Cheryl - Call My Name

[Jordlols]

That performance had slipped my mind. But its interesting you have posted that. She was dancing AND singing live pretty damn well.

That isn't dancing though, at least not anywhere near the degree Cheryl did. That is some basic choreography that required what appears to be minimal effort on Christina's part. Cheryl's was technically difficult. And let's face it, for a Christina vocal, it's not exactly brilliant is it? Better than anything Cheryl will ever do vocally of course, but still a disappointing performance for Xtina.

Any one who doubts Cheryl's ability to sing should just listen to the Children In Need performance with Snow Patrol. It's not a vocal masterclass but it's well within Cheryl's range and she does what she can with her limited voice...

[TeenIdle]

That performance had slipped my mind. But its interesting you have posted that. She was dancing AND singing live pretty damn well.

She was literally doing a two-step and shimmying. Maybe being a Christina fan has led you to forget that singing is usually an ability that, yes, needs some training to maintain, but you're usually stuck with whatever range and strength you naturally have. I much rather Cheryl understand her voice and know she's better off just focusing on her dancing, as opposed to Christina lacking any restrain in her poor technique and literally ruining notes with oversinging and dangerous technique.

[Mike]

The Snow Patrol performance was a really good one. That's what really frustrates me about her - she'd be far better if she actually did work within her limitations more often, rather than constantly attempting stuff that she simply cannot do.

If a previously unknown artist had released Fight For This Love with THAT vocal on it, they'd have been laughed out of the solar system.

[RobR]

Not exactly. Case in point: Cassie. She was lauded by critics for Me and You and that's not exactly a vocal powerhouse.

I would much rather have Cheryl know her voice and use it to effect on songs (like Cassie) then go all 'The Flood' on us and try to belt out tunes. No thank you.

[Knightgee]

The problem is people think that being a "good singer" is about being able to do crazy vocal runs, hit crazy whistle register notes and have a huge range. It's not and some people literally do not have the natural capacity to pull that stuff off. It's knowing your voice, the contours and limitations of it and making that work for you with the right songs.That's the problem with Cheryl: she ends up doing crap like The Flood and embarrassing herself by how shit she sounds when she's got a voice suited perfectly for mid-tempo R&B-tinged pop. I love her tone on stuff like Parachute, hate it on just about everything else she's released, but especially on uptempo numbers.

Edit: Cassie is a perfect example, RobR. On anything but that chilly, icy seductive syrupy material, she's probably sound awful.

[Alphableat]

That performance had slipped my mind. But its interesting you have posted that. She was dancing AND singing live pretty damn well.

My primary reason for posting it was because it's hilariously bad, and shows that decent vocals does not a good performance make. I'd take Cheryl's over that any day.

I think it's about time we started realising that the word 'performance' means more than just a vocal. I'm the first to criticise when live vocals are sacrificed and nothing much is done to compensate (Britney's performance of Womanizer on the X Factor springs to mind) but Cheryl put on a fantastic show. Having high standards is great, but I really don't know why we've come to expect superhuman, Beyoncé performances from everyone. It's like expecting to find steak in your lunchbox every day. Time to settle for the brie and bacon ciabatta; that shit is good too.

[poshlopez]

She was miming for sure but what people expected ... she danced her ass of in that The Voice performance. I would take miming + amazing dancing to awful live vocal + amazing dancing any time.

[Alphableat]

I THINK IT'S TIME EVERYONE STARTED SINGING LIVE IN THEIR MUSIC VIDEOS.

[PeachPie]

I don't know why this conversation has drifted so far away from the point that I was trying to make or why we are talking about Christina.

The point I was trying to make is YES she's a great dancer, but wouldn't it be great if she could sing too? And she obviously is capable of giving good vocals time to time as evidenced by the Snow Patrol performance and some other performances from her GA days so I don't understand why for most of her solo career she has been so lethargic about singing live.

I have heard people say time and time again that Cheryl isn't the popstar she could be because the material on her first two albums is below par etc etc.... but to that point I would also add that she isn't the popstar she could be because she loses credibility by miming so frickin often. Even Katy Perry and Rihanna sing live about 50-60% of the time. Cheryl's rate of singing live in her solo career is like 15%.

[poshlopez]

I get you PeachPie but there is no one out there who can do what Cheryl's done on The Voice ... live and still being amazing in choreography in their performance.

And also I know people will kill me but Cheryl's voice is much weaker than Rihanna's or Katy's.

[Alphableat]

I don't know why this conversation has drifted so far away from the point that I was trying to make or why we are talking about Christina.

The point I was trying to make is YES she's a great dancer, but wouldn't it be great if she could sing too? And she obviously is capable of giving good vocals time to time as evidenced by the Snow Patrol performance and some other performances from her GA days so I don't understand why for most of her solo career she has been so lethargic about singing live.

I have heard people say time and time again that Cheryl isn't the popstar she could be because the material on her first two albums is below par etc etc.... but to that point I would also add that she isn't the popstar she could be because she loses credibility by miming so frickin often. Even Katy Perry and Rihanna sing live about 50-60% of the time. Cheryl's rate of singing live in her solo career is like 15%.

Wouldn't it be great if everyone could dance and sing at the same time and sound perfect while doing it? The fact of the matter is that, generally, singles of Cheryl's that get the full promo service are upbeat, and upbeat songs work better when performed with a dance routine. Singing whilst performing an energetic dance routine is difficult, and very, very few people can do it well. And when I say 'very few people', I mean fewer people than there are popstars. Even the aforementioned jewel in the eye of live performing, Beyoncé, will often forgo singing half the chorus on most songs to do a dance routine. What's that different about Cheryl singing over a louder-than-your-average backing track? If you were being 'fooled' or 'duped' into thinking she was better than she was, then yeah that would suck. Clearly, you're not though, and neither are the people supporting her.

I'd much rather it be like it is than Katy Perry's situation: she sings a massive song like Firework live, and because of that ends up just prancing around the stage rather than doing anything interesting. And she still gets slated for it.

[PeachPie]

Wouldn't it be great if everyone could dance and sing at the same time and sound perfect while doing it? The fact of the matter is that, generally, singles of Cheryl's that get the full promo service are upbeat, and upbeat songs work better when performed with a dance routine. Singing whilst performing an energetic dance routine is difficult, and very, very few people can do it well. When she has slow songs, she does sing live.

I'd much rather it be like it is than Katy Perry's situation: she sings a massive song like Firework live, and because of that ends up just prancing around the stage rather than doing anything interesting. And she still gets slated for it.

Maybe I will get slated for this but I think Katy does a good job most of the time she sings live and she is capable of holding a tune.

[TeenIdle]

I don't know why this conversation has drifted so far away from the point that I was trying to make or why we are talking about Christina.

The point I was trying to make is YES she's a great dancer, but wouldn't it be great if she could sing too? And she obviously is capable of giving good vocals time to time as evidenced by the Snow Patrol performance and some other performances from her GA days so I don't understand why for most of her solo career she has been so lethargic about singing live.

I have heard people say time and time again that Cheryl isn't the popstar she could be because the material on her first two albums is below par etc etc.... but to that point I would also add that she isn't the popstar she could be because she loses credibility by miming so frickin often. Even Katy Perry and Rihanna sing live about 50-60% of the time. Cheryl's rate of singing live in her solo career is like 15%.

It would, but no popstar has been able to do that and I don't expect Cheryl Cole to be the first. Christina, Katy, and Rihanna can't dance, with the latter two already sounding winded from having to walk around a stage. Britney is better off just trying to improve her dancing. Gaga attempts, but sounds nasally and her dancing is often half-done from not being able to do both. Beyonce is probably the only popstar who can do both well at the same time, but even with her breath control, probably the best in pop, she still gets shaky at parts when dancing.

[Jordlols]

I get you PeachPie but there is no one out there who can do what Cheryl's done on The Voice ... live and still being amazing in choreography in their performance.

And also I know people will kill me but Cheryl's voice is much weaker than Rihanna's or Katy's.

Exactly, if she had sang live, she would have sacrificed the choreography and then where would we be? A performance with a mediocre vocal and minimal dancing. That isn't a great performance and would only serve to hammer home what so many of her detractors believe, that she has little to no noteworthy talent.

Not sure why people will kill you for that opinion though Poshlopez! I saw both Rihanna and Katy live on their latest tours and both are seriously underrated vocally. Both smashed it the nights I saw them, Katy in particular surprised me because so many of her TV appearances are so ropey! But yeah, they both are better than Cheryl and there's really no denying it.

[WearefromBarcelona]

PeachPie, let's see if you can understand this:

a) Some of us prefer to be entertained the way she did yesterday. If I want an amazing vocalist I have other options.

b) She sang live using a heavy back track, exactly like Rihanna did with What's My Name or We Found Love. Like claire_louise said before, practically everybody uses it.

c) She has those vocals chords and lungs, you can't change them. I'm sure she can sing Call My Name without a backing track if she isn't dancing, but (now I'm speaking as a fan of hers), I prefer a performance like the one she did on The Voice than an acustic performance of Call My Name. If she gives me both then I'll be happy, but if I have to choose I prefer a big performance.

[_hazzie_]

I swear we go over this every time Cheryl has a new single, you'd think we would all know the drill by now...

[Resi12]

It's more so annoying because she doesn't even try, I know Britney never really sung live but for some reason that seemed different to me. I'm not sure why, I guess she's the UK Britney but still I think Britney only got away with it because it was acceptable at that time.

[Alphableat]

It's more so annoying because she doesn't even try, I know Britney never really sung live but for some reason that seemed different to me. I'm not sure why, I guess she's the UK Britney but still I think Britney only got away with it because it was acceptable at that time.

Or maybe you were younger and hadn't been hardened by the responsibilities of adulthood back then?

[PeachPie]

Okaaaay, I'll let you all enjoy Cheryl in peace. But for the record, I was actually kinda complimenting her, saying I know she is capable of singing well live cause she has done with GA so I don't understand why she doesn't sing more as a solo artist.

Thats all.

[Resi12]

Or maybe you were younger and hadn't been hardened by the responsibilities of adulthood back then?

Ammmm, I doubt it runs that deep. I can't tell if you're kidding or not...

I dunno, I think Britney always at least had the songs to back it up. Cheryl always seems so half arsed, the dancing was good but the song isn't anything too special and the fact it was the studio vocals killed me even more.

[WearefromBarcelona]

Okaaaay, I'll let you all enjoy Cheryl in peace. But for the record, I was actually kinda complimenting her, saying I know she is capable of singing well live cause she has done with GA so I don't understand why she doesn't sing more as a solo artist.

Thats all.

Are you really comparing what she has to do in Girls Aloud with this? Not only the dance routines can't be compared but, how much does she sing in a Girls Aloud song despite being the 2nd member with more lines? 30% of it? not exactly the same, right?

It's more so annoying because she doesn't even try, I know Britney never really sung live but for some reason that seemed different to me. I'm not sure why, I guess she's the UK Britney but still I think Britney only got away with it because it was acceptable at that time.

"She doesn't try" did you go to her tour? obviously not, if she doesn't have a dance routine she sings live and without backing track, not everybody can say the same when they don't even have a dance routine.

Ammmm, I doubt it runs that deep. I can't tell if you're kidding or not...

I dunno, I think Britney always at least had the songs to back it up. Cheryl always seems so half arsed, the dancing was good but the song isn't anything too special and the fact it was the studio vocals killed me even more.

If you aren't joking then you need a couple of Phonaks in your ears my dear.

[Osiris]

It would, but no popstar has been able to do that and I don't expect Cheryl Cole to be the first. Christina, Katy, and Rihanna can't dance, with the latter two already sounding winded from having to walk around a stage. Britney is better off just trying to improve her dancing. Gaga attempts, but sounds nasally and her dancing is often half-done from not being able to do both. Beyonce is probably the only popstar who can do both well at the same time, but even with her breath control, probably the best in pop, she still gets shaky at parts when dancing.

Maybe it's time to expand your musical horizons...

The problem is not belting Adele-like notes while dancing but just singing the song while dancing. Which is possible and has been mastered by a few but amazing performers.

[TeenIdle]

Maybe it's time to expand your musical horizons....

No Western popstar has been able to do technically difficult dancing routines while still sounding crystal clear vocally to the unreasonably high expectations of pop listeners*.

[Osiris]

No Western popstar has been able to do technically difficult dancing routines while still sounding crystal clear vocally to the unreasonably high expectations of pop listeners*.

hahaha

Anyway, there's no denying that Cheryl's DANCE performance was amazing. That dive at the beginning looks dangerous! And there weren't any slow moments during the whole song (which is quite forgettable I must say).

[Loveplus31]

For me, it's not the fact that she isn't a 'strong' singer. Her voice just doesn't sound very nice. She doesn't have an interesting tone at all. She'll never turn a basic song into something great like someone like Rihanna or Britney would. She has no voice. It has no identity.