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Monday February 1, 2010 - LA Times
Monday, February 01, 2010
TAYLOR SWIFT COULDN'T COMPETE WITH VOCALS OF STEVIE NICKS
By Jeff Miers
Buffalo News
"Trotting Stevie Nicks out to sing “Rhiannon” with Taylor Swift was meant, one assumes, to suggest that Swift is to her generation what Nicks was and is to hers. That was tough to swallow once Swift started singing the Fleetwood Mac tune next to the gravel-voiced but still spot-on Nicks—Swift was out of tune and her tone was thin and reedy. Swift fared better on her own when the pair went into the younger singer’s “You Belong To Me,” though the nursery rhyme-like melody left Nicks without much to do".
Butch Walker admits his appearance last night on the Grammys playing banjolin in Taylor Swift’s backing band may have confused some viewers.
Entertainment Weekly
I had a blast, it was so fun. And it was great being onstage. You could tell by watching me: I was dancing like a… a… jerk, basically. I was elated to hear this huge pop star doing my version of her song. And performing with Stevie Nicks (who sang with Swift on both “You Belong With Me” and Fleetwood Mac’s “Rhiannon”) didn’t suck either.
Was there a problem with the sound onstage? There seems to be a wide consensus of opinion that Taylor was struggling to find the right notes when she was singing “Rhiannon.”
I didn’t really notice it being out of key that much. But I guess the TV doesn’t lie. I think a lot of people give her unnecessary grief. Her appeal is not in [having] some sort of big diva voice. Like, Pink obviously has a voice of God coming out of her when she sings and it’s beautiful and it’s powerful and bluesy. Taylor comes from country. It’s a difference approach to singing.
It must also be pretty terrifying to perform with Stevie Nicks for a global audience.
There is that factor, you know. How about anybody try doing that without being nervous? It wasn’t even my show and I was nervous.
Taylor Swift Duet with Stevie Nicks at 2010 Grammy Awards Worst Ever?
Taylor Swift Won Four Grammy Awards but Couldn't Compete with Vocals of Stevie Nicks
One of the more persistent rumors circulating before the 2010 Grammy Awards aired was that Stevie Nicks would appear, with some mentioning that she would do a duet with young country pop phenom Taylor Swift. With the confirmation that Lady Gaga and Elton John were opening the Grammy Awards ceremony, anticipation grew that the Stevie Nicks rumor would prove to be true as well. And it did. But what looked to be a promising duet left that promise unfulfilled and the quadruple Grammy-winning Taylor Swift sounding far out of her vocal league.
Ryan Seacrest, host of American Idol, introduced Swift after prefacing her performance with the announcement that she had already won three Grammy Awards (she would end up winning a fourth, Album of the Year). The young starlet began by singing a couple of lines from her song "Fairytale," then introduced Stevie Nicks to wild applause as the music to Fleetwood Mac's classic, "Rhiannon," started up.
Stevie Nicks is the consummate performer, her voice a unique blend of smooth and gravel. But when Taylor Swift stepped in to sing a few lines of "Rhiannon," her reedy, almost flat vocals stood at stark contrast with Nicks'. And as the song progressed, as Taylor Swift kept producing flat renderings (except in the harmonies, which were done fairly well), it became glaringly apparent that Taylor Swift's level of vocal stylings paled in comparison to that of Stevie Nicks.
Sadly, it went from bad to worse. When Taylor Swift sang her hit, "You Belong With Me," Stevie Nicks stepped back, providing back-up vocals and keeping time on a tambourine. And although the song sounded a bit better than "Rhiannon" (possibly because it was recognizably Swift's own song), the flatness in her voice continued. The entire performance came off as if a delusional Stevie Nicks were letting her pretentious and marginally talented niece take the stage...
Unfortunately, anyone who has ever seen Taylor Swift perform live can attest that she always performs that way...
WE CERTAINLY DIDN'T GET MUCH NICKS LAST NIGHT
Ann Powers
LA Times
Today's biggest stars are those who embody powerful archetypes so well that a misplaced note or two may be kindly overlooked.
That last situation applies to Taylor Swift, who continued her winning streak by taking home album of the year for "Fearless," a recording that has seemingly won every available prize in the last year. Swift, 20, is a songwriter; she thanked her record label for "letting me write every song on my album" while accepting one of her awards.
But as well-crafted as her platinum-selling tales of suburban high school life are, it's Swift's persona that really sells. This smart young woman comes across as a perky, living American Girl doll, and that appealing version of traditional young womanhood, not her music, is at the heart of her stardom.
Her singing certainly can't be credited. Appealing enough on record, it always seems to let her down live. Swift gave a strikingly bad vocal performance at Staples Center on Sunday, sounding tinny and rhythmically flat-footed as she shared the microphone with the distinctive Stevie Nicks. Swift's inability to match or support Nicks as they worked through a medley of each woman's hits stood in stark contrast to the evening's other pairings, particularly soul man Maxwell's sensitive response to Roberta Flack and Lady Gaga's bravado turn with Elton John.
Taylor Swift and Stevie Nicks
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.
10 Things I Learned from the 2010 Grammy Awards Show
#2 Steve Nicks doesn't mind being a backup singer. You'd think at a show like this, there wouldn't be enough space for all of the egos in the room. Still, I was surprised to see the legendary Stevie Nicks play second fiddle to Taylor Swift during their duet together. It seemed as though Stevie only sang a few bars of her hit song Rhiannon by herself before Swift quickly swooped in and dominated the performance. Maybe it was supposed to be that way. It was just surprising, since we haven't seen much of Nicks lately and we certainly didn't get to see much of her last night.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
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