So I just got "Don't Rain on My Parade" from the Glee soundtrack and it is great. Lea Michele sings the song beautifully and thankfully they didn't make it too pop sounding. I suggest everyone should try and get a listen.
It sounded good, but I'm generally getting a little sick of Michele's voice. Same with Amber Riley's. They seem to begiving Michele all the belty songs and Riley nothing but stereotypical "big black girl" numbers. Maybe they could give more than one song a season to Ushkowitz and Agron, or maybe even Santana and the idiot blonde one.
I hate the way they mix Ms. Michele's voice on every song. She's a capable singer and doesn't need that digital sound that some pop singers with weak voices use to conceal their flaws.
These episodes were all filmed before they started getting public feedback. I think we'll see several changes in role size and song assignments when they return.
I don't bet the Glee hate, this is a fantastic and quirky show, yes they don't sing live on the show, yes they mess with the vocals and yes the music and sound of the vocals does not feel like it comes from an organic place in the show when they start singing....but i thought that was the point, to give it that quirky edge
"I listened to Amber Riley's "And I Am Telling You" and I just wasn't that blown away. Dunno why, I usually love her voice."
I loved her take, this is a big song for such a young lady and she was fantastic
Honestly, I did not like her version of this song. Lea Michele's voice is just kind of nasal and she randomly makes those strange breathy squealing noises that I just don't understand. It's not a bad interpretation at all, but she impersonated Barbra Streisand the whole time, in her intonation and pronunciation and everything, and that kind of annoys me, too.
In my pants, she has burst like the music of angels, the light of the sun! --Marius Pantsmercy
Not to defend Ms. Lea, but, a 15 year old HS student WOULD try to impersonate Ms. Streisand. They would have listened to Funny Girl a zillion times and learned every intonation. A 15 year old would not necessarily know how to make a song her own. Still, I really really enjoyed the rendition (although the audience reaction was a wee bit over the top - thank gd for the judge's scene!). Best part of Amber's number was the "do I really have to tell you what song?" as she knows how stereotypical it is for AA girls to sing AIATY. But, her rendition was good - not blow it out of the roof. It's a great powerful song - but it really takes having been beaten up in life to give the song its true power. When you watch the Tony clip of Jennifer Holliday, you see and feel the pain and emotion in that number. While Ms. Holliday was young then, she'd certainly lived some of the Effie role (hired, fired, hired etc) Ms. Riley just isn't there yet.
I agree with ggersten. She is 15 years and she it is not Lea Michelle singing the song, it is Rachel Berry singing...So of course she is going to singing it the way she has learned it and listened to it since she was 4.
"I think lying to children is really important, it sets them off on the right track" -Sherie Rene Scott-
I just have one comment to add after reading the original post:
In GLEE, it's not 100% up to the actors as to HOW to sing the song. They are very much directed. There is always a subtext going on which takes the songs out of their original context and therefore the next thing you know, we'll have "Get Me To The Church on Time" sung gangsta-style.
"The Spectacle has, indeed, an emotional attraction of its own, but, of all the parts, it is the least artistic, and connected least with the art of poetry. For the power of Tragedy, we may be sure, is felt even apart from representation and actors. Besides, the production of spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of the poet."
--Aristotle
I guess I know what you mean about a fifteen-year-old girl not knowing how to make a song her own... but whoa, is Lea Michele's character only supposed to be fifteen? I've only seen clips, not a full version of the song, but fifteen? I thought she had trouble passing for a high-school senior, let alone a sophomore!
I know it sounds like I hate Lea Michele, but I don't. She is perfect for the role of Rachael, though, from what I've seen. I just don't really like the music direction of this show (and I have a chip on my shoulder when it comes to digitally altered vocals, especially since I know she can sing without them, as a stage performer).
In my pants, she has burst like the music of angels, the light of the sun! --Marius Pantsmercy