Even though I didn’t see it, I heard that Taylor Swift’s Grammy performance with Stevie Nicks was somewhat wack. I kind of thought people were just hating on Swifty just because it seems like the girl can’t take a breath without someone jumping up her ass. And then I looked up the video. Yeah. Swifty was rough that night. Here’s the video:
Anyway, either Swifty was so bad or the criticism was so rough that Swifty’s record label has stepped up to defend her. Big Machine Records CEO Scott Borchetta tells that press that Swifty’s bad performance was all about “a volume problem in the ear. So, she was concerned that she wasn’t able to hear everything in the mix. That’s just part of live TV. … So you’re going to have difficulties on occasion. Unfortunately, on one of the biggest stages, we did have a technical issue. She couldn’t hear herself like she had in rehearsal.” Hmm… do you buy it?
The head of Taylor Swift’s record label is fired up and ready to defend his superstar from people who are criticizing her Grammy-night performance.
“She is the voice of this generation. She speaks directly to (her fans), and they speak directly back to her,” said Big Machine Records CEO Scott Borchetta in a phone interview. “This is not `American Idol.’ This is not a competition of getting up and seeing who can sing the highest note. This is about a true artist and writer and communicator. It’s not about that technically perfect performance.”
Borchetta first responded to the backlash in The Tennessean. Asked by The Associated Press why he felt the need to defend Swift, he said because the criticism was “just over the top. It’s that classic thing that critics do of building something up and then wanting to tear it down.”
Swift rehearsed her performance and duet with Stevie Nicks two different times at the Staples Center in Los Angeles in front of a crowd of people. Critics were nicer then. Entertainment Weekly wrote of the rehearsal, “The two women’s voices complimented each other nicely on the harmonies of `Rhiannon …'”
But on Sunday night’s Grammy show, Borchetta said Swift had a technical issue that made her worry about her performance. (Attempts to reach The Recording Academy for comment went unanswered.)
“We had a volume problem in the ear. So, she was concerned that she wasn’t able to hear everything in the mix,” Borchetta said. “That’s just part of live TV. … So you’re going to have difficulties on occasion. Unfortunately, on one of the biggest stages, we did have a technical issue. She couldn’t hear herself like she had in rehearsal.”
As quickly as you could say “Fearless,” bloggers and media outlets, including The New York Times and The Washington Post, pounced on Swift’s performance. The chatter at times overshadowed the four Grammys she won – including album of the year.
Borchetta said he doesn’t need critics to give the 20-year-old the benefit of the doubt: “What we have is so much bigger than that. Am I going to ask them to turn their heads, no, I don’t need them to.”
It’s doubtful her fans will abandon Swift anytime soon, judging by the congratulations and positive comments on her Facebook and MySpace pages, or that those with tickets to the second leg of her sold-out “Fearless” tour will throw them away because she had a bad night. And with that, Borchetta has a message to all of her critics.
“If you haven’t seen her live performance, you’re welcome to come out as my guest to a Taylor Swift show and experience the whole thing, because it’s amazing. You can see her in her element. There’s a reason tickets are selling like they are.”
Swift’s “Fearless” album has sold over 5 million copies and was last year’s top-selling album. She is the youngest artist to ever win the Grammys’ top prize of album of the year. She will resume the “Fearless” tour March 4 in Tampa, Florida.
[From The Huffington Post]
Here’s the thing – I used to be a deejay, and while I’m not saying that’s comparable to doing a live performance on stage at the Grammys, I will say that many, many people have a tough time when their ear pieces or headphones aren’t properly synced up to the mic. And once you do have some kind of minor technical difficulty, it’s difficult to shake it off and get back in sync. Swifty should have just taken out her earpiece and tried to sync up to Stevie Nicks live, but shoulda, woulda, coulda. Poor Swifty.
Taylro Swift at the Grammys on January 31, 2010. Credit: WENN.
the girl is just a studio singer, sounds worst than a cat in heat live
Bitch please!!! Taylor, you cannot sing for shit.
I’ve heard her live and I think she’s fine. She did “Photograph” with Def Leppard and she rocked it. Her performance on that Help for Haiti thing was a little shaky but she looked nervous as hell and sounded a lot better when her backup singer chimed in.
Potato, potahto
I’ve seen singers rip their earphones out frequently mid-song. I can believe it was a contributing issue.
I don’t know her music at all, but it’s a bit strange that at times her harmonies were straight on, other times completely off.
I recall hearing that exact same excuse when Ashly Simpson got booed for her really bad super bowl performance.
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1495731/20050111/simpson_ashlee.jhtml
Please…stop. Since the Kanye incident, Taylor has been exposed to a wider audience and has received heaps of praise, deserved and undeserved. As a result of the attention she’s been exposed as a medicore singer, at best. She has had several live performances that have been less than stellar and they should cop to that. She may be an able songwriter but she’s not a great singer, so why try to blame the “librul” media (read: NYT and WAPO)? Don’t be mad because people aren’t buying the “golly shucks, who me” routine anymore and are treating her as an adult. When you win album of the year and you can’t sing, it sucks for you and your record label. Get the girl some vocal lessons and let it go.
She did a live performance of George Strait’s song Run, and it was lovely. Watch it on You Tube.
Excuss after excuss….How many people are going to keep pitying her. She can’t seem to hold her own. I use to like her now I’m just sick of her.
Yeah, I don’t get the whole Taylor Swift thing. She may be a decent songwriter for a teenager but her voice in unremarkable. She has a good, steady career for now and she should be happy and proud of that. But trying to turn her into the “voice of a generation” is just laughable.
At one point it looked like Stevie Nicks looked her sideways as if to say, what are you doing to my song? So funny!
BEP also sounded like shit… nobody’s saying anything…
Oh please – it wasn’t THAT bad.
Shit she was on stage with a LEGEND. I’d be a little nervouse too.
I say give her a break.
Sounds just like Ashlee Simpson’s acid reflux or whatever it was.
I don’t think she sounded that bad. I do agree with Leticia, Stevie was giving her a weird look!
That is the first time I have heard one of her songs I kinda liked it! It was too funny hearing Stevie Nicks doing bubble gum pop music!!!
This is such bull. Taylor has sung poorly on many other tv performances. I saw her live once and she sounded really bad. I don’t know if she’s just a bad singer or bad at singing in large arenas. Some people sound great performing in small venues or solo. But get them in a large arena with a full band, you wonder why they are popular. Although Taylor was popular before Kanye, she really blewup after his outburst. She got exposed to a lot more people and is under a microscope. Six months ago nobody cared about her bad singing. Now she can’t get away with it.
I thought her performance was good, not her best but still good.
I think she should do something different with her hair. Its been exactly the same since she came into the spotlight. I would love to see it straight or done differently.
I didn’t see the Grammy performance, but I’ve seen her elsewhere enough to know she doesn’t have the strongest voice. But she is a good songwriter and musician, a nice change from manufactured pop like Britney.
Voice of a generation? I think that’s a bit much. She seems like a nice kid who’s having a lot of commercial success right now. No need to over sell us.
unfortunately, she was even worse singing live on SNL. either there is a technical problem EVERY time she sings, or she TECHNICALLY CANT SING.
i think (know) its the latter. she is out of tune consistently. this shouldnt be surprising to anyone, since most of these pop princess upstarts are. it does not take real talent and skill as much as it used to to be a great artist.
My sister compared her live performance on Saturday Night Live to kittens licking a microphone.
She should have never done a duet with Stevie Nicks. Once Nicks, starting singing, it reminded people that singers used to be based on real talent. Nicks didn’t even look like she was trying and didn’t need to constantly have gimmicky poses. If there was a technical issue, I’d say the real shame was when they turned down Nicks microphone to the point that you could barely hear her. I like Taylor overall, but she’s not a strong singer.
I don’t think it was too bad. Maybe not her best but I don’t think I’d be able to speak if I was standing beside Stevie Nicks let alone sing a couple of songs.
Due to her SNL monologue song, Taylor gets a pass from me. Cutest. Song. Ever.
She sounded like third alternate for the solo in the choir. I think her studio voice is weak, her live voice is just pitiful.
I’m a singer and if you can’t hear yourself you can’t match pitch… I’ll have to watch the performance when I get a chance to see if thats what it sounds like or if they’re just making excuses.
Reading that ‘she is the voice of this generation’ makes me really appreciate coming from the 80’s and 90’s era of music. Its a shame that these tweenies dont get to hear that kind of music any more to know what true talent is. Her lyrics and voice maybe okay for tweeny boppers but I think this is all exploding b/c the media hyped the Kanye story up so much she was getting all these sympathy awards. Then given more at the grammys and now those of us who never really heard of her or cared for her type are pissed at the media and awards show for passing off what is a cute and sweet girl for a musical talent, which she obviously is not. I think the anger should go towards the media and awards people who blew her up in a way that can’t be backtracked after we have all heard that the talent just isnt there with this one. This whole thing just makes me miss the real ladies of rock from the 80’s.
Is the whole world tone deaf? This girl CANNOT sing and I’m tired of hearing about how great she is. It was a slap in the face to the other great female country artists who were nominated with her for Best Female Vocalist at the country awards – she can’t hold a candle to Reba, Martina, Carrie, etc. I actually cringe when I hear her sing on TV – she’s SO BAD!!
Singing harmony is hard enough, but to do it on the fly seems almost impossible. I was in a musical and had someone who sang the wrong part on one side of me and someone who sang the right one on the other. The person who was singing the wrong part kept throwing me even though I knew what I was supposed to be singing so I had to try to block her out and lean more toward the one who was doing it right to keep on key. I didn’t think their voices were compatible to start with and figured Stevie was throwing Taylor, who wasn’t singing a song she knew backwards and forwards like Stevie. I thought she sounded okay on her own songs. So, if there was a monitor problem it’s perfectly understandable.
She definitely can’t sing … Try watching her LIVE performance .. it is so flat .. It’s not about American Idol, or reach a high pitch .. to be a singer you have to have power .. Not to mention singing while dancing .. She stands still … When singing it seems like she sings in front of a fan … let’s be honest .. she’s a great songwriter, great role model .. BUT SHE’s NOT A GREAT SINGER
I am sure this is an idiotic question, but who is BEP?
I did think Taylor was a little shaky, but not that bad. I actually didn’t think Stevie Nicks was all that great herself, but not that bad. I also didn’t think Beyonce did that great with the Alanis Morisette song portion of her performance, but Pink WAS AWESOME!
give the girl a break. she writes her own music. sings live and the most scandelous thing she’s done was date a guy 2 years younger than her. how many other of these “pop stars” can say that?
i am officially sick of this girl.
Yeh, she had a “technical” problem. TECHNICALLY, she can’t sing!
Mistaking Taylor Swift for some kind of great artist or songwriting genius is laughable. Calling her the voice of a generation is a total joke.
Teardrops on My Guitar- pretty song, very simple. Liked it.
The Romeo/Juliet song- also cute, semi clever but again, pretty simple.
Belong With Me- in my opinion a very annoying song and the whole thing is getting tiresome.
I’m going to write a song called The Boy I Love Is A Shallow Bastard Who’s Banging a Hotter Girl and win the Grammy in 2011!
@ snowball:
“Her performance on that Help for Haiti thing was a little shaky but she looked nervous as hell and sounded a lot better when her backup singer chimed in.”
It’s because her back up singer can ACTUALLY SING! It really sucks that 95% of the people doing backing vocals can sing better than the main performer! Usually because they don’t have the “right look” record companies pass over them.
Quite a few back up singers do go on to have their own solo careers — case in point, Sheryl Crow. She was a backing singer for Michael Jackson in the 80s!
She’s never really been a good singer, but I’m listening to this and she’s not as bad as she usually is. Am I missing something? Oh well, maybe I’m just tone deaf.
@fire … BEP? I suppose it’s the Black Eyed Peas. Just guessing. Didn’t watch the show.
One of the key things to being a vocalist is being on pitch,,,in tune. Hell Bob Dylan was a horrible singer but a great writer. Maybe she needs to focus on that.
Statements that liken Taylor Swift to Bob Dylan…ummm…wow. No words.
anyone who has ever seen the indigo girls live knows that singing together in harmony is possible when you are a true talent with strong pipes and not a kitten licking a microphone, as an above poster stated. they can sing perfectly in tune in a studio with just their guitars or anywhere on a stage with or without the ‘right equipment or technology’-they dont even wear those ear things. I cant believe people are trying to defend taylor for not being able to sing harmony in tune when Nicks stood right by her and did it with ease.
Taylor Swift isn’t a strong live singer. Everyone knows this. You can defend her all you like, but it’s clear in every single live performance I’ve accidentally come across (Grammy’s, SNL, some other awards shows), she’s never been that strong of a singer.
She isn’t bad. Just not that great. She’s got a cute little shtick and she can write cute songs for her fanbase and sing decently enough for that group.
But she is not on the same level as Stevie Nicks. No where near.
i like taylor, i really do, but you dont have to hear yourself sing to stay in pitch with such simple songs, you just need to hear the music and know your notes.
Taylor Swift CANNOT sing! Her grammies are by record sales not talent. She sells alot of records, she is a good songwriter if you like teenage angst, and she can play a guitar, but the girl can’t sing. Her voice is so over produced that it does sound okay on a cd, but not live. Her voice is like nails on chalkboard or a schreeching cat.
If you walk away with four Grammys over a very strong and consistent singer (Gaga), you better be able to back it up on the stage. She didn’t; hence the backlash. Yeah, she’s young but that is not an excuse. This is not the Teen Choice Awards, or MTV. This was the Grammys, and she blew it.
Don’t give me that technical nonsense. Someone with real pipes like Christina Aguilera would have gotten up there and blown the roof off the place, ear moniter be damned.
I think she did all right. It seems like the key was too low for her voice and I’d imagine they did that to work with Stevie’s voice.
I’ve never seen Taylor live in person, but what I have seen in clips shows me a high energy, fun person with a good voice. She may not be the Stevie Nicks of this generation, but she’s great in my books. I enjoy her – I suppose if you’re looking for opera, you may be looking in the wrong place.
Man, where has Christina A. disappeared to? Powerful pipes and a rocking body.
Thanks Jenna – must have been the Black Eyed Peas cuz they were a bit off, in my opinion.
And, I have to ask WTF is up with Lil Wayne showing his underwear all the time? I know I am an old fart (not too old, but over 40), but what is up with that? He is constantly pulling up his pants, but not enough to cover his ass completely. I understand there is a certain “style” these days, but when his pants are so low there is a chance to see whether or not he has skid marks, that’s too low!! http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7j2NuJZz-a8/SFhDS9rLU_I/AAAAAAAAAd0/Mgtm-tbYzz8/s400/14_lilwayne_lgl.jpg
Jen,
I didnt know ‘alright’ won grammys nowadays. Gee, its great to know that barely reaching mediocre (IMO she was way below mediocre) is enough to fetch you 4 freaking grammys. what is with this ‘i think she did ok’ business? this is the grammys, not a high school talent show.
I would rather hear someone sing LIVE off key. Then to watch them lip sync (like someone else we know) to a record that I can purchase for far less than a concert ticket.
Bros:
I didn’t say she was Grammy material, but that’s not up to me to decide and it’s not up to Taylor. Really, you’re barking up the wrong tree if you think blaming her (or me) for her awards is appropriate or worthwhile.
If you have an issue with it, the best thing to do would be to write to whatever group of people makes these decisions.
Everyone’s always ranting and raving and making attacks. It’s not Taylor Swift’s fault that her people read the market and realized that everything is basically a big popularity contest. Welcome to life. My workplace is the same way, as has been every place I’ve ever worked.
Perhaps the people of the world should go to the source of their anger rather than blaming some 20 year old kid who is just trying to live her dream. Is she going to turn down the awards because she thinks she doesn’t deserve them? No. You probably wouldn’t.
STEVIE FRIGGIN’ ROCKS! SHE LOOKS FANTASTIC, I MEAN FAN-FRIGGIN-TASTIC!!
Very well put Jen! Standing golf clap to you!
Her ear piece are you kidding me? Does this explain why she sucks on EVERY apperance she makes on TV? Give me a break.This little girl has been over-rated for a long time and I’m glad to see people are finally waking up.Yeah yeah she writes her own songs..Her little songs about little boys breaking her little heart all the time.Big deal.
it wasn’t that bad was it? Jeez, people are so fucking fickle… it was only two weeks ago people were praising her like she was a saint… now everyone’s jumping down her throat… she’s only 20 years old, give her a break… PEOPLE ARE SO VICIOUS…
@ Jen:
“Perhaps the people of the world should go to the source of their anger rather than blaming some 20 year old kid who is just trying to live her dream. Is she going to turn down the awards because she thinks she doesn’t deserve them? No. You probably wouldn’t.”
When U2 won an award the same night India Arie was nominated for 7 Grammies and went home empty handed, Bono said in his speech “India Arie deserves this award”. This is why the grammy awards has fallen far below the Oscar awards. Giving out awards to who’s popular now instead of which are the best artists for that year.
U2 are respectable artists and when they felt they didn’t deserve the award they said so. The current crop of “musicians” wouldn’t know humility if it hit them in the face.
At least with the Oscars Hollywood refused to let value deteriorate so low that something like “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” could win over smaller films simply because it made more money.
It’s sad and ironic that the film industry has more integrity for rewarding artist then the music industry! From Mozart to Taylor Swift being artist of the year. What happened to acknowledging good music????
There’s still one thing I’m looking for: comment on this from Stevie Nicks. If she’s said anything about it I have yet to see it, and you’d think that media outlets would pick up on it pretty quick.
Taylor doesn’t bug me, she’s country pop, and I doubt she’ll grow into that voice (can you imagine those songs coming from a 30 year old?)
Meanwhile, Steve Nicks is still the bomb. Anyone seen the video of her singing backstage during a Rolling Stone shoot? Wow.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HguL2bIri1Q
@nj: I couldn’t have said it better myself.
I can’t imagine why anyone thinks Swift is a good lyricist. Maybe amongst the teenybopper demographic, but her lyrics really lack depth.
@ Iggles.
You have a good point, but once again the fact that Taylor is 20 years old and most likely extremely dazzled by all of this attention is conveniently forgotten.
U2 is made up of grown men who have had their share of praise. They have the experience of growth over decades to reach this point. Truthfully, if Taylor had said she didn’t deserve it, this board would have been full of messages skewering her for false modesty.
It’s not about Taylor, it’s about the awards. Point the gun in the right direction.
Voice of What Generation? The one that can’t sing on key but still makes millions of dollars? She certainly fits into that category! Isn’t her 15 minutes of fame up yet??
Not a Taylor fan at all ….but she purposely flattens and bends notes for effect… a hard style to harmonize with or to be harmonized with ..plus if she couldn’t hear herself then I don’t see how she did anything at all considering how unharmonic those two voices are to begin with
gag… who put Stevie and Taylor together with their styles…almost an impossible combination…frankly given the voices and styles it was not that bad a performance…. but I would like to know what idiot decided to let those two unharmonic voices sing together…
come on I love Stevie but no one ever said harmony was her strong suit …and if you really listen you can tell that in fact Taylor harmonized much better with Stevie than vice versa
You need to be fair folks..
it’s a “techniqual” problem for sure, it’s called she has no vocal technique. She cannot sing! Take some lessons and check your ego at the door. Just b//c people can write “good” songs does not mean they have the right to sing. It is all about who you know and how cute you are not your talent, in the US at least.
Im a 30 year old who loves ALL kinds of music.Taylors popular songs are to immature for me but if u listen to the not so popular songs,the girl has depth and wisdom in her songs.she may not sing like mariah,but does madonna,britney,or j.lo?give it up people,she deserved that award simply from sales…and that proves she has talent and a huge fan base.and she does not sing that bad.but I guess my minds not as closed as some of yours.
And kathleen,you are right.,she bends most of those notes on purpose.she is smarter then people want to admit.valensi…listen to cold as you or breath.I don’t know if you have listened to all her songs but if you did u might change your mind about her lyrical talant
I really, really want to like Taylor Swift, but every time I have heard her sing live I have been completely underwhelmed. She’s supposed to be so great, but I just don’t see (hear) it.
So fucking frustrating. Commerical “musicians”. Any technical problems that she experienced could have been greatly mitigated by some goddamn training!!!!!!!!!! AURAL SKILLS, AURAL SKILLS, AURAL SKILLS. Trained musicians spend YEARS building their ears to manuipulate keys and modes so that they can call upon those skills at will. The problem with her harmonizing during Rhiannion is that during the chorus Swift takes the melody while Nicks harmonizes in tradic harmony below. There is no excuse if you are singing the melodic line and still can’t manage to stay on key. Granted, things like low volume and feedback can fuck you royally, but what suggests to me that this wasn’t merely a technical issue is that Swift actually does have the an ear for the key, but she’s out of tune un specific places, spefically the so-la-do figure. She’s flat every time. It’s faulty ear training, not faulty equipment. You have the twats on American Idol who just wake up decide to be “singers”, and very few recognize the sweat and hard work that go into doing what real singers do. And more specfically how real singers are properly trained. I once had a friend who asked me why is it that vocalists (he meant trained ones) can never give the non vocalists “props”. I’m like, well, honey, until you arpeggiate a full chord progression (even a simple one) in the minor mode (not hard, by the way) I’ll hold my judgment in reserve. I realize that most are not trained in jazz or Western classical, but when you can barely stay inside the key in a simple melody, yeah I’m going to bitch.
Ya that wasnt a one time thing. She performs like that all the time. She just has a weak voice but she’s still an amazing song writer.
I’ve heard better at karaoke bars. Stevie was just as flat and off-key as Taylor. Horrible and embarrassing.
If it wasn’t for her being a young,white, blond haired, blue eyed girl..if it wasn’t for Kanye, this chick would not have gotten jack. All these sympathy awards are F*ckin ridiculous.
Kaiser,
Taylor Swift can’t sing. She has been consistently “shaky” (i.e. ear-bleedingly bad) in the majority of her live performances. Besides, there is nothing new, interesting, or particularly talented about her. She’s cute, blonde, writes and sings about fairy tales! Reminds me of my 5 year old niece.
Problem is, Taylor Swift = kicked kitten, so any criticism of her is tantamount to slaughtering a unicorn and drinking its blood. I hope, for her sake, that she gets a voice lesson or two, grows up, and stops singing about princesses and twue wove, because her kitschy cute act is about to get real old, real fast.
Ps, did you read what Kelly Clarkson wrote?
Kaiser…..
Taylor Swift can’t sing. She has been consistently “shaky” (i.e. ear-bleedingly bad) in the majority of her live performances. Besides, there is nothing new, interesting, or particularly talented about her. She’s cute, blonde, writes and sings about fairy tales! Reminds me of my 5 year old niece.
Problem is, Taylor Swift = kicked kitten, so any criticism of her is tantamount to slaughtering a unicorn and drinking its blood. I hope, for her sake, that she gets a voice lesson or two, grows up, and stops singing about princesses and twue wove, because her kitschy cute act is about to get real old, real fast.
Ps, did you read what Kelly Clarkson wrote???
OMG – I have been vindicated! I have always known she couldn’t sing and now others know the truth. I’ve watched her in five live performances and she couldn’t hit the notes in four out of five. And if she had “monitor problems” how come Stevie was able to sing on key? Did you guys catch a glimpse of the third gal on stage that helped “round out” Taylor’s performance? Her label must know that she can’t perform live. Why would they put someone else on stage with Taylor and Stevie if it was a duet? The record label can spin all they want to, we all heard it. Stick to writing and producing Taylor.
And for those of you that are saying to give her a break, she’s already been given a gi-normous pass. Why other singers continue to sing duets with her I’ll never know. It must be pressure from their record labels to be seen with the new “It” girl. Or they are insane or scratching to stay relevant.
On the other end of the spectrum – Pink puts every other poser to shame. And that includes all the little princesses like Beyonce, RiRi, etc. The only other one that brings it is Lady GaGa and I’m not a fan of Lady GaGa.
I’m not really a fan of Taylor but I think most of you guys are making a big deal out of nothing. So she doesn’t sound absolutely perfect. So what? It’s not terrible or really even bad at all. I’ve heard much worse. She’s under such a magnifying glass right now she would have been ragged on no matter what. She’s talented. She writes her own songs and music and plays. That’s more than I can say for alot of other ‘stars’.
OMG she cannot sing for ship! Im just so sick of her and she’s becoming a serial dater!!
I gave her a break upon seeing the first live performance. When I witnessed the second fiasco I knew something was up. The third was a confirmation and the fourth was maddening because I realized the industry makes hay out of less than talented singers by using studio enhancing techniques so they can squeeze the moola from unsuspecting tweens. Disgusting and malicious are the words I would use.
And for those of you that think her Grammy performance wasn’t that bad or it was a fluke, all I can say is you don’t have an ear for what is in tune or what is out of tune and you’ve only seen the one performance, OR you believe the hype. Either way, you have been duped or you make a habit of white washing the obvious.
She had a reputation as a horrible singer BEFORE the grammy’s! A bad ear monitor doesn’t cause someone to constantly sing off key, it’s a really lame ass excuse, just as ashlee simpsons number of excuse’s acid reflux, band played wrong song etc. She is pure hype!
Funny Avril lavigne is just as talented a writer as witnessed by the the theme she wrote for tim burtons alice in wonderlland “alice” and has a superior voice. One music critic described swift as Avril lavigne with a better publicist, he might as been on to something.
I find it hard to beleive that the STAR of the night would have techinal difficulities..
took my lil cousin to her concert, it was the same thing.
Now everyone can agree that Taylor Swift has no place in the music business, either singing because she is always out of tune, has a bad pitch, poor voice quality, and cannot harmonize. She can neither go to songwriting because her songs are cutie cutie and sweetie sweetie pie type of nonsense songs. We question Grammy’s choice and this all leaves us to believe and conclude that the awards given her went definitely to the very wrong person, truly undeserving. It is an insult and injustice to the other deserving nominees that worked harder with high quality results. Right from the start, I knew Taylor was not a singer at all nor a performer or an entertainer. She is just another typical white blond girl doll who slid easily to fame with her looks and the help of media. The music indistry should spend more time. money, and energy on the right talents and not because of their looks or descent. Our culture is so bad that everyone assumes that the only one that would become a lasting American Idol type is a stereotype look alike of a Taylor Swift example. Now we finaly opened our eyes and that some people had actually stood out for what is right and finally say something with absolute accurateness…..she simply cannot sing. It’s a sad and a pity that there is still and will be this type of a group or class of people who follows her and defends her even is she obviously does not deserve to continue insisting herself on doing something she has no ability to do. And Grammy will go down in history for awarding someone like her with those high honors that no one can fathom why.
Taylor Swift seems like a very sweet girl, but I am getting tired of her image; it bothers me the way she always has to look perfect, you never catch a glimpse of her without her overdone eye make-up and ringlet curls that her team of stylists take hours to sculpt! She sounds great on her album, but makes me cringe when she sings live. Watching her live performances is like watching one of those awkward movies that make you want to leave the room because you’re almost embarrassed for the character. I feel bad for this girl because right now she is pretty and has every American teenager (even the guys) eating out of the palm of her hand; however when her looks fade, she will not graduate into the legend category as Stevie Nicks and many other TALENTED artists have, her voice will fade b/c lets face it world, she cant hit a high note (or any note for that matter) to save her life. I am tired of Taylor getting all of these awards that have, in the past, honored HUGE voices! As for her being considered a “country” singer, I think that’s a load of crap! She has a banjo in all of her songs, and people call it country music! SHE IS A POP SINGER. This girl cannot hold a stick to Carrie Underwood, who sings true country music and sounds better live than in a recording studio.
Likewise I think Taylor Swift is a below average singer. Her songs do not display much of a range and her melodies are not very impressive. On the positive side, I appreciate the fact that her songs are not filled with vulgarity and sexual innuendo. Unfortunately in this day and age– sex, vulgarity, and in-your-face-attitude sells. The influence that these types of songs have over our young children is very profound and very damaging and is contributing to the breakdown of the moral fiber of our culture. What kind of damaging affect are her songs having on our children? None that I can see. Hey I don’t know about you, but I’d rather hear her mediocre songs any day than that vulgar, distasteful rap garbage. Talk about vocal range and pitch perfection–where is that displayed in rap?
All the excuses, all the hype and all the bum notes, somewhere in all this,her record company and management team have to realize, They can’t make a silk purse from a sow’s ear.
i think that she did fine. the problem was indeed Stevie Nicks. i think miss Nicks hadn’t even heard any one of Taylor’s songs before the day of the performance, as she on several occasions forgot the lyrics and she didn’t even sound that great either.
ps: Taylor Swift can do wrong
The Celtic Woman women sing a capella (sp?) at the drop of a hat and their harmonies, pitches and tones are always spot on. There is no excuse for bad singing if the person is being touted as a good singer. Even when Kelly and Tamara (something like that?) were battling it out on the first season of American Idol, they sang beautifully. When they spoke that one show, though, both were hoarse and could barely speak – but their singing was still good. I just don’t understand why there has to be a “look” instead of talent anymore.
At least she actually sang
Oh lawd, I see she’s going to be like Jennifer Aniston and make a career out of people feeling sorry for her.
We have a white country girl, sitting a top the entire world of music, with four awards and there are some people that really hate that. Maybe they were in the mixing booth and it is simply an act of sabotage. But I bet they’re fired now!
What’s crazy is that the same critics ripping her apart, had also been present for dress rehearsals just prior to the show opening the doors to the live audience. If they heard something bad then, why didn’t they say something then? That’s why they are allowed in for a preview!
I’ve heard her live and she can definitely do “Live” or they’d have pre-recorded this like they do for Mariah, Rihanna or Beyonce and everyone else that can’t sing live! 😀
Taylor Swift sounds like shit with or without “technical issues”.
Damn, how could she embarrass Stevie Nicks so badly?
she sings like shit
Taylor cannot sing and, in my opinion, she cannot write either, at least not adult songs… Another misconception that I’d like to clear up here, Taylor doesn’t write ALL her own songs, she does write about half of them but she has at least 1 co-writer on over half of her songs… I’m not saying this is a negative thing but promoting her as being the only writer on her albums is wrong… One more thing, for those of you that weren’t even alive when Stevie Nicks was popular. Stevie had absolutely no trouble singing Great duets with her ex-husband Lindsey Buckingham when they were in the group “Fleetwood Mac”, or with Tom Petty, during Stevie’s solo career, both of these men sang the higher notes perfectly while Stevie always sang the lower notes perfectly and they always sounded great together… So, enough of this crap saying it was Stevie’s voice that screwed up Taylor’s performance… Taylor didn’t need an excuse, she simply can’t sing….
We all need to face the fact that Taylor Swift is the most over-hyped talentless person to grace the music industry these last few years. No matter how many excuses such as technical issues, being young, being innocent(yeah right that’s why she writes man hating songs that make her look victimized), it won’t mask how she just cannot sing.
Wow, I have listened to her, she has no talent at all, she sucks, I watched her live the other night on TV and it was like watching a Train Wreck, couldnt stop watching in disbelief, she would empy out a Karoke bar, it is unbelievable she even has a recording contract, she sucks, big time, its sad the music industry is in such a state. People dont buy records cause they suck.
Interesting, I came perusing wondering if others notice the low-pitch, flatless performances of Taylor. Taylor’s songs touch a generation of young hearts. That said, it doesn’t take rocket science to see how quickly sales grew. To the young, perfect pitch is not a requirement when it touches one’s soul. To the rest of society, we stand in disbelief as one record artist clears the plate. I personally feel that Taylor has talent to touch young hearts, but her ability as a lead singer falls short of a back up vocalist. I was amazed to see how many feel the same way.
There is way better out there.I just heard Caitlin Ashleigh from Australia for example. Only 16 and writes ALL her own material and is an amazing singer, sings as perfect live as in the studio. Listen to her on jango.com . Hot looking too!
uhm. i dont think taylor is such a meowth here. she’s a sweet girl, wholesome, and doesn’t lick on the microphone. You should think to your self if your insecure because taylor is a musical genius and your NOT.! all of you BASTARDS! YOU CANT SING LIKE HER.!
I cannot stand her. Even the mention of her I just get so angry. Let me elaborate…
1) she CANNOT sing. All right she sounds like a dying deer. And when she sings it sounds like someone is seeking through radio stations. I mean listen to her live. My philosophy is, if you can’t sing live, you shouldn’t be allowed to sing at all.
2) she is sooooo overrated. I don’t understand what happened to humanity. It’s so obvious she’s not good. Just because of the whole Kanye West thing, she’s supposed to be so mature for handling that so well. Ugh. Anyone could do that. I bet I could handle it even better. She’s not unique, because there are millions of other people who’d do that too.
3) She’s mentally stuck in high school. Lame. It’s pathetic, and she just whines. Come on, you have no talent and you’re a millionaire. I don’t care about your problems, k?
4) She looks like a deer. She wears so much makeup I could last for a year. But she is NOT pretty. She’s so fake looking I think Barbie dolls look more realistic than her. You people have really low standards.
5) Her songs are boring. Yeah I admit, love Story was a nice song. And so was You Beling With Me, but do you really think she wears tshirts? She wears that glitzy stuff that no self respecting country star would wear! A famous singer is like a thousand levels over a cheer captain. So she’s trying to speak to her fans but it’s supposed to be a real story? God, it’s just dumb. An Teardrops on My Guitar, what was she holding it up to her face when she was crying her eyes out? Her songs just get worse.
6) She doesn’t even care about her Grammys. Didn’t she drop one? And she embarrassed the legendary Stevie Nicks, who by the way, shouldn’t even be singing with a watered out “country” singer. She is WAY too good for that.
7) well this is just a cherry on top, but uh… She stole my name. Yeah that’s more I a personal issue.
*I am absolutely not jealous. Sure I may envy people with decent voices like Pat Benatar or Aretha Franklin, or with good looks like Emma Watson or Megan Fox, or with nice personalities like Will Smith or Mother Theresa, but she doesn’t qualify AT ALL.
Dont even give me the ‘i bet you could do no better.’ First of all, of you’re going to be famous for singing, you should be good at it! And secondly just meaning I couldn’t professionally sing doesn’t mean that she should.
Rant over.
If you can’t harmonize with another singer, don’t do a duet. This whole thing makes me sick. She is not a good singer. I perform live on several occasions, the only time I can’t hear myself is if there are a lot of people around and no monitor. She has access to the BEST onstage equipm
ent, so blaming it for her poor performanes (and there are many) is unfair. Music is no longer about talent. I’m sure she’s a nice girl, but she sucks. I’m not jealous of her, I actually feel a little sorry for her. Putting herself in a profession that is extremely superficial. Sorry all you Taylor fans, but she is not a good singer. But i’m sure no one, not even your own ears could convince you that.