I Turn to You by Christina Aguilera

[gracesong]

This performance was from a talent show at my university that I participated in.

sorry about the random clapping, cheering and the sometimes shaky video quality.

Be honest, though, and enjoy!

Thanks!

[chele1000]

Hi Gracesong,

I'll start with the constructive criticism......having your hand on the mic while on the stand is inhibiting to you open up. Hands on both sides and chest up. There are some pitch problems that would clear up with some confidence in your singing and your ability. Find the meaning of a song and find someone in your life you can relate that song with. Sing the song to THEM...even if they are not there. Feel the emotion and it will come across and capture the audience.

Now the good stuff! You have great transitioning between notes (that's very difficult to do). Great ability to control from loud to soft. Great tone in all loudness or softness. Very clear clean voice! Good posture. When you know in your mind you can do a line it comes across very good. You have good foundation and your breathing is supportive. You chose a very difficult song to sing and pulled off alot of it! Kudos!

You are young and have loads of potential. Pitch is very important so I would recommend you work on that. Try it again with more confidence and open up. Take the chance....you have the ability. BELIEVE you can....I know you can but YOU have to.

good luck!

[gracesong]

Hey chele1000, thanks for the comments!

Yeah, stage fright tends to get me every time, and that's definitely something I'm working on overcoming.

The pitch problems, when I went back and listened to it, were really due to my lack of confidence during that moment. I wasn't sure or confident that my voice would do as it was told. good bit about the mic and keeping hands off. I'll definitely keep that in mind.

Thanks! :)

[ronws]

Right off the bat, 100 percent, I agree with the judges. As for stage moves, I want you to remember this. Not knowing how old you are and I was going to link in the song but the lyrics have some adult references, I want you to judge the example of Lita Ford. She was formerly of the Runaways before striking out on her own. She is a fantastic, aggressive guitar player who can also sing. But she couldn't dance. If you can watch the video of "Kiss Me Deadly," remember that she didn't know how to dance. But a choreographer showed her some poses to use. What looks like dancing in the video is actually carefully edited poses. So, just to help you relax physically, you might try some poses, even those of, say, Celine Dion. But just remember that not knowing what to do on stage need not stop you.

Your voice is astounding and whether or not you win a talent competition, you should be making albums. Seriously. Yes, you are that good. You have a voice made for soul and R & B but don't be afraid to try rock, too. I just thought of it just now. Another good example of who to emulate in moves on stage that doesn't involve acrobatics or suggestive moves is Pat Benatar. I don't mean the videos for MTV but live performances. Or, Cyndi Lauper. Watch her live shows for ideas.

But whatever, start recording professionally. Live the dream. Dream to live.

[gracesong]

Hey ronws,

Wow! Thank you so much for listening and for commenting!

I really appreciate your feedback, and yes, some rehearsed poses might do me some good. Perhaps, it may help me to focus less on my stage fright and the inevitable jitters I get before going on stage and during the performance.

You stated my voice would be good for soul and R&B and perhaps some rock. Could you suggest some artists in the rock genre you think might be a good fit for me?

So far, I've looked into Within Temptation and trying to work in "Tides of Time" by Simone Simons.

However, in the area of soul and R&B, would my voice be a bit too light, both in weight and timbre?

[ronws]

You have the range to do most anything you want, including Pat Benatar. Even though Benetar started out as a classically trained opera singer (soprano), she was able to incorporate some grit or distortion in her voice to give it the "street-wise" edge that she had. Lita Ford had a bit more grit. Joan Jett brought grit in like no one else. Until Melissa Etheridge, who seemed to have invented female grit. But you don't have to do grit.

You could sing clean and mixed, with a little twang, like Amy Lee of Evanescence, if you wanted to do hard rock and heavy metal. I think your voice is strong enough for that and you would probably move away from the vocal trills of soul and R & B, unless you could manage to meld the two, and I bet you could. Faith No More melded rap, hard rock, heavy metal and classical all in one song, namely, the song "Epic." Anthrax mixed heavy speed metal and rap. I'd say, considering the angelic quality of your voice, you are closer to Amy Lee. Maybe you should put some soul in heavy metal. You would have excellent company in the class of mixing genres. I have a vinyl LP, (from the dinosaur days before cd's) of Judas Priest doing "Johnny B. Goode." It was never released on an album or for the public. It was a promotional release only. How did I get my hands on it? My good friend, Tommy, worked for the clean-up crew for the Atlantic Records birthday party that was held in Dallas back in the 80's. Needless to say, it "accidently" wound up in my hands.

Whether you decide to stay with R & B or not, try other genres just to stretch your legs, so to speak. Sometimes, "accidents" lead to a new sound.

[gno]

Iris - great job! You have a very nice voice. The minor pitch issues are really just a confidence thing which you WILL overcome. I would bet that when you are at home practicing you are right on. If you concentrating on correct breathing this will also help the pitch even if you are a little nervous. I could definitely hear you adding some weight and distortion and twang to your voice to give more emphasis in certain phrases. Siobhan Magnus is a good example of a singer who would sing a lot in neutral (like you) but she adds distortion and twang as needed. I think you could work on those techniques to give you more options. Nice job!

[gracesong]

Thank you guys so much. It really means a lot to me.

OK, I will definitely chek those artists out and try something new.