Thursday 6 September 2012

[Review] RIP Mariah Carey's Voice: "Triumphant (Get Em)" Live at NFL KICKOFF


Mariah Carey gave her first EVER live performance of new single Triumphant (Get Em) at the opening of the NFL Kickoff and delivered anything BUT the performance that was needed to revive the song's efforts on the charts.

Anyone who likes Mariah Carey for her whistle register will love this, and consider this performance a success; but anyone who loves Mariah for her strong belting, her (usually) uncanny pitch control, her gorgeous tone, and her overall Godliness when it comes to "the voice" will be EXTREMELY disappointed.


She may have been sick (her speaking voice at the end seems to show this), she may have been nervous, but that's not going to be an excuse for those she's going to judging on American Idol- where one performance can make or break them- so I'm not going to peddle them out for her.

I think it's time Mariah Carey re-evaluated her live range and started tailoring her recorded songs to that if she wants any hope of singing them live. There's no shame in doing so, everyone's voice changes as they age, and it's a strategy that's already worked successfully for her during her concert in Morocco [watch here] earlier this year.

Either that or I need to start lowering my standards of what I expect from a Mariah Carey vocal-- and that will be a sad day.








64 comments:

  1. LOL triple gif! You must really, really, really be disappointed.
    Personally I am not going to give up hope until I see her just stand on a stage, behind a microphone singing a song ( rather than the chorus of a rap/pop tune) and then not delivering.

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  2. Her pregnancy did NOT do wonders for her voice... It was the abstinence from alcohol... Now that she's not preggers anymore, she's began drinking her champagne again... and that's what you hear now...

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  3. Since when does pregnancy change the voice? Breath control in the later stages, yes, but the voice itself?

    The champagne factor also mystifies me a bit.

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  4. Mariah whilst Pregnant believed it was the pregnancy that made her voice improve because that's when she stopped drinking the alcohol. Alcohol is a vocalists kryptonite. Also speaking from personal experience any strong alcohol or rather any alcohol in general is Dehydrating and irritating to the vocal folds. That is part of the "burning" sensation that goes down when you take a shot of anything- its literally ripping out the moisture from your throat. Singers ESPECIALLY Mariah with her nodules need to stay away from it because drinking water afterwards will not essentially help the folds as much as it does the rest of your body. I only drink when I know for sure I dont have to sing within a week because I tend to lose anywhere from a few notes to a whole octave on a bad day.

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  5. Im a tad bit disappointed in her belting but her whistles were spot on. Lady Needs to stay away from the alcohol and get her bed rest if she wants to start sounding amazing again.

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  6. I do not like this performance, BUT this was the last song she sang. Before this performance, she belted her ass off singing We belong together, Touch my body and always be my baby. So I wanna wait for some more live performances.

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  7. I did not know this!! CAn't wait for those to come out.. hopefully theyll be better!

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  8. Alcohol dries the vocal folds, which isn't good.

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  9. Massive let down in my book.

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  10. Yeah but wouldn't that only be if she drank right before a performance and would it matter whether she downed a glass of champagne or a shot of whiskey?

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  11. LOL Can't judge your singing Brian or whether alcohol significantly effects it but this is all assuming she does drink and does so prior to a performance. Besides which, I know plenty of singers who don't shy away from alcohol and still sounded pretty good. For sure better than Mariah during this performance.

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  12. I found the performance before she got on the stage to sing "Triumphant". She did a better job here. But the question is: Live or not?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWioRyFk0C0

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  13. Yes she drinks
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sleaSKmd5Js ;)
    And if I remember right she usually drinks a glass of champagne during shows, or at least on the last tour she did (before the pregnancy).

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  14. Try finding one that sounds pitch perfect whilst drinking during a show! lol. Honestly though it also depends on style as people who dont go for a crisp clear sound wont avoid alcohol as much as others. Alcohol as a matter of fact can give one an interesting rasp. My friend whos an Opera Singer hisses at alcohol before a recital or performance-because Opera requires precise perfection. Also it may not affect vocal texture (such as her rasp) but also longevity. The vocal folds especially whilst belting are constantly being slammed into each other at high speeds. So when they arent moisturized- they begin to wear and eventually tear. Also it affects those of us with Nodules more so than people with perfectly functioning folds- because the nodules already interfere with our voices to begin with. Lol maybe Id make a demo and ask DD to feature it!

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  15. LOL! I almost forgot about this. And yes it was last tour that during- I think it was "Its a wrap" one of her dancers would come out with a glass of "Yellow Liquid" leading us to assume that it was in fact Champagne.

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  16. I think she did well on WBT
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNHBCur4VJ0

    But then, who am I to judge?

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  17. I actually liked the TMB and Always be my baby performances.

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  18. Shelby Lynne Is all I can say.
    And Frank and Sammy Davis jr. Far as I know they all drank.
    And all of them were pitch perfect .
    And like I said, I can see how it would effect the vocals if one drinks right before a performance but a "week before". I think that is just plain BS unless you are talking classical singers.

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  19. Now see, that's what I mean, you come with a video where she is allegedly drunk but that is presenting at a film festival and then you add the gossip ( because you have no actual knowledge on that) that "she drinks a glass of champagne during shows".

    And really, you guys are trying to make me believe that her voice sounding this raspy is from drinking one glass of champagne during her concerts.

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  20. Yeah, Dean Martin would also act as if he was drinking all the time and even was drunk all the time. Matter of fact was, he didn't and he wasn't.

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  21. Those are some of the screamiest head notes I have ever heard.... some of them were perfect but most were just screams...also most of those belts were yells-not supported or healthy sounding at all. His range is impressive but his texture is a hot mess if we are talking perfect vocal texture.

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  22. I mean...yeah. The vocal folds need to be very moisturized to sound fine. Thats why when someone takes a shot of something strong they sound hoarse for a moment afterwards. Wich is also why Ive noticed that a lot of habitual smokers and drinkers tend to have a slight to major rasp in their speaking voice. Also seeing as alcohol is a depressant and muscle relaxant it can over time make the vocal folds numbed and hard to control. And with Mariahs voice you need control or else youll sound like a hot scratchy mess.

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  23. Also its not just "one little drink" we are talking about. Its habitual drinking over extended periods of time. One little drink every now and then is fine. But when youre a proffessional singer you need to make sure that you repair any damage made to the vocal folds in doing so meaning drink plenty of water- wich she does- and get plenty of rest- which we all know she doesnt.

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  24. Indeed there must be a reason why her voice sounds the way it does these days. I am just saying I am not buying into this being the result of some champagne drinking. Even on a regular basis. Too little proof she drinks all that much and too many examples of drinkers sounding just fine.

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  25. "texture" sounds like a matter of taste and as far as "healthy" goes..he never had serious vocal problems and is still going strong at 60. I think that argument just flew out of the window.
    Not sure what you mean with "not supported"

    Of course those were screams..it's rock. This is the guy most rock singers modeled themselves after. And I see you nicely ignored my examples of Lynn, Sinatra, Davis jr. ;)

    All in all, all that technical knowledge is fine but reality is, it is theory which is often exaggerated into something which at times can exclude actual reality. ;D

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  26. Im speaking of what she generally speaks of regarding herself. It was more so in the beginning of her career but she always said she neglected sleep and needed to sleep like...15 hours in order to sing a full show with perfect vocals.

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  27. Texture is a technical term. Vocal texture is the clarity in the notes. The texture of most of Mariahs notes is clear- with bell like colors. However Christina for example has a very scratchy rough vocal texture. I really just looked at the link you sent lol but Freddy Mercury is one of those Rock Artists who I LOVE listening to. He was vocal perfection. Im not really trying to exaggerate anything to make a point. Im just speaking from knowledge I have gained from lessons and personal experience. Everyones voice is different so some people have incredibly resilient voices. Healthy sounding is generally a sound of ease or a natural sounding tone meaning it doesnt sound forced like a scream or yell. Supported means the vocals are perfectly executed with great sound and clarity - as if the artist can sing that way anytime they wish and is breathing efficiently and singing "correctly". I honestly hate the term "Correct" though because singing can also be a stylistic thing and some of my favorite artists sing "awfully" but to me sound amazing like Janis Joplin and Christina and Etta.

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  28. Like I said Mercury used Plant as a model for his vocals. ;)

    I didn't say you exaggerated to make a point. I think you truly believe what you are saying. I meant that you exaggerate the importance of the theory. I.e. alcohol in theory is not good for the voice but I think reality shows that the point where the influence of alcohol becomes in any way a real factor is not where you place it. Certainly not for singers of popular music. History has shown this a plenty. And because of this my point is that I don't think this is a factor in the seemingly demise of Mariah's voice.

    Thanks for the explanation but by those terms I'd say Plant's singing is most certainly healthy (because surely if he had been forcing it he wouldn't have been able to sustain this singing for so many years without any vocal problems) and supported as he would do the same thing in the same songs live many times.

    Correctly is indeed a hard term but since he was the first rock artist to sing like that and like I say sort of set the standard, I guess within the genre he is singing as correctly as Janis was within the blues. :)

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  29. Beginning of her career was 1990 and she was very young. Like I say..we don't KNOW her daily routine. But aside from that I'd say she was joking about needing 15 hours sleep.
    This is why I mentioned Dean Martin. Artists will say things in jest or to create an image but that doesn't make it necessarily the truth. Certainly not for 22 years later.
    I mean, if she needed 15 hours at 20 imagine how much she sleep she'd need to cram into one night at 42. ;D

    All in all I'd say way more likely her voice is not what it used to be because it was not as you explained "healthy" what she has been doing all these years?

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  30. It's not "allegedly" Opie, she admitted during the speech that she was drunk and in several interviews the following days that she was infact intoxicated because she didn't think she'd be presenting so she had a few pre-show drinks.
    And I'm not adding to any gossip as well, fans often upload performances on youtube and in plenty of them a couple male dancers would bring a drink in a champagne glass to Mariah and she would precede to drink it. Whether it was champagne or not is up to debate.
    Also I added no gossip, I said "If I remember correctly" not something like "Oh I heard Mariah.." I was only applying the statement about remembering correctly as to which tour it was that she did it, not the fact of her doing it.

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  31. She stated in 2010 that she needs about 12-13 hours of sleep before a show, which isn't too abnormal for a singer. A good amount of singers tend to get extra sleep before shows to be well rested when the time comes :)

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  32. It is alleged to me as long as I don't have her own words for it or smelled her breath myself.You saying it or you saying you saw her say it...that's still your word. Anyway, like I pointed out and you admitted, this was not during a performance.
    I am not going to go into a discussion on what constitutes gossip. It is beside the point. The point was whether she drinks so much it ruined her voice. I simply made the case for why I don't believe alcohol to be a factor.

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  33. Also I'd like to add that the use of Whistle Register and those High octave belts don't come without a price- even with good technique. Singers need lots of adequate rest in order for the Vocal folds to repair themselves.

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  34. And my point is...we don't have any factual knowledge on her not getting those 12-13 hours ( or not getting it)

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  35. That's what I suggested Brian, perhaps it is not alcohol OR lack of rest but the way she sang for years. Pleasing fans who care about such nonsense as the ability to hit certain notes rather than telling the story of the song.

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  36. So with this ^ i am just assuming with promotions that she is indeed lacking her sleep but as you said we dont know for sure!

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  37. You are "the audience". you are the ultimate " judge ". ;)

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  38. Thanks Brian, that was a lot more helpful to the conversation. So, I guess it is her caring more about promotion than her vocal chords which is the problem.

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  39. Not just rest in the form of sleep it seems.

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  40. She sounds okay here. Much better than Triumphant, but i won't delude myself with the words "good" or "return" or even "Mariah-like".

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  41. Interesting vid, Brian.

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  42. Again I will say it over and over but I LOVE MC but I am not going to shield her from what was a pretty substandard performance, for her anyway.


    But to be fair its not really an easy song for anyone to sing, there is a lot of jumps in register and notage. I agree the whistles were a delight to hear. Please as Brian said a while back and let the MC marketing come back with a smash ballad that she seems to convey better than most of her uptempo stuff! x

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  43. Meh, I honestly think that if she stopped drinking and hadn't had a bit of a cold (seriously, is everyone in America coming down with something?), she would have sounded fine. We KNOW she can pull off her old vocals, because every once in a while, she'll sing something so spectacular that the vocals are simply undeniable. But the voice has aged, and she needs to accept that, but at the same time, so do we. Whistle register, as usual, was perfect, indicating to me that she has a LOT easier time in the highest part of her voice than in the belts.

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  44. This performance completely saddens me, particularly because she sounded so good singing Always Be My Baby and We Belong Together. What on earth happened... I'm such a big Mariah fan but I find it so difficult to justify her sometimes...

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  45. watch and listen this everyone! Mariah gave an impromptu jazz singing later that nighthttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VC3xDiav5c

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  46. LOL Now if she is such a drinker, surely she had a drink here? And she is sounding a hell of a lot better than in the above video. Voice wise that is.
    On a whole though I am not impressed with her ability to deliver an impromptu performance by this video. Seen a lot of performers do way better tbh. This in fact enforces my opinion regarding modern popstars v. real musicians.

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  47. One of the, if not THE, most awful rendeitions of "Summertime", jazzy, operatic or gospel, I have EVER heard. As much as I love Mariah, this is proof of so many anti-Mariah/pro-her competition stances out there. Whitney, Celine, Leona and Christina all could have pulled that off in their primes or latter days. Not to mention, that people who have been BELTing it out far longer than Mariah can still pull off this song, such as Patti, Aretha, Gladys, Chaka and Natalie and just for giggles, Cissy Houston too. This inpromtu jazzy session, like the rare impromtu sessions she gives, fell short. Started off surprisingly good and just became a jumpy, hot MESS!

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  48. I did like however how she pointed out her mother's true nusicianship by saying she was an opera singer who sang jazz too. Goes to show that once you have great technique, you can sing anything...and Mariah has never really been versatile.

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  49. Mariah's never been good with impromptu stuff lololol

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  50. not true! you can try to search her charmbracelet tour when she did the band intro in impromptu style


    well for the voice i do believe it's because of the nodules. the nodules somehow affected her belting range with chest voice and i agree that she has to stop making songs that is impossible for her to sing live

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  51. My criticism went to her not seeming to have a tune in her head she could sing impromptu. Other than her own tunes I mean. Which goes to how much one is generally into music I think, instead of just into one's own "career".
    If you could direct me to a video disproving that impression I;d be delighted but an tour band intro is hardly impromptu.

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  52. maybe she didn't have any good night sleep? her voice is kinda awful there.

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  53. As a lamb I was extremely disappointed.

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  54. Aargh, they've taken the video down :O(

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  55. Ah - I've found it on youtube now. What a weird performance - the mix was all wrong, backing track up way too high, perhaps to 'cover' the parts Mariah chose not to sing. She does drop a couple of clangers though. I really didn't like the song either - not exactly a 'hummable' melody! Stuey I completely agree with you.

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  56. MC is flawless to me but i will admit it was mediocre (by mariah's standards atleast) but like Diva said its expected for one's voice to change as that person ages

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  57. she drinks a lot haha
    and i wouldn't be surprised if she drank before the performance - remember her drunken speech at that one award show

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  58. i agree somewhat with you but thats what a lot of people love about mariah is her wide range and her technique because there are a lot of singers out there with bad technique

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  59. so it seems i'm a bit confused, what do you think impromptu is??

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  60. I recently noticed this... just thought it goes well with the theme, MC was practically waiting for this kind of irony.

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  61. greed the voice changes but Mariah has some different issue vocally going on. Patti Labelle for example is a pretty solid singer still, sure she cant hit all her high notes and her tone quality isnt what is was decade ago or earlier, but non the less she can still sing her songs, she peforms all the time live without resting. Whatever happened to Mariah around 96-97 has forever took a toll on Mimi, In 2002 (Chamberbraclet) she did comeback strong vocally(not as 1990-94 but still dang near, I remember seeing live performance of "through the rain" where she she belted out after the bridge till the the end of the song without a slight bit of trouble. After that her peformances where inconsistant. She may have been sick here, she sounded raspier than normal and her belts where darker and huskier than usuall. Mariah voice is kinda in the same state of Chaka Khans currently is. But Chaka on the other hand is a smoker till this day.

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  62. I think the issue with Mariah are those nodules she had a child which have probably developed further throughout her career. She's also had twins in this period. Again, like Christina Aguilera, the trouble is in the upper chest voice above a C5 and until the head voice takes over, Mariah's voice almost vanishes to a whisper sometimes. It's inconsistent. I am sure she will get it back to speak, but I am noticing a weird pattern here. Something about that area of the voice is tricky.

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  63. Sorry dude, never saw this comment when you just posted it.
    "impromptu" means on the spot, in the spur of the moment, without preparation time.

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  64. That inconsitancy is strange, It seems no matter what other issues she may have vocally her whitsle is pretty much always on point. Im guessing this has something to do with how her nodules are now growing. I noticed even back in 2010 when she performed for Christmas Album in 2010 she went through a period when she could belt with moderate ease but all chest, with a hole around C5 and up.

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