I have been waiting a long time to hear Adam Lambert sing some Robert Plant. With Adam Lambert's range, I knew that he could sing in Plant's upper range with ease.1 It was a glorious moment to hear Led Zeppelin sung so well last night. Yay!
Whenever I hear music that I really enjoy, I laugh. Often I laugh because the singer has done something clever with his/her diction or the delivery is just too incredible for words. I also laugh because the music is so fun and interesting. I often will laugh during a raucous jazz concert. And I would like to laugh when I attend the opera, but I try hard to restrain myself.
I laughed twice during American Idol last night. Once during Adam Lambert's awesome performance. And once when Kris Allen did a cool thing by semi-swallowing the word "please" on his performance of "Come Together" (about 00:28 in this clip). Since I know Beatles songs so well, that change was so expected and fun that I laughed. Plus I could tell that Kris was genuinely enjoying himself as he sang that phrase ("do what he please") - which made me feel like I was having fun with him.2
Do you ever laugh or do something silly when you really enjoy music?
1 From what I've seen, in live performances Robert Plant sang an octave lower than the Zeppelin studio recordings. I wonder if it was to save his voice (that's a lot of screaming for a singer who is on tour), or if it was difficult for him to sing that high on a consistent basis. Along these same lines, I read in a couple of places (like here) that the Zeppelin songs needed to be transposed into a lower key for the band's recent reunion. I guess Plant can't hit those notes like he used to. But I still think he is a really competent, tasteful, and relevant singer, as indicated by his totally awesome album with Allison Krauss, Raising Sand (2007).
2 I hope that Kris doesn't leave tonight. I have several friends who don't like him, but I thought that he did a really good job, especially given that rock and roll isn't his genre. He really put his own spin on the song and made it sound original, which is hard to do when you sing something by the Beatles. If I was basing judgment solely on last night's performances, I would have to say that Danny Gokey needs to go home. That performance was sloppy, scary, and sad. And that final scream? Yikes.
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6 comments:
Robert Plant sings lower because he had surgery to remove vocal nodules in 1974. He learned after that to protect his voice.
I didn't know that, Angie. Thanks for sharing. My dad is a vocal specialist; he often consults with singers and sometimes removes their vocal nodules. It's surprising how many singers don't know how to protect their vocal cords. I'm glad to know that Robert Plant is taking good care of his pipes.
I love the pictures you chose for this post. That made me laugh. I also laugh when I enjoy music, and I also sing along, which usually prompts a "mommy stop singing, now!" from my pint sized peanut (free) section.
Great pictures.
Well, I was quite surprised that Allison left tonight, but then again, not really. I should have known better since she has a record for being in the bottom three.
You know, if Kris ends up winning this whole thing by some unseen miracle I'm going to be beside myself.
I am so glad Kris is still in. And I also laughed when he sang "please"! I loved his performance! I also really enjoyed his duet with Danny. But I have to agree with you that Danny's solo was scary. I wasn't a fan of Adam this week-though that's probably because I just don't like Zeppelin... I think Adam's best performance to date was "Mad World". Which one had been your favorite?
Tara, "Mad World" was a really awesome performance. It's up there as one of my favorites, but I think that I might have liked "Whole Lotta Love" more, just because I like Zeppelin. I've liked most of Adam's performances, except for "Ring of Fire." I also didn't love "Play that Funky Music," but it was alright.
I loved the look of shock on Kris' face when he heard that he was in the semi-finals. And it was cute to see his wife crying and cheering.
I'm sad about Allison leaving, but I guess that most people has to get kicked off sooner or later. She has a great career ahead of her, though. What talent!
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