Not meaning to jump too whole-heartedly in the middle of this, but what does that say about a musican’s integrity when they subvert their “art form” for the sake of choreography? Musical theater is one thing, but BS isn’t performing in Godspell, she’s supposed to be a singer (or so I thought).
Besides, is it not insulting enough that you (generic) grade her by the standards of a high-school production? In my naivitee, I thought that to be considered great one had to aspire to better-than-highschool level, a preconception which is coincidentally the basis of the ad hominem on da’cook. - Stupid me - What’s at issue is not how good BS is, but how much she sells, aspects which are completely unrelated. One is based on talent, skill, inspiration, and the other is based on looks, connections, and marketability.
I was making a comparison. I have every confidence that Britney Spears would be able to handle a musical well enough to please anyone except those like the OPer.
I equally have confidence that someone accustomed to the rigors of a high school musical would find a music video to be very very difficult. And similarly, performing on stage as Britney does would be more difficult than a highschool musical is, or can be.
Aside: I think we have effectively driven da’cook from this thread. yay
No cite (this is the Pit - yay), but IIRC our D-Cup ‘Diva’ also has overdubs while live on stage, so that she can get in her dance moves.
No professional musical, however heavily choreographed, has voiceovers. Therefore, as long as we’re talking about live performance (which perhaps we’re not), to say that voiceovers are OK for BS because High School students do it is to say that High School level performance is ‘good enough’ to earn the performed millions of dollars without representing a travesty of the art form.
Or to put it another way: So BS can do what HighSchoolers can’t .
woo… hoo…
I maintain that she can’t do what true professionals do (with regard to musical theatre) and what a true professional wouldn’t do (with regard to singers).
Heard Paul Harvey at lunch today. He mentioned that Germany has a problem with wild pigs/hogs destroying farmers crops, but that wild pigs/hogs are “protected” by legislation so they can’t be shot.
These farmers have found the only way to protect their crops is to play loud music to drive the pigs away.
The most effective pork-repulser music (played loud)?
“This song is just seven words long, this song is just seven words long, this song is just seven words long,…”
repeat ad infinitum
As for Broadway singers, I’ve heard a rumour that Paul Stanley of Kiss was in a Broadway play (or some kind of musical or something - yes, I like to really nail my facts down), and he blew the critics away with his performance. One of my favourite all-time songs is “I Was Made for Loving You” - check out his range on this song some time.
(Understood - this is friendly ([sub]in the Pit???[/sub]) :D)
But so? Just because she’s young gives her an excuse to have questionable integrity as a musician? What an affront to the musicians in High Schools everywhere who aspire to more. You’re using a double standard: You judge her favorably in comparison to non-professional high-school students in private performance. Yet Brittany is ‘pro’, playing out in huge arenas in public performances and raking in dough.
By the same comparison, we should select the best looking kid from Little League every year and pay him 5 million a season to play in the Major League. If he never even hits the ball the entire season, it’s alright because “he’s so young anyway, and look at the level he’s playing at!” (the obvious point being he’s not really playing at that level)
What galls is the disconnect between worth and pay - Yes, she’s young, and possibly deserves some consideration for that. But as a representation of young musicians she’s not particularly good - about the only thing above average about her is her physique. However, she makes shitloads of money. And somehow, this seems to give credibility to her ‘talent’ - “well, if she makes that much money, she must be good”. Bullshit.
AFIAC, if Spears is your thing, then fine - she’s not hard on the eyes, and if you like the genre of music she purports to perform, then what the hell. But she’s an entertainer - about the caliber of any number of Disney stars, pre-packaged for the masses. To call her a musician or a singer is to speak of the Police Academy movies as being in the same league as “The Piano”. At its most absurd, it’s akin to giving Hiyruu a seat at the local astrophysics conference.
