Stevie to perform on this Sunday's Grammy Awards

[michelej1]

USA Today:
http://content.usatoday.com/communit...-performance/1

Borchetta said Swift had a technical issue Sunday night. "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. ... You're going to have difficulties on occasion.

"Technical issue" reminds me of "wardrobe malfunction." I've looked at other live clips of Taylor since Sunday night and I think she must have a "technical issue" every single time she performs! It's a lie. She's a sweet, popular girl who has talent, even if singing is not her strong point. Her fans still love her. There's no need for her management to defend her in ways that I think are more insulting than helpful.

I'm amused though because we know how our own girl is constantly fiddling with her ear piece and pocket monitor. She could have had a nervous breakdown over "a volume problem in the ear."

Michele

[GypsyBlueEyes]

This story just isn't going away. I can't believe that the head of the label has resorted to coming out and defending her. It doesn't matter what he says in interviews, he knows that her performance was awful. This is damage control.

One thing I've been wondering is, since this has gotten so much negative attention, if any pressure has been put on Stevie to publicly defend Taylor? And if there has been pressure, if she would actually do it?

I think my favorite of all the things he has said:

the facts say she is the undisputed best communicator that we've got. When she says something, when she sings something, when she feels something, it affects more people than anybody else

She may very well be the undisputed best communicator to twelve year old girls...but thats about it

[APerfectLie]

Originally Posted by GypsyBlueEyes

One thing I've been wondering is, since this has gotten so much negative attention, if any pressure has been put on Stevie to publicly defend Taylor? And if there has been pressure, if she would actually do it?

That's interesting to think about, because part of me says you know they have! And I would really love to hear Stevie say something like "I had no clue she was going to be so awful! If I would have known that I would have never let her touch Rhiannon or any of my other songs!!" But if she was to say something, it would probably be in Taylor's defense. But I think it would be wrong of Stevie to, because many of those who are dissing Taylor are praising Stevie and by publicly taking her side she would be telling many of her own admirers that they were wrong, and by lambasting Taylor's performance, she is going to come off as a bitter old lady who trash talks people who look at her as a hero. and so I think she will stay quiet unless asked about it in an interview a few months, or years down the road. And even then I am sure her response will be along the lines of, "Taylor is a very sweet girl and she is an amazing writer which is very rare in the music business these days. And many people may not have been happy with her performance that night, but I know that there were many times people weren't happy with some of my performances. So I wish Taylor the best and I wish her all her dreams and shes already got an amazing career and I think it is just going to continue to prosper!!"

[GypsyBlueEyes]

Originally Posted by APerfectLie

That's interesting to think about, because part of me says you know they have! And I would really love to hear Stevie say something like "I had no clue she was going to be so awful! If I would have known that I would have never let her touch Rhiannon or any of my other songs!!" But if she was to say something, it would probably be in Taylor's defense. But I think it would be wrong of Stevie to, because many of those who are dissing Taylor are praising Stevie and by publicly taking her side she would be telling many of her own admirers that they were wrong, and by lambasting Taylor's performance, she is going to come off as a bitter old lady who trash talks people who look at her as a hero. and so I think she will stay quiet unless asked about it in an interview a few months, or years down the road. And even then I am sure her response will be along the lines of, "Taylor is a very sweet girl and she is an amazing writer which is very rare in the music business these days. And many people may not have been happy with her performance that night, but I know that there were many times people weren't happy with some of my performances. So I wish Taylor the best and I wish her all her dreams and shes already got an amazing career and I think it is just going to continue to prosper!!"

I totally agree. I definitely think that there has to have been pressure for her to do so though. Specifically, they might want her to confirm (read: lie) and say there were volume problems and that the rehearsals had gone well, etc. I'm still dying to know what she really thinks (but we'll never know the truth cause she's never going to say )

That was a very Stevie-esqe answer, btw

[GypsyBlueEyes]

Sorrrrry for the double post

Taylor was #10 on The Daily Ten. Nothing new, just stuff we've already heard about her label defending her. Then Sal (the presenter) said we should all get over ourselves

[APerfectLie]

Originally Posted by GypsyBlueEyes

I totally agree. I definitely think that there has to have been pressure for her to do so though. Specifically, they might want her to confirm (read: lie) and say there were volume problems and that the rehearsals had gone well, etc. I'm still dying to know what she really thinks (but we'll never know the truth cause she's never going to say )

That was a very Stevie-esqe answer, btw

Lmao lie is exactly what they want her to do! And they had some of the footage of the rehearsals, so they should prove to us that those went well by releasing that. And I'm dying to know what she thinks to! And what possessed her to do it in the first place. And thanks! I tried hard on that Stevie answer lmao

[vivfox]

Grammys boost sales

As a promotional showcase, the Grammy Awards remain a force. Early results from Nielsen SoundScan show that artists who performed on the CBS telecast Sunday night are experiencing a relatively major sales boost.

The Black Eyed Peas, for example, are on track for a stellar week with the Interscope set "The E.N.D.": Over four days last week (Monday through Thursday), the album sold 18,000 copies. In just two days this week (Tuesday and Wednesday), the set scanned 26,000 copies.

Taylor Swift's Big Machine effort "Fearless" is also up in the same period, tallying 16,000 this week versus 13,000 for the four-day span last week.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment...,1876539.story

[Livia]

Taylor Suffers “Swift-lash”

http://www.pollstar.com/blogs/news/a...x?source=email

Holy harmony! The negative reaction to Taylor Swift’s less-than-perfect performance with rock legend Stevie Nicks during Sunday night’s Grammy Awards ceremony is quickly getting ugly, with the chief of the singer’s label and other artists like Kelly Clarkson and Drake wading into the fray.

Much of the fuss seems to be (and should be) over the fact that Swift’s rendition of the Fleetwood Mac classic “Rihannon” was teeth-grindingly off-key. The performance was widely panned everywhere from the Los Angeles Times to The Washington Post. (Even I wasn’t immune from offering criticism of the duet. Although I was taken to task by several readers for being too kind.)

But it was The New York Times’ Jon Caramanica who I believe hit the nail on the head when it comes to the main reason behind the sudden and furious “Swift-lash” emerging online and elsewhere.

“Most stars – and make no mistake, Ms. Swift is the most important new pop star of the past few years – have their images undone by failure,” Caramanica wrote on Monday morning. “In Ms. Swift’s case, the opposite is true: success has necessitated a re-evaluation.

“Her Sunday night at the Grammys will be remembered as the turning point. She won four awards, including album of the year for Fearless (Big Machine), her outstanding second record – the youngest artist ever to do so, and the first solo female country singer to earn that as well. It was the ultimate stamp of approval for someone who insists that she’s thrilled just to be invited to the party.”

Of course, Caramanica also admits “it’s refreshing to see someone so gifted make the occasional flub,” and in doing so, cops to something that’s probably motivating much of the gleeful criticism of Swift that’s been circulating on the Internet – schadenfreude, that little black part of all our souls that takes perverse pleasure in witnessing the suffering of others.

Schadenfreude (plus a generous portion of plain old jealously) certainly explains why a lot of people commenting about the singer on sites scattered across the Web have seized the opportunity to question her success in general.

On Tuesday, MTV.com posted a piece by writer James Montgomery marveling at the venom being spewed at Swift and asking rabid readers to take a deep breath and reconsider how fair they were being.

In the article, Entertainment Weekly’s music critic Leah Greenblatt gave Montgomery her take on the situation, which echoes Carmanica’s while revealing a couple other motivations behind the public’s spite.

“As the awards began to pile up, [Swift] went from the underdog to the over-dog,” Greenblatt told Montgomery. “She became just another celebrity. And the cycle of celebrity, it will always come back to a takedown. Some people are mad because she seems too perfect. Some people are mad at her for dumping Jacob from ‘New Moon.’ And a lot of people are mad because she wiffed so hard with Stevie Nicks at the Grammys.

“We got tons of comments from people, and a lot of them were really nasty. The cry of ‘She writes her own songs’ was overtaken by ‘But she sings them badly.’ We’re used to divas – Mary J nailing it, Gaga doing versions of her songs to pound it in that she can really sing. And the thought after the Grammys seemed to be, ‘If Pink can spin in a hammock, soaking wet, wearing a ribbon, and hit notes, why couldn’t Taylor do it standing behind a microphone?’”

The reaction to the MTV.com post in Swift’s defense was stunning. So much so that the site posted a dozen of the best comments the next day – from people defending the hate as well as defending the singer.

Perhaps the most surprising development in this story is the reaction from the head of Swift’s record label, Big Machine Records.

In a move practically unheard of in the recording industry, Scott Borchetta angrily responded to attacks on the singer, beginning with a statement issued to The Tennessean, and pretty much threw down the gauntlet for further attacks.

“The biggest message is [the critics] are not getting it,” Borchetta said. “Because the facts say she is the undisputed best communicator that we’ve got. When she says something, when she sings something, when she feels something, it affects more people than anybody else.

“Maybe she’s not the best technical singer, but she’s probably the best emotional singer because everybody else who gets up there and is technically perfect, people don’t seem to want more of it … I think [the critics] are missing the whole voice of a generation that is happening right in front of them … She’s an extraordinary songwriter and her vocal performances are getting better. Everybody is not perfect on any given day. If you pick any of those artists that performed [on the Grammy Awards], I’m sure you can go online and find something where you go, ‘ew.’ Maybe in that moment we didn’t have the best night. But in the same breath, maybe we did. And nobody is arguing with the awards.

“The critics are missing the bigger picture. This is what always happens and is the unfortunate part of the American dream, that we build these people up to watch the critics tear them down. Well, you better have more than what you’ve got now if you think you’re going to get in the ring and fight with us. So, get in the ring.”

While Borchetta makes some good points – the best being that every singer on the planet has tanked a performance at one time or another – his assertion that Swift is “the whole voice of a generation” is a bit much.

Certainly her record sales are a testament to how much she touches people, but the same argument can be made for Lil’ Wayne, Lady Gaga, or even Susan Boyle. And it’s a safe bet nobody would venture to call any of them “voice of a generation.”

So that’s strike one against Borchetta’s case, but then he went even further out on a limb in a follow up interview with the Associated Press (which drew some fire of its own – but we’ll get to that in a moment).

“She is the voice of this generation,” Borchetta reasserted. “She speaks directly to [her fans], and they speak directly back to her. 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 communicator. It’s not about that technically perfect performance.”

Uh-oh. It’s one thing to defend your artist against critics and rabid commenters hiding behind the anonymity of the Internet, but it’s entirely another to attack other artists to make your case.

You didn’t really think that Borchetta essentially claiming that everyone who ever walked onto the stage of “American Idol” was not “a true artist and communicator” was going to go unnoticed did you? Of course not.

Enter “Idol” alum Kelly Clarkson, who quickly took to her blog to offer the label exec a piece of her mind.

“I understand you defending your artist obviously because I have done the same in the past for artists I like, including Taylor, so you might see why its upsetting to read you attacking American Idol for producing simply vocalists that hit ‘the high notes’ … We not only hit the high notes, you forgot to mention we generally hit the ‘right’ notes as well. Every artist has a bad performance or two and that is understandable, but throwing blame will not make the situation at hand any better … You should take a lesson from [my manager and label executives] and instead of lashing out at other artists (that in your ‘humble’ opinion lack true artistry), you should simply take a breath and realize that sometimes things won’t go according to plan or work out and that’s okay.”

Clarkson signed her message, “One of those contestants from American Idol who only made it because of her high notes.”

Ouch.

So what does all of this mean? It seems to me that what happened to Swift’s duet with Nicks is that the song was performed in a key that wasn’t comfortable for either singer. I’m assuming that’s because it needed to be in a different key than the original to allow Nicks to sing harmony without having to scrape the bottom of her range.

The bottom line here though is that nobody’s perfect. Yes, the Grammy performance of “Rihannon” wasn’t good. Yes, we’ve been heading into Taylor Swift overkill territory for some time now. A negative reaction was inevitable. As Mel Brooks, who’s had his share of hits as well as misses over the years, once said to me in an interview after his Broadway version of “The Producers” became a smash, “There’s gonna be a backlash.”

So I have a message for Taylor Swift. Hang in there kid. Holding on to that place in the spotlight can be tricky, but this too shall pass. It’ll be somebody else’s turn pretty soon.

[badanimals87]

Originally Posted by Livia

So what does all of this mean? It seems to me that what happened to Swift’s duet with Nicks is that the song was performed in a key that wasn’t comfortable for either singer. I’m assuming that’s because it needed to be in a different key than the original to allow Nicks to sing harmony without having to scrape the bottom of her range.

So if I'm following this writer correctly...if Rhiannon had been performed in the original key (which is higher) then Taylor would have been able to hit the notes no problem?

[Remy]

Wow... this is getting out of hand. I thought it was going to blow over quicker. Slow news week, I guess.
It always seems to me, as long as non-criminal faults are concerned, it's best for the manager/bigwig rep to STAY MUM. By speaking out, he confirms the caliber of the case.

[michelej1]

It's funny when you look at the very first posts in this thread and Hejira NYC was saying that at least we didn't have to worry about Stevie getting blown out of the water by a more talented vocalist. Truer words were never . . .

Michele

[Livia]

I keep thinking about what Keith Olsen said on Behind the Music, or the Making of Rumours - one of those things. Anyway, he was complimenting Stevie on what a great harmony singer she is and that "she can wrap her voice around anyone's."

[GypsyBlueEyes]

So if I'm following this writer correctly...if Rhiannon had been performed in the original key (which is higher) then Taylor would have been able to hit the notes no problem?

There is no way she could hit the notes in Rhiannon sung the way Stevie usually sings it. Listen to the way she sings her own songs. I don't know anything about notes, but it seems to me that she sings all of her songs on a very small scale and there is very little variation (see, I told you I don't know the technical terms for all this stuff ). If they had done it the Stevie way, Stevie would have overpowered Taylor's vocal...not that I would have complained about that.

LMAO! This is getting so ridiculous. People need to stop making excuses for her. She sucked. It was an awful performance. This backlash is happening because she was marketed as a "real deal" singer/songwriter/musician. The golden child of the music industry. In an environment where there is so much production/autotuning in the studio to make the artists sound the way they do, Taylor's image has always been that she didn't need all that extra behind the scenes stuff to make her sound good. Well, she got on television in front of millions of people and showed them that it was all smoke and mirrors.

[ButterCookie]

Originally Posted by GypsyBlueEyes

She sucked. It was an awful performance.

Hear hear!

[Livia]

Taylor Swift isn't even old enough to drink legally, and yet the country-pop crossover picked up four Grammys, including Best Album of the Year. Man, I have done nothing with my life.

But something is off in her performance. Swift doesn't sound her best, especially in comparison to Stevie Nicks, her duet partner. And who made the decision to let Nicks sing a high school love anthem? Really, Stevie — you feel like you're the type of girl who's left sitting on the bleachers? The duet seems more like a p.r. stunt than a true performance. But I really like Nicks' ridiculously ribboned tambourine, so maybe I'll forgive her.

Grade: C

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/specials/pa...#ixzz0ehkv6sXx