Oh good grief

(p.s: I act appalled - but will secretly watch the youtube uploads when they come on )

I am watching the repeat now, and some is very funny indeed. One lady has a good voice but looks for radio rather then TV. What a shame. She is through though.

Susan Boyle!

Brilliant

Stavros Flatly - comic genius!!

Did you guys think that Susan Boyle was THAT good? Personally I didnt like her and she didn't really do anything for me.

Some of the participants are so appalling that you find you have to watch them just to see how appalling they are!

She wasn't good but as I said, she had a good voice and presented her song quite well. He didn't have much in the way of looks though. As I said earlier, a performer with a face for radio.
I liked the Greek acrobat/ dancers. And I'll bet that Philip would have loved that stripper!

*thinks that noodle secretly wants to be able to blow a hot water bottle up until it goes 'pop'*

Why is it a shame? I was pleased when she started to sing and had a reasonable voice because everyone in the audience seemed to have completely judged her by how she looked and thought she wouldn't be any good. She wasn't the best singer but I thought she did pretty well.

My favourite act that episode where Flawless (the dance crew). I always like the really good street dancers. I end up wishing I could dance like them.

Lucid

I'm with lucid - i thought flawless was definitely the best so far

If I remember rightly, they recalled about 100 acts last year for the 'next round'. The judges then sat in a room with photographs of all of them and selected the last dozen or so for the second round, so we never got to see a lot of them again.

The stripper was funny, but I think she is probably a good dancer who might have gone through anyway - she was a world champion disco dancer at 16 - shame she felt she had to do something outrageous to get noticed - I very much doubt she will go any further in the competition.

I think some of the acts get a disproportionate reaction from the audience, because they sit through hours of absolute rubbish. Anyone who then comes on with a half decent act gets a rapturous reception.

Great telly!

She was a very interesting example of how people judge on first appearances, wasn't she!

Liz

Yes, she really was. Neither the panel or the audience were expecting much of her and it came as such a surprise when she began to sing. She has lots of personality and good stage skills though and could look a lot more presentable. It is the sort of show where looks count as much as the performance.

Well I'm not sure I agree with that at all. I don't care at all what someone looks like - it doesn't change the way they sound (if they are a singer). Clearly there's a majority of people who do think like that as the audience were so nastily (in my opinion) judgemental of her - if you think I'm getting too worked up then imagine standing on a stage in front of how ever many people and have most of them laughing at you before you've started. If there's one thing I can't stand it's this idea that everyone should look like made up models to succeed. I don't mean to have a go at you petrat but am just giving my opinion on this as an answer to your post.

Apparently she's favourite to win at the moment. I doubt she'll be the best but she did have a pretty good voice and I hope she makes it through to the live TV shows as that would be part of her dream. I guess it depends on how many other singers make it through who have better voices.

Lucid

I get the impression that it isn't really about how good you are, especially if you are performing on an intrument or singing. Paul Potts, those two teenagers who got so far last year, and this lady, all are good amateur singers but I wouldn't mind betting there are plenty of people on this forum who are at least as good and still classed as amateur. It's about having something surprising - either so bad that they want to invite you back to ridicule you (a frightening thought but I suppose those who enter and are that bad must surely know) or having something good come out of a man with bad teeth, or a 47 year old virgin, or a boy who claims he is bullied.

Liz

Liz, you are so right. People always like something out of the ordinary. There are so many good singers, dancers, etc; you have to stand out in some way in order to get on. It's that extra spark that helps you connect with an audience - even if all they want to do is laugh at you!

Fully with Liz here. To be quite honest, Susan Boyle's voice is alright, but not special. What makes me furious is the sheer implication that someone looking "like that" (not what I think, merely the general perception) cannot have a half-decent voice and must sound horrible. What also infuriates me is the sheer stupidity of the general public, letting themselves being talked into assuming that this lady's voice is anything out of the ordinary - but maybe people believe what they want to believe.

I can quite proudly say that at least 10 of my voice students have objectively better voices than her, but paired with ordinary or even half-decent looks, a far less whacky personality and without a big massive sob-story, they would not "stand out" and probably would not get further - simply because they don't feed people's sensationalism.

True

A teacher friend of mine entered a couple of years ago with one of his own compositions. I heard it and it was fantastic! He's one of the most talented people I've ever known. He didn't get through to the tv programme though

I suggested next time he consider setting himself or the piano on fire mid-performance if he really wants to get through

Alternatively he could say he was in a finger crushing accident years ago and was told he'd never play again only to fight back bravely and defy the odds.... Then Ant and Dec could do a feature on him with some sad music playing in the background

I also listened to it on YouTube, without watching it at first. I thought it was a rather nice and expressive voice, a little domineering for my taste, but not bad at all. But I was not especially impressed, or at least not very touched by her performance. I didn't understand why she is supposed to be so sensational.

Then I watched again. Oh, so her voice does not go with her appearance... The judges were overdoing it, with their amazed expressions. Surely they have listened to many others who are better singers? And were her looks that poor? I am not very sure, because she did not appear very ugly to me, just a normal lady in her 40s.

But well, many of my friends on FaceBook are raving over how amazing she sounds

On a side-note, what do the voice teachers think of Connie Talbot? Is she a truly good voice, or just a sweet little girl? I watched her songs on Britain's Got Talent. She only seemed to sing "Over the Rainbow" well. Is she extremely advanced compared to other children of her age? How would she do if she went for ABRSM exams?

That reminds me of the Peter Kay spoof programme Britain's Got the Pop Factor... and Possibly a New Celebrity Jesus Christ Soapstar Superstar Strictly On Ice. When the judges were at their selection process they ruled out one of the finalists becuase 'his story wasn't sad enough'. When his Gran dies at the news he didn't make it through they decide to bring him back in (complete with the sad background music) due to his story now being sad enough.



I completely agree with that and don't see what the big deal is about her appearance. She may not have had her face plastered in makeup but that doesn't mean she is automatically bad looking - more sensible I'd say.

Someone said earlier that (regarding the audience there at the time) they probably have to sit through a lot of dreadful acts and timewasters, so when someone comes through who is reasonable then it seems like they are amazing. I also have a theory that a lot of people who think these singers are really good may be people who are more used to hearing pop singers etc. who don't always have the best voices, and on the tracks usually have a lot of effects added to the voice. So when they hear someone singing naturally like that and they're reasonably in tune with a nice sounding voice then the audience/viewers probably will think they sound really good.

I'm not a singing teacher but I thought that Connie got through just because she was a sweet little girl. It's kind of like Kate and Gin (the girl who got through with her border collie and heelwork to music routine) last year. Mary Ray and Richard Curtis (a couple of the UK's leading figures in Heelwork to Music) auditioned and didn't get through to the finals. Their routines (I imagine) would have been much better than Kate and Gin's but it would have been completely to do with Kate being younger and having more of a story - although I was pleased when she got through as she enjoyed doing it so much. I did think that Faryl Smith (the 12 year old singer from last year) was very good and the fact that she was 12 with such a mature voice did really impress me. I think she was the favourite to win and probably for the same reasons.

Lucid

Please don't get me started!

First of all: She is a very sweet little girl. The way she sings however is completely age-inappropriate, she already has a wobble, she is copying an adult sound (which is not unusual for children, but it shouldn't be encouraged) and she is being completely exploited for her "cute-factor". The latter really makes me quite angry, because with careful training, getting rid of her undoubtedly bad and possibly harmful habits, she could possibly be a decent singer one day - she is very musical, so there is definitely a good base to work with.

What happened to her during and after that show though
Give it another one or two years, and nobody will even remember her name, that's the sad part ...

I totally agree. The thing is she's NOT a good singer - she's singing with very dodgy technique and using laryngeal configurations that are way too heavy for her (developping) vocal folds - the wobble is the direct result of this and I wouldn't be surprised if she's been encouraged to cultivate the wobble because people seem to confuse it with her having a developed vibrato.

Sadly, she's got the freak factor and that's why it's working now - her voice is a bit rubbish, technically unsound, but she 'almost' sounds like an adult, so therefore she's interesting to the public and the producers for now. When she's actually an adult and still sounds that ropey, it won't be interesting anymore and - as mezzo says - she'll disappear.

If only some good teaching could be given to her, to unlock the voice - I'm sure she'd develop very nicely.

Just looked that up online - brillliant

Peter Kay does a great Northern Irish accent too - spot on

Now I understand why, while everyone was saying that Connie Talbot was a genius with an angel's voice, I was wondering why she sounded like she was constantly shaking with cold, and that she was actually physically jerking her head/neck too. I thought I was being too critical, because all my colleagues were parents and simply adored children... So I kept quiet...

I just heard some more of Connie Talbot's performances on YouTube. Indeed a sweet little girl As she grew a year or two older, her voice grew a little stronger too. But she started to sound just like the teenagers in karaoke, going for notes and techniques that is obviously beyond her. I am wondering how her voice will change again after puberty. Hope she gets better in future.


Connie Talbot on a Taiwanese show that is similar to BGT:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOfKAPGfd6k...feature=related

Gosh. I didn't see what all the fuss was about with Connie Talbot at the time - that wobble/fake vibrato she put on just sounded painful. She's improved a lot though!
She isn't perfect but now I must admit I am pretty impressed by how mature her voice sounds.

That's the thing, though, Lucky - you're impressed because her voice sounds mature - because she sounds like an older singer than she is. When she reaches an age where her voice doesn't sound older than her anymore, she'll still sound like a ropey adult and at the same time will BE an adult so will amount to nothing more than a slightly shouty, ropey singer and the public will lose interest.

It's a shame, it really is. I hope she gets some decent tuition in the basics - her voice is probably still salvageable - but it won't hold out a great deal longer.

Well that's true. Plus, what made her special has always creeped me out. She seems far too young to choose to be creating a career... It seems kind of like exploitation.

I looked on YouTube and she's singing songs like "I Will Always Love You" which creeps me out a bit too as she's 7 and it just doesn't seem right.

And look what happened to Lena Zavaroni, poor kid (just in case anyone's never heard of her, try this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J09IeN-ONbk )

http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/1999/oct/05....pennyvalentine

I was reading the Wikipedia page on Connie today and apparently her Manager said that they weren't going to give Connie singing lessons as they didn't need to. I think that's quite worrying as surely anyone who is starting out in a career in singing would benefit from some lessons and guidance - especially as she's so young. Surely she's just going to end up damaging her voice if she hasn't got the proper technique. It's a shame really because if she did have lessons then she would probably become really good.

Lucid

The thing is, she is using (more or less) the right techniques to get that heavy sound - she's putting a little tension into the TA muscle that runs through the vocal folds to get a heavier sound by prolonging the closed phase of the folds - we call this thick fold singing, as opposed to thin fold singing which is light and floating - the basis for the female classical sound. Both are perfectly healthy approaches to singing.

The problem here is that her larynx is still developing and she's using techniques that are designed for stable larynges with folds that have thickened. To get that thick, rocky / RnB'y sound, it only takes a tiny amount of TA tension in a normal larynx because the folds are already quite thick - in her voice, she's having to use much more tension in that muscle to create the same sound, because her folds are naturally thinner and shorter than those of an adult - the wobble is testament to how much strain her folds are under.

It's like trying to play really hard on the violin to make it sound like a cello... something will eventually snap.

Oh my God...that is quite disturbing.

Oh dear, poor Lena Zavaroni... Was she also stressing her vocal folds? She sounded just too mature, and even more so than Connie Talbot. She even "roughs" up her voice now and then to produce some kind of distortion effect that jazz and rock singers often do.

I find it rather disturbing, not because these two girls are rare talents, but because I have heard so many little Asian children who have overly mature voices and techniques, and they appear on TV almost every few months in singing competitions!

Now I am quite worried... Poor children! They imitate adults (usually their parents), get applauded, and keep doing it at the expense of their vocal health?!

To go off at a bit of a tangent, I read today that Connie Fisher ( she of the 8 shows a week as Maria) has had to pull out of the tour to promote her new album, as she has to have an operation on her cords. 'Congenital fusion anomalies' or something - and apparently very unusual in a singer. Must be devastating for her.

As for Connie Talbot - well, I just think that what her parents are doing is rather sad. Why can't she just get on with being a child? I can't see this ending well.

Did anyone just see those girls with the really lippy girl in the middle?! shockingly arrogant?! or is that just me???

The youth of today...

Can't believe the rubbish that Piers and Amanda are letting through.

Oooo, I Like him nice sound, I don't normally like sop sax all that much but

And Amanda is crying again

I thought his vibrato was a bit fast. I'm certainly not 'blown away'. There seems to be so much rubbish, that if anyone even vaguely competent turns up, they get showered with superlatives.

Grumpy Old Git.

was the vibrato not just him trying to be jazzy and cool...?
At least he could play and got a good response rather than the stupid acts that go through because they're so rubbish they're amusing...

C'mon Britain, we can do better than this....

Come on, bird....

Ok...so I'm embarrassed for the parrot lady...

^ me too, i really do feel bad for those people who get boo'd

OMG Belly button man!!!

The guy with the head was a bit creepy

That song isn't by amy winehouse

Simon Cowell - well played, mate.