Monday, February 01, 2010

Taylor Swift

Anyone catch the Grammy’s last night? Taylor Swift took home awards for Album of the Year, Best Female Country Vocal Performance, Best Country Song, and Best Country Album.

I feel like I’m the only person who isn’t in on the funniest joke of all time. Seriously, I don’t get it. She’s NOT GOOD. At least not live. Don’t get me wrong, I have both of her albums, and I like them both. Catchy, happy tunes all around. ON CD.

I’ve heard her numerous times perform live on TV. Each and every single time she sounds horrible. Slightly flat and a super weak voice. Thank goodness for post-production to tweak her voice. If she were on American Idol there is no doubt in my mind the judges would cut her. When she sang with Stevie Nicks last night, I literally cringed when she tried to hit the high note on “Rhiannon.”

Still, I keep giving her chances. I think, “Oh, this time she will be good” And every time, I’m let down. I would not pay one red cent to see this chick in concert. I’d rather stab toothpicks in my ears.

Her one saving grace with me is that she did a fantastic job on SNL a few months back. Acting. Not singing. taylorswiftsucks I know Taylor's Biggest Fan, Nikki, will likely very strongly disagree with me, and I’m prepared to handle that attack. I have my argument: SHE SUCKS LIVE!

And to me, to be a truly great performing singing artist, it’s all about the live performance. Who cares if your engineers can make you sound decent in a recording studio? (And let’s not dive into the fact that I love Britney, who is the queen of post-production…I’m well aware. I love her for far more reasons than her voice. Don’t get me started!)

The tribute to MJ by Celine Dion, Carrie Underwood, Usher, Smokey Robinson, and Jennifer Hudson was amazing because they are all amazing vocalists that can stand on their own. And don’t you just love Earth Song?

Derrick knows that me being a band geek I’m much more inclined to listen to instrumentals over a choir any day. I don’t think I have perfect pitch, but I can hear when something is off very easily, and it drives me crazy. And to hear a bad choir or chorus is so painful to me. The only vocal group I can really stand to listen to is MoTab. So when I hear a vocalist sing crappily, it drives me absolutely nuts. Also, I hate to sing so maybe that has something to do with it too. Who knows.

Ok, I’ll end my rant now.

Let’s hope our kids choose band over choir….

12 comments:

Lara said...

I feel the same way about her. My SIL saw her in concert in Idaho and she said she was AMAZING. Great voice, great show.

Lip synching, maybe? (Oh who said that!)

Bushchicken said...

Should I know who Taylor Swift is?...(reads post again)...

Oh, COUNTRY "music". Nevermind. Carry on.

Nikki said...

Wanna know the truth? Both Spencer and I cringed while watching her performance last night. When she did "You Belong With Me" with the mandolin, I thought she was pretty good. I get embarrassed because I love her so much but yes, I agree, sometimes she sounds terrible live. Her second song on SNL was awesome sounding AND when I went to her concert it was amazing. I'm going to be honest, I was scared to go to her concert because she does have a weak voice live sometimes...but sometimes she is right on. At her concert, it was right on! So...that means that she's inconsistent live...oh well. The fact that she won Album of the Year was for her Album and not "live singing of the year." I love her and I still love you.

Emmy said...

I agree! Love her songs, espeically Fifteen, but she sounds horrible live.

And as much as I like country music and like seeing a country singer win.. it might just be a bit much.

DeAnn said...

Uh, typo in your 7th paragraph. your not you're :) If you want to hear a great live band, check out The Lucas Cates Band. I hear there's a group of groupies looking for a couple of new groupies. :) I've never heard Taylor Swift so I can't comment on that.

Anonymous said...

You need to go to a "Rush" concert. They will blow your mind and open you up to a whole new world of experiences you never dreamed of...Taylor swift is so young, still so innocent and untouched by the executives of MTV. Give her a few more years and she will be 1/2 naked on the Real World with a grip of bastard children and a crack addiction. It's only a matter of time...Love Brittney's song "3" when she says "are you in? living in sin is the new thing." Wow, I think she made a pact with the devil...

john said...

Now your argument makes more sense. It is no secret that T-Swiz has a hard time holding, or even hitting, a note live. That's what makes the nomination for Vocal performance seem like such a joke.
But Album of the Year, Country Song, and Country Album- By Grammy standards, she probably deserved those. As a pop songwriter/ entertainer she is top tier. She is a top selling artist. She writes catchy formula songs. she has pretty good videos. She is the first legitimate country crossover artist of the decade and is changing the climate of the teeny bopper pop tart world for the better.
So, regarding your two proposals:
1:Swift sucks live- True (if ability to hit a note matters to you in a live performance)

2:Swift is overrated- Depends of who's doing the rating. But, assuming you're referring to the Grammy's, I would say, false. By Grammy standards, Swift's importance to the music landscape of 2009 was appropriately rated. In fact, it is a rare case of the Grammy's actually picking someone who is currently significant.

Taylor, if you're reading this, don't forget who's got your back. :)

john said...

p.s.
don't tell any hipsters I spent that much time thinking about this. What I meant to say was, Animal Collective should have won best album. Their diverse kaleidoscope of sound is the type of experimentation that deserves recognition... or something like that.

Megan said...

totally agree my friend, totally agree.

Samantha said...

I totally agree that she is not good and it seems like a joke. But then you lost me when you said "she's not good" and then you said you have both her cds!! ??

Melissa said...

I couldn't agree more! She is terrible live.

Dave said...

You would want your kids to be bandos.