadway fans like her because her fandom comes from people growing up watching her as "Cat" and thinking that was a good comedic performance (I saw a few clips because my younger sisters would watch it and thought she was pretty awful with no sense of comedic timing and only coasting on that voice she used which wasn't even used well) and who fell in love with her pop songs, which are catchy but get old quickly.

I think she's not a good actress by any stretch of the imagination (maybe she's ok in skit form) and I find her singing voice to sound really thin and breathy. She also cannot enunciate at all. But like I said, these opinions don't matter as she is successful anyway, at least for now.

Updated On: 4/19/17 at 10:18 AM

[Demitri2]

Posted: 4/19/17 at 2:36pm

I wasn't a fan until I saw her host SNL. I loved her portrayal of a snotty Maria from SOUND OF MUSIC. I was also impressed with her impersonations of other singers. Especially Celine. Plus my true test of an SNL host is how often it appears that they're reading off cue cards. She seemed to know all her lines which I appreciated. However I still can't understand most, if not all, of her song lyrics. That alone would nix my hopes of ever seeing her on stage in a musical. What theatre lyricist would want her to sing their songs? She wouldn't be moving the plot forward but instead would be bringing it to an abrupt halt. I often wonder if her difficulty in being understood stems from her licking too many donuts.

[Miss Jezebel DuPree2]

Posted: 4/19/17 at 2:49pm

Most people dislike her because of her brother, the tragic Frankie Grande. 

[UncleCharlie]

Posted: 4/19/17 at 2:57pm

Miss Jezebel DuPree2 said: "Most people dislike her because of her brother, the tragic Frankie Grande. 

 

Are you sure it's not because of her sister, the Starbucks obsessed Mocha Frappuccino Grande?

 

[Kad]

Posted: 4/19/17 at 2:57pm

I thought she was a pretty great SNL host- game for everything, comfortable and prepared, even showcasing a surprising range of more than capable impressions.

Her casting as Penny should've been an easy success, but it was a flop. The comedic character chops she showed on SNL were entirely absent and her vocals seemed like a parody of herself.  

 

[loveinnewyorkcity]

Posted: 4/20/17 at 11:55am

I think she's a solid singer. I don't like her music but her voice is good. As everyone else already mentioned, you can't understand a word she says.

Her acting and disgusting personality are other stories. Maybe if she didn't have the world's biggest ego, she'd put some work and thought into her acting.  Don't know what can be done to fix that attitude though. Not even close to being talented enough to warrant acting like that...

[5377brian]

Posted: 4/20/17 at 12:00pm

People don't like her because she does things like stopping at a truck stop in Riverside, CA, saying something bitchy about working Americans, and then proceeded to lick the donuts sitting there that were about to be sold to other customers. 

That, and she makes her bodyguard carry her around like a pet monkey.  

Its not about her talent, or lack there of, it's about her lack of any type of tact or class.  People hate her as a person, not a performer.  

[icecreambenjamin]

Posted: 4/20/17 at 12:01pm

I don't hate her.  I'm just not a fan of her voice.

Also, LOL at her playing Marta in Company.  

"ANOHA HUNAD PEPOLA JUS GOT OF THE *whistle tone* TRA-A-A-A--AIN OOOOOH"

[Miss Jezebel DuPree2]

Posted: 4/20/17 at 12:23pm

Ariana and Frankie - talentless.

[rodrigo_ca]

Posted: 4/20/17 at 3:29pm

She sings like a siren or something of the kind.

[Ado Annie D'Ysquith]

Posted: 4/20/17 at 4:21pm

Icecreambenjamin, that may have been the most accurate foreign language translation of "Another Hundred People" I've ever seen.

[yinyang1195]

Posted: 4/21/17 at 10:14am

I am a fan of her music in general and I do think she has the potential to be great on Broadway. She's been doing community theatre since she was eight and she and Liz Gillies definitely stood out more than Victoria Justice did in Victorious. I will say that her acting in early-Victorious was much better than later seasons/Sam and Cat where it just started to feel like an exaggeration. She barely had any lines in the Scream Queens pilot, but she was hilarious in the episode where she comes back as a ghost and I think anyone can agree she was fantastic on SNL. With Hairspray, I don't necessarily think she did a bad job, but it was very "Ariana" and I was very underwhelmed (but not disappointed) with her acting. She seemed like the perfect fit for the role and I had really high hopes that we would see some of what we saw in the first season of Victorious before she was as famous as she is now (when she would have been even more perfect as Penny).

As for the enunciating thing, it's not that she can't do it, but I feel like it's just how she prefers to sing her pop music. Her words are clearly enunciated in 13 and Hairspray (moreso during the actual broadcast and a little less on the cast recording but she always sounds better live anyway).

I'd be very interested in seeing her continue with acting/musicals/theatre. I feel like she has the potential and just needs to get very invested in her next role. I'm thinking something similar to how invested Beyonce got with Dreamgirls and how great her performance was there in comparison to her past acting roles. With the right training and practice, and if she can finally get out of what we know as that "Ariana Grande image" (which I think she's slowly breaking out of), I'd love to see her play Audrey or Gypsy Rose Lee (her two biggest dream roles).

[moritziti]

Posted: 4/22/17 at 6:00pm

Ariana's voice has changed a lot since she was younger. Here's an old video of her singing The Wizard and I.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFi7_LFG7OA 

She used to have better diction, but her singing has gotten nasally over the years. I still think her voice is beautiful, but not suited for broadway.

Updated On: 4/22/17 at 06:00 PM