Lana Del Rey

I hate going off topic but have people watched Katy Perry's and Rihanna's recent SNL tapes?Some critics are already slamming this poor innocent genuine cutie while experienced singers didn't get 2/4 this bashing.I don't know why are peps going so much in on her,it's undeserved considering she's newbie debuting on such important show.

a popjustice stan weighs in o_0

The last time I saw Katy Perry on SNL I remember thinking she had a good night (ie she was actually singing instead of desperately honking at notes hoping she didn't crack)

No one thinks Rihanna can sing live

one thing american idol has given us that will not go away quickly is a pretty high expectation of basic vocal quality when watching somebody sing a pop song on stage, and for that i give simon cowell and his hellish minions a grudging "fair dos"

that whiney post is such a whineyian masterpiece

No one thinks Rihanna can sing live

by far the most brutal part of last year's american idol auditions involved all the people who tried out with 'only girl in the world.' i wanted to shake them and be like, 'no, no, don't you see? the point is that she doesn't really hit those notes!'

one thing american idol has given us that will not go away quickly is a pretty high expectation of basic vocal quality when watching somebody sing a pop song on stage, and for that i give simon cowell and his hellish minions a grudging "fair dos"

it's fairly ironic that xfactor is another of those programmes reliably unkind to performing guests

ooh is this where i get to lob in jessie j's sensitive totp rendition of "price tag" for a compare & contrast?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pym1_N1q74

Also Fleet Foxes were completely in tune on their awful music on that stage, and Kanye singing into a fucking vocoder was in tune on that stage and he isn't even a singer, so really people need to stfu and recognize that their pet acts can't fucking sing

jessie j is actually worse than the woman from karmin

If only SNL had waited until 2012 to book Jessie J. We coulda had quite the run.

i've avoided karmin so far in the hope that it will go away before i have to know about it?

lol oh lex you're so OPTIMISTIC

lexxxxxxxxxx nooooooooooooo dont make me see that again

Massive foghorn Jessie J was in tune on SNL. Massive often-out-of-tune foghorn Florence Welch was in tune on "No Light, No Light" (didn't see her other song). It's not impossible to be in tune on that stage!

I thought Florence was terrible on SNL, but I've never seen her in control of her own voice in a live setting.

Oh man, THANK YOU. I saw her at the VH1 Divas thing a few back and she seemed a half-step flat the whole time!

I've heard her in tune twice; the aforementioned "No Light, No Light" and whatever award show she did that breakthrough "Dog Days" performance on. The other times I've heard her she's been super flat.

dying @ "ayo blogger idiots"

also, that natalie imbruglia reference upthread forgets about ms. dyanmite, who performed on snl the saturday before 'a little deeper''s 3/11/03 release. BLOGGERS.

Woah....yikes @ the SNL "Videogames". She must have done a million takes in the studio to get that right, cos every live performance I've seen has been wince-inducing.

On Jools I thought she was just nervous and now I guess it's like, she really can't do this whole "performing a song in front of people" thing

which is a shame given her chosen career

OTM.

don't worry guys I'm sure she'll sell a lot of albums

if top of the pops still existed then she would do fine on there what with miming being allowed. Imagine all the really bad performances over the years if everyone had to play live (that includes many rock bands btw)

Kanye singing into a fucking vocoder was in tune on that stage and he isn't even a singer, so really people need to stfu and recognize that their pet acts can't fucking sing

in fairness Kanye doubtless asked for & got his own sound crew & +/- 4 hours of taped soundcheck. He's also a tremendous performer but if he didn't get the absolute highest-end prep from NBC I'd be very, very surprised

considering how many artists have gotten buzz out of the 'mystique' of not performing live or doing a lot of public appearances etc. lately she probably could've gotten away with just not doing this kind of thing without it hurting her career

btw I've never heard LDR before this performance so I she's not like a pet artist for me

Fun experiment, throwing a David Lynch short into the SNL mix and seeing the reaction (not you guys, but my Twitter feed).

In the land of "you're either in on the joke or you are the joke," she didn't stand a chance.

wow there are STILL seriously people who can't differentiate between autotune and vocoder?

Also Fleet Foxes were completely in tune on their awful music on that stage

also fyi these guys are fucking spectacular musicians & I think 2 of them have perfect pitch. I know this because two of them were in a band we did some shows w/ & they're the kind of musicians who when they're just fucking around at soundcheck you go "holy shit, these guys can play"

considering how many artists have gotten buzz out of the 'mystique' of not performing live or doing a lot of public appearances etc. lately she probably could've gotten away with just not doing this kind of thing without it hurting her career

otm, esp with her music being what it is

Yeah, Fleet Foxes probably don't even require monitors. Their skills were honed sitting around campfire jamborees and such.

what I preemptively hate is how her PR will now use "her climb toward being a not-terrible performer" as part of the narrative for her next move. which is pathetic.

Their skills were honed sitting around campfire jamborees and such.

lol that shit is straight schtick, they're marching-band dudes iirc

lol

is playing live not something of an economic necessity these days?

a lot of non-rock major label chart acts do very few concerts or live performances until they have enough hits that they can go out as a headliner, it seems like

I don't know if her miming it would be any help. She has 0 stage presence, esp. for someone who is supposedly a Sinatra-esque sex kitten.

is playing live not something of an economic necessity these days?

depends on where you live & who you know, if you're west coast & near television/movie people there are other roads open but they're generally pretty short roads. being good live is still your best bet though yes.

Playing live is really the only way you make money. If she wants to see any $$$ from her record sales, she's going to need to sell a LOT to cover all they're spending on PR, videos, etc.

don't worry guys I'm sure she'll sell a lot of albums

― dayo, Sunday, January 15, 2012 12:07 PM (18 minutes ago) Bookmark

well, that's not true: there's licensing, film work, soundtracking, commercials. all kinds of stuff you can do if you make the right kind of music, which she does. playing live is the only way you directly make money from selling your music directly to consumers, yes.

In her particular case though, not being good live doesn't seem to hinder people as all her shows have been sold out. Also the ones after some big telly performances iirc

not being good live doesn't seem to hinder people as all her shows have been sold out.

that's when I reach for my revolver

to kill myself with, I mean

No need to bring it live to bring in that Chipotle-background money.

You know
I'm almost always 100% on the side of the artist when it comes to a lousy showing captured on video
And totes went into that Youtube with the empathy afforded any premature birth
But wow! Just wow!
I would leave the room when it's her turn at karaoke

To Whiney's point, she should've been on Colbert instead of SNL. Then we'd know for certain.

she has a few youtubes of live performances (really old looking ones?) where it she seems to have the basics of singing down

she also has lots where not

glad the blogosphere vetted her as being a good live singer first before splattering her all across our google readers

wow, you guys really built this up to be something utterly dreadful. watching now and her worst crime seems to be stage fright. they're not great performances but i could see them being good if she were less nervous. her high notes are better than i've seen them in the past...

her high notes are better than i've seen them in the past...

when this is the best you can say about somebody maybe they're not ready for television

well snl's cast is known as the "not-ready-for-primetime players"!