Idina Menzel - "Let It Go"

[Kurt]

Idina Menzel's version of the Frozen hit is listed under Cool New Music as a single (whereas Demi's is not, likely so it doesn't overlap "Neon Lights"). Should be interesting to see if this gets any traction here.

[Deleted]

If a 40-something Broadway legend broke CHR/Pop in 2014, I'd be very surprised.

[Az Paynter]

It would be funny if Idina gets a hit out of a Disney/soundtrack song, when she's never had any major commercial success with her own original material. Apparently 'Minuet' got to like #41 on pop waaaay back in the day (like 1998 or something? I don't remember how old her debut album is).

[popbox]

I like the music from Frozen, but it lacks the pop appeal that Disney's big 90's films had that allowed them to be Top 40 hits. Frozen's music is too broadway.

[Deleted]

Jan 8, 2014 15:40:50 GMT -5 Az Paynter said:

It would be funny if Idina gets a hit out of a Disney/soundtrack song, when she's never had any major commercial success with her own original material. Apparently 'Minuet' got to like #41 on pop waaaay back in the day (like 1998 or something? I don't remember how old her debut album is).

#48 in October 1998 apparently. I had no idea she ever charted before.

[Verisimilitude]

The only way I can see this really smashing on radio is if it benefits hugely from this year's Oscars.

[tekkenguy]

If the song becomes a digital hit with longevity, a la "Cups," I could see radio embrace this. 2013 had a lot of unlikely hits, and 2014 looks to do the same.

[Lahey's Lucky Star]

Jan 8, 2014 15:39:58 GMT -5 @jazzysoul47 said:

If a 40-something Broadway legend broke CHR/Pop in 2014, I'd be very surprised.

If the Glee Cast can break Top 50 here, so can she.

[Deleted]

Jan 8, 2014 15:48:56 GMT -5 Lahey's Lucky Star said:

Jan 8, 2014 15:39:58 GMT -5 @jazzysoul47 said:

If a 40-something Broadway legend broke CHR/Pop in 2014, I'd be very surprised.

If the Glee Cast can break Top 50 here, so can she.

The Glee Cast members were much younger, and that was back when the show was hugely popular.

[Az Paynter]

Jan 8, 2014 15:42:57 GMT -5 @jazzysoul47 said:

Jan 8, 2014 15:40:50 GMT -5 Az Paynter said:

It would be funny if Idina gets a hit out of a Disney/soundtrack song, when she's never had any major commercial success with her own original material. Apparently 'Minuet' got to like #41 on pop waaaay back in the day (like 1998 or something? I don't remember how old her debut album is).

#48 in October 1998 apparently. I had no idea she ever charted before.

Ahh, okay. :) I knew she'd cracked top 50, she has an entry on that pop chart archive site (do you know the one I'm talking about?)

ETA: Nevermind, found it: wweb.uta.edu/faculty/gghunt/charts/idina_menzel.htm

[Au$tin]

Yes! Get on it, pop! Make this a HUGE smash!

Edit:
Oh, and I just noticed the clip from the film with this song is now a VEVO video! Disney ain't playing around.

Also, as I was typing that last sentence, this happened.

[Wrecking Ball]

Yes! Love her and the song

[Rose "Payola" Nylund]

I'd love to see this explode!

[pnobelysk]

I would love to hear this on radio

edit: new peak of 27 on the hot 100 this week

[🅳🅸🆂🅲🅾]

Jan 8, 2014 20:36:54 GMT -5 Rose "Payola" Nylund said:

I'd love to see this explode!

Me too!

I did like Demi's version, but Idina's is just so much better overall. I might be a tad bias because I am a fan of Idina's voice.

[M1tchD]

This is pretty good, but it sounds like something straight out of a Broadway musical. If "Popular Song," an extremely catchy song that sampled a Broadway hit, did nothing on the charts, this won't do anything either.

[Au$tin]

Jan 10, 2014 18:17:27 GMT -5 M1tchD said:

This is pretty good, but it sounds like something straight out of a Broadway musical.

That's because it sorta kinda is. Disney usually tries to model their musicals after Broadway. Plus, the artist singing the song in the film is a Broadway superstar.

Jan 10, 2014 18:17:27 GMT -5 M1tchD said:

If "Popular Song," an extremely catchy song that sampled a Broadway hit, did nothing on the charts, this won't do anything either.

This is different. "Popular Song" was by an artist who never had any pop hits and last semi-successful single in the US was ages ago featuring another brand new artist that only just scored a top 20 hit on pop and nothing else. "Let It Go" is from a wildly popular musical film that is taking box office records and the song itself has reached the top 20 on iTunes a few times since the film's release. Now, I don't think anyone is expecting it to do a whole lot airplay wise, but I don't think we can accurately compare these two song together to determine if this is actually going to do anything. (I mean, "Let It Go" has already outsold "Popular Song" without a push to radio.)

[dbhmr]

This is extremely schmaltzy and dull. I don't expect it do a damn thing here.

[Gray.]

Absolutely obsessed with this song, soundtrack and film. I'd love to see to radio embrace this.

[Sir Benji]

The single version (sung by Demi Lovato) would probably be a Pop hit but the movie version ummmmmm.... yeah... no this won't do a thing.

[mluv]

Jan 12, 2014 0:23:14 GMT -5 Sir Benji said:

The single version (sung by Demi Lovato) would probably be a Pop hit but the movie version ummmmmm.... yeah... no this won't do a thing.

The Idina version is outselling the Demi Lovato version right now  so if Radio wanted this to be a pop hit  then it probably could be one.  They had no problem playing Cups  which also had a Broadway sound  and  was a song that originated in the 1920's and 1930's.   What it comes down to is probably just  some agism bias that Radio has especially when it comes to female singers.  Otherwise this could be a thing.

Itune rankings for Idina:  19 and 35
Itune rankings for Demi:  47 and 99

With 4 versions of the same song charting on itunes, it's kind of silly if radio ignores it.

[Elusive Chanteuse]

LORD, I LOVE this song. I hope radio will embrace this. Not Demi's version though. Bleh.

Idina's version is much more superior.

[johnm1120]

I wonder if there'll be a radio mix that catches on a la Cups. Just seeing Idina on the chart would be an amazing feature. Top 40 wise, she could be added to the "oldest artists" list, and top 50 wise she'd join a rare list including Meat Loaf, Kylie Minogue & Enya as acts that skipped a full decade between charting hits.

[mluv]

What's funny is singers like Jay Z at 44 years old can chart with no one thinking of putting him on some oldies list but Idina is too old at 42. In this case though, it's probably more the Broadway style of the song that would make pop hesitate to play it on radio.

[HolidayGuy]

Anna Kendrick also is 28, notably younger than Menzel. But, this track is interesting, as it's a young animated character performing it in the movie. So, it's not really a singer in her 40s selling it.

Still don't think top 40 radio would play any version much that had Idina's Broadway-like vocals.

[johnm1120]

Jan 13, 2014 9:41:59 GMT -5 mluv said:

What's funny is singers like Jay Z at 44 years old can chart with no one thinking of putting him on some oldies list but Idina is too old at 42. In this case though, it's probably more the Broadway style of the song that would make pop hesitate to play it on radio.

Not to mention Eminem is 41 and just hit #1.

[Choco]

I was mad last night when this one lost the Golden Globe for Best Song to some U2 track no one cares about.

This is a great song, but I don't think Pop will care about it.

[secretchef]

Aww, I love Idina. Saw her in Rent, Wicked and her solo tour. She's incredible.

I would have expected AC and HAC to pick this up before Pop, but hey it would be amazing if they play it. When Disney does soundtracks well, they really do and Frozen is fantastic.

Funny, if you read the Broadway boards, Idina's main critics always say her voice is non-legit and too pop ;) Let's face it, Wicked and Rent are more pop scores than traditional Broadway show tunes.

[Deleted]

Jan 13, 2014 9:41:59 GMT -5 mluv said:

What's funny is singers like Jay Z at 44 years old can chart with no one thinking of putting him on some oldies list but Idina is too old at 42. In this case though, it's probably more the Broadway style of the song that would make pop hesitate to play it on radio.

There have been articles published about this recently. Rap penetrated the mainstream about 20 years ago, when those rappers were mostly in their early 20s. We've hit the point where most (rather than a couple, notably Dr. Dre, who scored his biggest CHR/Pop hit in his 40s) of those rappers are now reaching their 40s. No one really knew how industry ageism would affect rappers, but it appears to not be as detrimental to the top rappers as it is to pop acts. Some reasons I presume are, these rappers (supposedly) write their own songs and don't need to rely on hitmakers to give them their best compositions rather then hand them off to some 20 year-old, combined with the fact that 40-something rappers are still very much respected by youth audiences (although there's evidence from a recent study that his most recent album negatively impacted youth perceptions of Jay-Z's credibility). Acts like Jay-Z and Eminem are selling as well, if not better, than the most popular younger rappers, so they don't struggle to get the same access to producers or remain a top marketing priority. It will be interesting over the next decade or so to see if rap continues to be a genre where its top acts evade the typical consequences of being an aging popular artist.

[Fat Ass Kelly Price]

Jan 12, 2014 0:59:34 GMT -5 mluv said:

Jan 12, 2014 0:23:14 GMT -5 Sir Benji said:

The single version (sung by Demi Lovato) would probably be a Pop hit but the movie version ummmmmm.... yeah... no this won't do a thing.

The Idina version is outselling the Demi Lovato version right now  so if Radio wanted this to be a pop hit  then it probably could be one.  They had no problem playing Cups  which also had a Broadway sound  and  was a song that originated in the 1920's and 1930's.   What it comes down to is probably just  some agism bias that Radio has especially when it comes to female singers.  Otherwise this could be a thing.

Itune rankings for Idina:  19 and 35
Itune rankings for Demi:  47 and 99

With 4 versions of the same song charting on itunes, it's kind of silly if radio ignores it.

Well, the clear reason why the Idina version is outselling the Demi version is because it's the version in the actual film. Additionally, buying and listening audiences are quite different. The pop version would probably be more likely to garner airplay tbh. It was made specifically for that purpose.

I don't think this has a shot at significant airplay. And the reason is not because she's in her 40s.