Kelly Clarkson at halftime in Detriot

[Ken Walker]

Is it me, or did she simply suck? What a difference between live and in the studio. It's the only time in recent memory I was begging to hear Autotune.

[Fishmed]

I thought she was a bit off. I thought maybe she was cold or something. At least we know she did not lip sync. tutt

[travisbrown]

Live's a different game. Monitoring can be questionable, nerves come into play, temperature, you only get one shot... Sometimes the singer is to blame; sometimes there are all sorts of odds stacked up against them that can shake their performance.

Live is what separates the real pros from the borderline amateurs. Watch old Whitney Houston footage, or Aretha, or Sarah Vaughn, or Martina McBride. They are in another class of singers. I like Kelly, but she's probably coming from a generation for which live performance is secondary to the lenience of studio time. It's not that she can't; it is probably that she hasn't honed that skill as well as she might have when it mattered more.

Even Amy Winehouse. Like her sound or not, that girl can rock the mic (when she's not *too* gonzo, that is).

I find now that I watch more for how a singer is going to screw up than anticipating how they are going to impress me. I'm just considering how sad this is.

I saw Leanne Rimes live once. At 17 years old she dominated the stage like she *knew* it was her job to nail this song. It became apparent when she launched into blistering cover of 'Purple Rain'. I walked out of that concert impressed that at 17, she was more pro than 95% of her country artist peers.

[tidalbomb]

Did anyone else notice the guitar and bass amps weren't turned on and nothing was plugged into the inputs? There was a JCM2000 half stack, SVT w/ an 8x10 and a fender twin and no lights, no cables...I guess they had amps or pods behind the scenes, but at least turn on and plug into the fake backline!

[Kenny Gioia]

Originally Posted by kpaw

Is it me, or did she simply suck? What a difference between live and in the studio. It's the only time in recent memory I was begging to hear Autotune.

Call me crazy - but didn't she make it on her live performance?

The girl can sing. Live and in the studio. I didn't see her performance but she's not someone who needs to be fixed to be able to get by.

[johnwayne]

She was fairly pitchy in that performance though. Not her greatest by far. You couldn't even hear the band. The mix was horrible. IMO it was all pretty terrible. They all looked good on the HD TV and that's what really matters.

[mark714]

It was not good, and it got progressively worse.

The "Since You've Been Gone" tune was really rough. Her performance of that same tune on the VMA's a while back was even worse. She sounded like she was forcing it. She was just out of control. I know she can hit the notes, but the last few live performances I've seen on random tv spots it sounds like she's overdoing it.

BTW, she performed in Dallas in the rain/snow. I'll give her a free pass on that one...

[blackwatch5805]

why do tv mixes almost always sound sooo bad.

[indie]

These kind of threads crack me up.

[Todd]

This thread is a joke. So is Kelly's "career".

Lets all pray that we get some actuall musicians back into the biz.

Kelly can go back to shopping at the mall with her mommy.

[PT User]

Say what you will but overall I think she has done great for herself and her career.
Yeah at the half-time show her voice was not up to par due to being horse maybe from a cold but she didnt lip sync.

[chymer]

Kelly is a great singer, she has already proven that. I didnt see the performance but shes only human. Even the greatest singers have off days.
Now if only I could get a cut on her next record
Shes gotta be desperate for hits by then right.
Chymer

[Sounds Great]

Well, if anybody happened to catch Hannah Montana on Oprah...

The young girls were crying and screaming like a 1964 Beatle's concert. She has the biggest selling concert tour of the year.

And then, she started singing......

[soypancho]

I didn't catch it. I'm just hoping I wasn't the only one who clicked on this thread who saw "[female singer] at halftime" and hoped for wardrobe malfunction

[picksail]

It appeared to me that she was freezing her ass off with a substandard monitor system.

[gvonbaren]

Originally Posted by travisbrown

Live's a different game....
Live is what separates the real pros from the borderline amateurs. Watch old Whitney Houston footage, or Aretha, or Sarah Vaughn, or Martina McBride. They are in another class of singers.

Whitney's big live Star Spangled Banner..... was pre-recorded

[vernier]

Didn't see halftime but there's no question about her singing ..she's great live, and can rock out. Great voice.

[warhead]

Are you guys suggesting a human being had a less than perfect day in front of millions of viewers? Man, that's it...I'm outta this human race! When you people are perfect call me!

War

[cww2]

The mix from the board that they broadcasted was poor - don't know what her monitor mix sounded like - if I remember correctly - the Super Bowl halftime broadcast mix was the same.

Kelly Clarkson is a fine singer live - I suspect other factors were involved. At the end when she spoke her thank you or whatever - she reminded me of how I sound when I'm struggling to hear myself on stage and start over singing.

I belive she did a live thing on the NFL season kickoff show - I thought she out performed the other acts - the NFL may need a better crew.

[shanabit]

Simple, shes trying to be a ROCK singer. Shes NOT one, shes a pop singer.
All shes doing is trashing her vox IMO. Same thing happens when I try to sing AC/DC, it aint happeningtutt

[BLueROom]

I think she tries to hard to be a "rock singer" and slays her throat. She has a great voice, but the rasp seems forced. Rasp will dry you out and match that with cold air and a terrible mix = terrible performance. She come back strong.

[not_so_new]

Originally Posted by warhead

Are you guys suggesting a human being had a less than perfect day in front of millions of viewers? Man, that's it...I'm outta this human race! When you people are perfect call me!

War

Exactly

I was watching, she was not 100% on but...

1) At least she was singing live

2) She looked like she was having a hard time with her monitor rig. People here either forget or just have never worked a live show. When you set up monitors, even in ears, then take the whole rig down when you start the show things just don't sound like they did at sound check. Also remember that they take the whole stage down and then reset it at halftime, it's like a new gig. Even if the whole back line was prerecorded, as a singer if it don't sound right it don't sound right.

3) She was singing in a mix of rain and snow.

4) Halftime shows are almost always rough because a good part of the crowd is not even remotely interested in the act. It's not like the crowd was there to see Kelly. The same thing happened to Sir Paul at the Super Bowl, it was a pretty uninspired performance (I was still into it ). I have played many gigs to blank stares. As a pro I played the sets but I never had inspiring shows when the audience is just uninterested.

And people here are surprised that she was just okay? What is surprising is that folks still expect something "good" to come from any of these halftime gigs.

[mgarrett]

I thought that she did great, considering dancing cheerleaders, set up in the middle of a field.... rapid set up and takedown... who knows what kind of monitor mix etc.....

I would much rather listen to someone giving it out live... and comend her or it!!

She can sing....

[sahiaman]

Little confused. Was Clarkson in Dallas or Detroit? Last I heard, Dallas wasn't cold or snowy, and Detroit Lions play in a dome. I think Goo Goo Dolls played in Detroit.

[Absolute]

She got a good voice but she obviously had a cold

Being a singer I feel for anyone in that situation because everyone else gets to play unaltered and we rely on our vocal chords

But the thing I noticed was that you couldnt even hear the band. Just a hint of snare and hats every now and then

Cheerleaders---A+

[travisbrown]

Originally Posted by gvonbaren

Whitney's big live Star Spangled Banner..... was pre-recorded

Yeah, I seem to remember that. She could still sing live like there was no tomorrow, though. That wasn't her only notable live performance.

Sometimes I wonder why capable singers do that. Maybe she was having an off day, raw throat, cold, and that was her contingency. Contractual obligation?

[PT User]

Originally Posted by sahiaman

Little confused. Was Clarkson in Dallas or Detroit? Last I heard, Dallas wasn't cold or snowy, and Detroit Lions play in a dome. I think Goo Goo Dolls played in Detroit.

You are correct, it was in Dallas.

[sleestack]

isn't the slapback echo in stadiums a huge problem for singers?

[hitmaker]

Kelly Clarkson - Never Again - NFL Halftime, Cowboys vs Jets

Originally Posted by mark714

It was not good, and it got progressively worse.

The "Since You've Been Gone" tune was really rough. Her performance of that same tune on the VMA's a while back was even worse. She sounded like she was forcing it.

Well, Kelly has a great voice, the problem is her technique. She strains her voice too much, which gives you the feeling that she's "forcing it".

Originally Posted by sleestack

isn't the slapback echo in stadiums a huge problem for singers?

Yeah, but not if you've been performing in stadiums since a couple of years. That's a valid "excuse" for a singer that is on his first stadium tour, but not for a seasoned pro like Kelly.


But hey, at least she sang live and didnt sound like Ashlee Simpson. THAT WAS BAD!

[chrispick]

I've produced music for a number of pro arena sporting events and can attest that acoustics/logistical hurdles there can be formidable. I'm pretty amazed whenever someone's able to pull off a passable performance.