Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: Chairboy on June 15, 2005, 06:42:31 PM
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Hi guys,
My wife is a contestent in the Colgate Country Showdown. It's sorta like American Idol for country singers, except not.
She was chosen as a contestent from a tape she sent in, and last night she sang for the first time as part of the contest. 10 people total, and they picked 5 to continue to the next round, and she was one of them!
Next part of the contest for her is in Coburg, OR on July 16th, cross your fingers! The judges took notes on what worked and what didn't, and she'll be studying those like mad over the next few weeks.
Here are some (very poor, shakey because of overenthusiastic husband at the controls) videos if any of you are interested.
First song:
http://hallert.net/June%2005/June%2005%20048.avi
Second song:
http://hallert.net/June%2005/June%2005%20049.avi
whoops, camera cut off, next part is continuation.
http://hallert.net/June%2005/June%2005%20050.avi
If any of you are musically inclined, any tips you can give?
Thanks, and it's GREAT to have the O'Club back!
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not bad.
i only watched the first file, guessing the others are the rest of the song....
being a strong republican, i am ashamed to admit, i am a dixie chicks fan LOL i have all their stuff, and am VERY familiar with it.
in my opinion if this is ok to say, she "spoke" the first part a bit too much.. and the "let 'er rip... let 'er fly"
also for that particular song, a bit more "twang" is needed
thats just my no singing talent / hack / carakoe nightmare impression LOL
and good luck to her!!!! hope she does well!
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Thanks! I'll definately let her know. If any others of y'all have some dramamine handy and want to check it out, I'd love to hear some good critiques to pass along.
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I tried to check it out, but never could get connected. I'll try later.
Good luck anyway.
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That was great, for country.
Tip: get a tripod.
eskimo
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Originally posted by eskimo2
Tip: get a tripod.
No kidding.
Also, maybe I shouldn't drink so much.
ha ha, just kidding. If I have a tripod, it doesn't matter how much I drink.
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No help from me Chair; I couldn't carry a tune in a bucket!
But I watched video #2... figured she'd have settled down a bit by then.
Sounded awful good to me. Best of luck to her!
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Sounded great!
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Thanks for the kind words, guys, but we need some of the hard stuff too.
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Originally posted by Chairboy
Thanks for the kind words, guys, but we need some of the hard stuff too.
Well, is it a country only thing?
eskimo
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They don't say it explicitly, but I think it might be implied in the name 'Colgate Country Showdown'.
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Originally posted by Chairboy
Thanks for the kind words, guys, but we need some of the hard stuff too.
I don't know what to tell you.I can't sing worth a crap,but she sounded great to me.
BTW,was that you shouting?
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i just have to chuckle....
that name... a toothpaste sponsering country music.
it makes me think of the joke:
how do you know the toothbrush was invented in the south?
if it was anywhere else it would be the TEETHbrush
; )
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Originally posted by Sox62
BTW,was that you shouting?
You misspelled 'bellowing', but yeah.
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It took a while, but I finally got the second video. She's impressive for an amatuer, really. My brother has a band I fool with at times, and she's as good as a lot of people I see that are at gigs the band does. I mean people that get GOOD money for 2 hour sets.
The quality of the sound and video make it hard to get a true sample to give her a really fair judgement. I think the sound quality probably does not do her voice justice, and makes any small errors appear bigger. The stage seemed small and crowded as well, it makes some people claustrophobic.
She has really good range. She tried just a little too hard to use it. She over extends just a little, and it hurts the transition, making it a little choppy, and slightly strained. I'd chalk that up to being a little nervous, and trying a little too hard. All she needs is practice and experience to make it smooth and clean, and she's got the raw talent to get there. She really does have talent and potential. Be careful with song choice, so that you showcase her range without pushing too far.
A good example is Reba McIntire early in her career versus later. Early on, she used her range and quality perfectly, she got all there was tobe had out of it. later, she ended up using a bunch of tricks and overextending, and it killed the range and clarity, along with the power. And she really had it. Dolly Parton is also a great example. She's got the voice and the talent and knowhow to use it. When she gets a good song and SINGS, she's incredible, when she gets an average crappy country song and pushes it, she's no better than okay.
For country tastes, she probably needs to study what the good solo females in country are doing for stage presence. That's a hard thing to get a grip on, but real important, so that she looks like she's comfortable and confident, and enjoying herself. It does figure real big here in Nashville where the country thing is big. Again, what I saw was greatly colored by the fact that she was or at least appeared to be nervous. It makes people make big hand motions, swap the mic from hand to hand, and shuffle their feet and sort of wiggle nervously. She'd be better off to move a little further and more confidently, sort of alternating sections of the crowd to "play to", and holding the mic with one hand, bringing the second hand to it when she is pushing the vocals hard.
She's not making any mistakes that aren't due to nervousness and inexperience, it takes hard work and a long time to get really polished. My brother has been doing lead vocals for his band for 5 years, and is still getting there.
I hope this is what you wanted, and you don't think I'm being hard on her, because I'm not. She is good and she's got potential and is headed in the right direction. I'm just trying to give you a feel for what I know the country talent scouts and judges look for around here in the Nashville area. I hope the tips and pointers help, and don't hurt anyone's feelings, they are not intended to.
Good luck to both of you, I hope she does well, and I hope you both ENJOY it instead of letting it consume you. Have a good time, and the rest will follow.
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Virgil, that's perfect. Thanks!
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Originally posted by Chairboy
Virgil, that's perfect. Thanks!
I'm glad I was able to do something like what you were looking for. I'd like to hear some high quality audio if you've got it. If you want to email me something, anytime, feel free, I'll try to help if I can. I really like her voice. The email in my profile should still work if you need it.
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You should get Waffle to critique her. He's a professional in the biz.
I have dial-up so can't d/l the vids, sorry. Best of luck to her tho. If she made the cut she obviously has what it takes.:)
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I copied the thread to the wife, and she really appreciates the feedback so far. Thanks guys!
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i was just listening to a song... and thought of this.
you what might be a good song for her singing style, if she has the high range?
Sin Wagon.
it has lots of energy, some acapella spots to show off, some "screaming" parts, and a general "let your hair down" song.
yes there is a few extended instrumental interludes, but if you can get a cut down version it would be perfect.
just a thought
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Hey, great idea, thanks!
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BRavo! Good voice!:aok
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Looks like CVH has the critque covered pretty well from a professional standpoint.
I'll tell ya what I liked from an amateur observer standpoint.
I loved her voice ... I think that should could probably do an amazing job singing the blues too. Just something about her voice that says "Blues" to me.
I am sure she was nervous, but in film2 and flim3, she seemed comfortable and looked like she enjoyed singing the song. At the end she was closing her eyes and belting it out. That tells me she is into the song.
As an observer, I get more involved watching a live performance when the performer appears to be having fun too. If they look like it's "just another song I gotta sing" ... I become very disinterested.
Make sure ...
... she loves the song she is singing
... the song is not above her abilities
... shows good energy while peforming
... acknowledge the crowd ... look at people in the crowd ... make them feel like they are part of the performance.
The other thing I liked about her and hate when other performers do it ... don't stick the friggin' mic in your mouth and cover your face. I hate that with a passion ... she doesn't seem to have this problem and it was one of the first things I noticed.
I wish all the best of luck to her ... she does have talent.
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Impressed.:cool:
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Very good performance! It takes a lot of guts to get out there and do what everybody else can easily critique. Kudos to her for having the C.O. Jones to do it!
Here's my critique. First off, my credentials. I've been a working musician/ singer for 15 years now. The last 10 i've spent in Nashville in and around the country scene.
She's got a lot of power, and the songs did a good job of showing that. Let Her Rip is a deceivingly difficult song. The intro is wide open and bare. She fell into a trap that a lot of people do when they are used to singing with tracks. She's a tad late when she starts to sing. A lot of people do it, they wait for the music to cue instead of feeling it and jumping in on top. It can be annoying as heck though for a band that works behind her. I speak from experience, hehe. Suggest that she work with the tracks and a tape recorder so she can listen back and make sure she's right on target.
There's also several spots in that song where you have to go from a high note down to a lower one. She's consistently a bit sharp on the low notes. She just needs to relax a bit and not push the low note so hard. It'll fall right in tune. She had a couple other pitch problems, but nothing that I wouldn't attribute to being nervous as heck. On another pitch note, if she's going to do Let Her Rip again, have her go over the first "let her rip" over and over until she's comfortable with hitting the note. She was waaaayyyy sharp on it until the track got going and gave her a base to key off of. It's tough to do, but with her talent I'm sure she'll get it just fine.
The only other thing I saw was the way she ended her phrases. She's cutting the last word short and not letting it fall off naturally. Make sure she's singing out the entire word and then decaying the note. That one bit right there will go a long way to making her sound more polished. Cutting the last note of a phrase tends to make it sound very choppy.
Keep in mind I'm not picking on her at all. I'm just pointing out things that I ask people to point out when they listen to one of my performances. It's hard to get better if everyone that knows you just says "great job man!" when they're really thinking "that last song sucked." I wish her the best in the competition!
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Great, thanks! When she sang, I heard the thing with the end of hte words being cut off, but I didn't know how to describe it. You nailed it perfectly, appreciate it.
I'm mailing all these to her, great stuff, and thanks!
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Originally posted by Chairboy
Great, thanks! When she sang, I heard the thing with the end of hte words being cut off, but I didn't know how to describe it. You nailed it perfectly, appreciate it.
I'm mailing all these to her, great stuff, and thanks!
thats what i was trying to describe when i said she was "talking" a few parts... not bad just slightly noticible.
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I only watched the first one so far, but had to put my 0.02 and say...I am impressed!!
You know what I like to hear a woman sing?
Have you seen The Committments? A girl sings a version of "I Can't Stand the Rain" in it.
I doubt it is Country worthy for this contest, but I'd like to hear your wife sing it.
Hope she wins.:aok