Friday, November 06, 2009

Madonna - Reinvention

Madonna Throughout Madonna 's career, like David Bowie, has repeatedly reinvented Madonna herself through a series of visual and musical personas, as well as expanding Madonna's career to become a film and stage actor.

Fouz Hernandes argues that this reinvention is one of MAdonna 's key cultural achievements. He argues MAdonna has achieved this by constantly working with upcoming talented producers and previous unknown artists, while remaining at the center of media attention.

In doing so Madonna has provided an example of how to maintain one's career in the entertainment industry.

Monday, November 02, 2009

Christina Aguilera - Vocal ability

Christina Aguilera She is a soprano. Christina Aguilera has rivaled many of her other contemporaries and has been referred to as the "voice of her generation" and a blue eyed soul singer. In the MTV special All Eyes on Christina, John Norris said that Aguilera "has a four-octave vocal range". She also topped COVE's list of the 100 Best Pop Vocalists with a score of 50/50 and came 5th in MTV's 22 Greatest Voices in Music. She has also been known to sing in the whistle register. A review in an Entertainment Weekly article mentions Christina Aguilera 's "tackling that dog-whistle high note" at the 3:20 mark in the song "Soar" from Christina Aguilera 's album Stripped. Her rendition of "It's A Man's Man's Man's World" at the 49th Grammy Awards ranked thirrd in the Grammy's Greatest Moments List behind Celine Dion's performance of "My Heart Will Go On" and Green Day's performance of "American Idiot". In an interview, Celine Dion described Christina Aguilera as "probably the best vocalist in the world." During the work on Back to Basics, DJ Premier explained, "She really represents true music and true singing. She can belt out notes. She has true lungs." Rolling Stone ranked Christina Aguilera at 58 on their list of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time, the youngest singer on the list.

Since her debut in 1999 She has been compared to the likes of Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston. A review in the LA Times compared her vocal stylings to Barbra Streisand, Gladys Knight, and Aretha Franklin adding, "Aguilera's Streisand-esque tendencies are a good thing; they’re helping her figure out how to become the "great singer" Christina Aguilera's been dubbed since she released her first single, the wise-beyond-its-years "Genie in a Bottle", at 18." Although praised for her vocals, Aguilera has been labeled for oversinging in her songs and concerts. Longtime producer and writer, Linda Perry, commented on working on the record, "Beautiful", saying, "I tried to keep it straight. I told her to get rid of the finger waves. Every time she'd start going into "hoo-ha", I'd stop the tape. I'm like, 'You're doing it again.'" Perry ended up using the first take saying, "She had a hard time accepting that as the final track. It's not a perfect vocal -- it's very raw. She knows her voice really well, and she knows what's going on. She can hear things that nobody else would catch."

Christina Aguilera vs Beyonce Live (Note by Note Comparison)
Two women with incredible vocal power. Christina Aguilera has been referred to as the "voice of her generation", and can utilize an expansive four octave vocal range with effortless agility. Beyonce, a mezzo-soprano, remains one of the most recognizable artists in in modern-day R&B, and rose to fame as the siren-voiced centerpiece of Destiny's Child. Since that time, Beyonce has acquired 5 US Hot 100 number ones.