neally
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Post by neally on Oct 24, 2009 14:33:58 GMT -5
So, here is my assessment of Leona's voice (not her music) relative to her contemporary peers:
Range: B+ In chest voice, it is very average (very weak lower register, good middle register, and limited upper register- she has to flip into head voice or falsetto to consistently hit above in E5 in chest voice). In head voice, Leona's range is unbelievable. She has the second best (to Mariah) head voice/falsetto in the business and second best consistency in the whistle register.
Tone: A- Good. Her tone is very beautiful only has twinges of nasality in her lowest register and when trying to belt in a higher chest register, only because she lacks power in her chest voice at those higher notes. That being said, she never sings from the throat, which is better than several of her peers, many of whom are guilty of singing from their nose and throat more than they ever should. Again, any good vocalist knows that singing from the diaphragm produces the clearest, crispest sound, but also is the riskiest since there is not nasal or throat "bufferring" of any pitchiness. That is why many singers actually sing from the throat/nose, because they are not confident enough to trust their chest voice.
Power: B+ Good. She doesn't have the power of Christina, Kelly, Jennifer Hudson, or Carrie, but she definitely can power her way through a ballad even with loud instrumentals. Where she loses quite a bit of power is in her lower register and higher chest voice, where her voice can markedly thin out.
Soulfulness and emotive ability: C- Very weak. This is her biggest weakness, IMO. She often sounds very robotic when she sings and is guilty of overdoing a vocal no-no of "faux-emotion" by ending a lyric with that hiccup sound (much like Alanis Morissette) because she can not effectively well-interpret the lyric or song's message just with her natural vocals. Lastly, her vibratto is horridly slow (another vocal no-no). I am always surprised that she has not improved her vibratto frequency since her 'X Factor' days.
Clarity/consistency: A Very, very good. Leona rarely has an off day, and if so, it is usually with pitchiness (see the performance of 'Happy' at Divas). Her worst performances are far superior than the best performances of most mainstream female vocalists.
Overall: B+ (Fantastic). I think Leona's vocals put her in the second tier from the top among contemporary female vocalists. Other gals in her category to me would be Jennifer Hudson, Fantasia, Pink, for example.
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Gravity.
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Post by Gravity. on Oct 24, 2009 17:42:36 GMT -5
Leona has a very pretty voice, yes. However, it usually sounds soulless. I believe that as she becomes more experienced she will get better at interpretation. Songs like Run and Footprints in the Sand are signs of promise.
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Jack
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Post by Jack on Oct 24, 2009 18:08:20 GMT -5
Soulless is right. I know a lot of England finds 'Run' to be the most emotional thing since 'Angels', but I think 'Run' is the perfect example of winging it. Fauxmotion...big slow song, great composition, grand production, semi-showy vocals, big choir = it just doesn't translate on a raw, believable level. In fact, I thinks sounds euphoric and triumphant on that song, rather than emotional or intense.
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BrokenArrow
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Post by BrokenArrow on Oct 24, 2009 18:17:13 GMT -5
Hahahahahahahaha !!! (@ the run comment) Hahahahahahahaha What a perfect example of everything that's right with Pulse vs. everything that's wrong. Ah, come on. You gotta admit that was pretty funny. Widely viewed as one of the most amazing covers ever. It was asking for some derision. Unless your saying Gary Lightbody doesn't know what he was talking about when he called it "Phenomenal".
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Stephen
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Post by Stephen on Oct 24, 2009 18:19:46 GMT -5
What a perfect example of everything that's right with Pulse vs. everything that's wrong. Ah, come on. You gotta admit that was pretty funny. Widely viewed as one of the most amazing covers ever. It was asking for some derision. Unless your saying Gary Lightbody doesn't know what he was talking about when he called it "Phenomenal". That's exactly what I'm saying. Leona has a great voice, but it's more great in a spectacle kind of way. Her voice is great but that's it. There is no backing to it. Other vocalists touch souls with their music, I haven't heard of anyone pushed to tears by any of her performances.
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Jack
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Post by Jack on Oct 24, 2009 18:24:06 GMT -5
Ah, come on. You gotta admit that was pretty funny. Widely viewed as one of the most amazing covers ever. = Hahahahahahahaha !!! (@ the run comment) Hahahahahahahaha
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Monroe
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Post by Monroe on Oct 24, 2009 18:24:17 GMT -5
Soulfulness and emotive ability: C- Very weak. This is her biggest weakness, IMO. She often sounds very robotic when she sings and is guilty of overdoing a vocal no-no of "faux-emotion" by ending a lyric with that hiccup sound (much like Alanis Morissette) because she can not effectively well-interpret the lyric or song's message just with her natural vocals. Lastly, her vibratto is horridly slow (another vocal no-no). I am always surprised that she has not improved her vibratto frequency since her 'X Factor' days. Are you saying Alanis can't emote? Because she is easily one of the strongest female vocal emoters of the past twenty years.
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dbhmr
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>
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Post by dbhmr on Oct 24, 2009 18:57:43 GMT -5
Ah, come on. You gotta admit that was pretty funny. Widely viewed as one of the most amazing covers ever. = Hahahahahahahaha !!! (@ the run comment) Hahahahahahahaha RunThis, you just keep speaking for me in this poll :)
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brian515
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Post by brian515 on Oct 24, 2009 19:06:06 GMT -5
I think she has a great voice, but like some other people said I do think that she can be quite boring.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 24, 2009 19:24:39 GMT -5
Widely viewed as one of the most amazing covers ever. Oh yeah... Hendrix's "All Along The Watchtower", Franklin's "Respect", Lewis' "Run".
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Jack
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Post by Jack on Oct 24, 2009 19:45:04 GMT -5
Widely viewed as one of the most amazing covers ever. Oh yeah... Hendrix's "All Along The Watchtower", Franklin's "Respect", Lewis' "Run". Don't forget Madonna, American Pie.
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Post by MusicalityFactor on Oct 24, 2009 21:04:09 GMT -5
Why are the people who are voting bad not showing who they are? ???
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neally
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Post by neally on Oct 24, 2009 21:23:10 GMT -5
Soulfulness and emotive ability: C- Very weak. This is her biggest weakness, IMO. She often sounds very robotic when she sings and is guilty of overdoing a vocal no-no of "faux-emotion" by ending a lyric with that hiccup sound (much like Alanis Morissette) because she can not effectively well-interpret the lyric or song's message just with her natural vocals. Lastly, her vibratto is horridly slow (another vocal no-no). I am always surprised that she has not improved her vibratto frequency since her 'X Factor' days. Are you saying Alanis can't emote? Because she is easily one of the strongest female vocal emoters of the past twenty years. Monroe, I can easily see how my text could be interpreted to state that Alanis can't emote. I agree with you 100% that Alanis is a natural, amazing interpreter and emoter, so my apologies for my confusing text. I was merely trying to provide another artist who also does that whiney hiccup sound for comparison. Here, Alanis does it (at 0:27 with "hot blooded" and 1:14 with "squrim"): The difference is that Leona relies on this technique far too much to artifically create this faux-motional sound, whereas Alanis' does not need it to create emotion with her sound.
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Post by coolmusicftw on Oct 24, 2009 21:24:14 GMT -5
Soulless is right. I know a lot of England finds 'Run' to be the most emotional thing since 'Angels', but I think 'Run' is the perfect example of winging it. Fauxmotion...big slow song, great composition, grand production, semi-showy vocals, big choir = it just doesn't translate on a raw, believable level. In fact, I thinks sounds euphoric and triumphant on that song, rather than emotional or intense. So much BS, I can't take it :'( Her live performances of this song are so full of emotion. She puts everything into them and gets deep into the song. She made many people emotional with this performance, even one of the presenters was crying.
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neally
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Post by neally on Oct 24, 2009 21:31:19 GMT -5
Why are the people who are voting bad not showing who they are? ??? 100% agree. Any folks who vote "bad" for vocals on ANYONE that was good enough to win a live singing competition are obviously just bitter and clearly not objective. Without naming names, most of us in this thread can name several truly bad vocalists'; therefore, I find it just ridiculous that folks vote "bad" for Leona, because they are not mature or objective enough to separate their dislike of her personality, her music, or whatever else they don't like about her from her vocals....
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S. Carter
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Post by S. Carter on Oct 24, 2009 23:43:33 GMT -5
Good. She has a soft pretty voice and that's it. Many can outsing her.
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Tanisha Thomas.
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Post by Tanisha Thomas. on Oct 24, 2009 23:56:55 GMT -5
Technically, she's great singer, but her voice is boring. I didn't get the Mariah comparisons. Mariah's voice definitely had flava. But of course, Leona's bland voice = Mariah's stage presence. I guess that's what they meant.
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worldwide
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Post by worldwide on Oct 25, 2009 13:27:50 GMT -5
Good range but it's so iritating!
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S_Bunny
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Post by S_Bunny on Oct 26, 2009 17:02:11 GMT -5
Incredible: One of my all time faves and by down right fave right now.
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ratchet
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Post by ratchet on Oct 26, 2009 17:12:41 GMT -5
Incredibly overrated, but she's probably the greatest mainstream pop singer out there right now since we're talking about voice (technical) and not artistry (emotion). Did someone just say Beyonce has power? Her voice is weak and shrill. The "prime Mariah without the oomph" comment is spot on though. beyonce her voice weak and shrill this kid never heard beyonce live :'(
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ratchet
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Post by ratchet on Oct 26, 2009 17:13:57 GMT -5
leona is oke good head voice- nothing special
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K Newman
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Post by K Newman on Oct 26, 2009 21:25:38 GMT -5
^Yes I've heard her live many times and for someone that thinks they are a powerhouse, her voice is thin and shrill. Compared to the Rihanna/Ciara tier, or even the Jordin Spark/Fergie tier, her voice is powerful. But if Beyonce is a "powerhouse", then oh dear have the standards dropped greatly.
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Forever ♥ Young
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Post by Forever ♥ Young on Oct 27, 2009 0:08:51 GMT -5
Good! but she BORES me to pieces!!!
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Hefty Hanna
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Post by Hefty Hanna on Oct 27, 2009 10:22:32 GMT -5
She has a fantastic, natural gift. She sounds incredible in the studio and sounded fantastic on X-Factor, but her live performances as of late have been rather weak for her standards IMO.
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Post by rellybois on Oct 27, 2009 11:44:16 GMT -5
What I really wanna know... what do you think of Leona Lewis's bruise?
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Post by MusicalityFactor on Oct 27, 2009 15:24:10 GMT -5
What I really wanna know... what do you think of Leona Lewis's bruise? What I wanna no is.... why are you so unfunny? ??? ;)
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