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Melismatic For The People
OK, my comment that race might be playing a part in people saying Alex and Leona are the same has clearly touched a nerve. I’ve been called racist myself for suggesting it, although I’m not sure exactly how that works.
Anyway, let me be very clear about what I meant.
I didn’t, as one user asserted, "blindly suppose" anything. I suggested it MIGHT be an issue in SOME cases. And why? Well, as I said in the original post, I couldn’t see what else they have in common.
Undoubtedly some people will have spoken from a position of musical ignorance. If that’s the case, then fair enough. Being tone deaf is nothing to be ashamed of any more than being dyslexic is.
But there was another issue I wasn’t taking into account. Jimmy The Fish commented, "It’s not about colour it’s about the genre. Do we need another note stretching, tonsil warbling, fist clenching, tear wrenching r ‘n’ b diva?"
Granted, this is a more persuasive argument. But hang on: this is X Factor we’re talking about! That is the genre it deals in. What sort of singer did you expect to win? Ian Curtis? Tom Waits? Bjork?
X Factor is based on a contemporary and restrictive definition of vocal talent called ‘melisma’. Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Celine Dion et al have a lot to answer for in establishing the false notion that a thousand notes are better than one. This has some worrying implications for popular music which have been discussed elsewhere on MSN Music. But I don’t make the rules. It’s what people buy by the bucketful and it’s what they vote for on X Factor.
If your gripe is that X Factor perpetuates the dominance of melismatic singing (ie. "we don’t need another singer who favours multiple tonal variations per syllable)", then I wholeheartedly agree – but that really is a different argument.
The fact remains that within the parameters of this dominant style, Alexandra and Leona are at different ends of the spectrum. In short, although the style in which they (and almost all their fellow X Factor contestants) sing is broadly similar, their voices don’t sound the same. Not even a bit.
In retrospect, I probably shouldn’t have brought race into it at all. It’s a thorny subject at the best of times. I was simply expressing my exasperation at the numbers of people saying they sound the same when they quite clearly don’t. And that’s the last I’m saying on the matter.
Happy Christmas.
Murphy the Mr E?
Edward Nigma that is… remember Val Kilmer solving that particular puzzle in Batman Forever? His adversary was Jim Carrey, villainously camping it up in a skin-tight green suit. Carrey was the undeniably b-list bat-villain known as The Riddler.
The Sun reported today that Eddie Murphy will play The Riddler in the third of the Christopher Nolan/Christian Bale batman films.
The Sun also reports that Shia LaBoeuf will play Robin and Rachel Weisz will play Catwoman. The tabloid’s source for the story is an anonymous ‘film insider’.
So let’s not get carried away just yet. Personally, I’m still thinking of this as only a rumour. This interview with Alan Horn, the President of Warner Brothers, suggests that Nolan isn’t even close to the casting stage of the new movie. Murphy has been linked to the new Bat-Flick, nothing more.
It’s worth considering the prospect of a bat-villain from Murphy’s perspective. Norbit, Shrek The Third and Meet Dave have been his last three films. He might appear to be short on critical credibility, but don’t forget he was showered with glory for his perfectly cast role in Dreamgirls.
Even if he was seeking to break out of the image of gimicky comedy merchant, the path of The Riddler is fraught with danger. For starters, how do you follow Heath Ledger? Whoever accepts the role is already behind before they’ve even thought about building a performance in the same league. The Joker is the villain of the franchise. His successor as the scourge of Gotham will always struggle to convince.
Shia LaBoeuf might make a decent Robin, though it’s hard to imagine any kind of side-kick keeping up with Bale’s solitary and surly bat. Holy personality clash Batman!
But Rachel Weisz as Catwoman!? Please no!
I, for one, will be hoping this is just rumour.
