Céline part of Grammy's Tribute to Aretha Franklin singing A Change Is Gonna Come

[GameC]

I would say, if anything, that the images on the screen probably made the audience more predisposed to be skeptical of the performance ... and yeah, it was a strange and potentially damaging choice on Ehrlich's part to shine a spotlight on a white artist in this way.

Today I found this: https://variety.com/2019/music/news/aretha-franklin-grammy-tribute-ken-ehrlich-1203108343/

 

One of the evening’s highlights was Celine Dion’s take on Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come,” a song Aretha once memorably covered. The idea of Dion singing before a montage of civil rights history seemed slightly eyebrow-raising, but when the diva opened her mouth, resplendent in a billowing yellow gown, the multi-racial audience shouted their appreciation.

 

“That was her idea,” said Ehrlich. “I sent her a list of five or six, and that’s the one she wanted to do. I’ve seen her enough to know she could pull it off musically. She has an incredible instrument, but she sings from the heart. She exceeded all my hopes. You could see it in the audience reactions. They loved her doing it.”

[Critiaslux]

Over the years, Céline's appeared 4 times on the Grammy tributes and each time she was mesmerizing

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ac4w4kHx7ho

 

https://vimeo.com/148045411

 

https://vimeo.com/239000051

 

https://www.facebook...535267480330441

 

Many thanks ! :wub:

 

All those performance are so so so great.

All the way and Immortality were so moving

The Greatest Love of All and A Change Is Gonna Come are fangirling. She nailed them perfectly

[scielle]

A white woman singing about the civil rights movement could have been highly criticized had it not been done from a position of utter respect and care (or perhaps it would have had it been on a more widely watched special/award show). For the person she was doing the tribute for (because she did it FOR Aretha, not trying to shine a spotlight on herself) but also about the topic she was singing about. She specifically chose this song, she knew she had to do it right.

 

Just for comparison Madonna has been criticized for her past tributes to Prince and Aretha, and she didn't even sing anything politically charged.

I would say, if anything, that the images on the screen probably made the audience more predisposed to be skeptical of the performance ... and yeah, it was a strange and potentially damaging choice on Ehrlich's part to shine a spotlight on a white artist in this way.

 

However ... music can transcend politics. People will always see color, and color will always be political, but if you go out there and give everything you have, the optics of a given situation become irrelevant ...

 

It's not that she sang like a black woman, or that she crossed some racial boundary with her interpretation. She just gave it everything she had, and she was respectful of and committed to the song.

 

She didn't say anything more than what we heard. That was, in short, the song. The performance.

 

It was great, and people felt it -- white people, black people, and every other kind of person in the audience.

 

She was criticized, by some, but from what I've seen that was a small minority; far outweighed by many who were very vocal in their appreciation.

But yeah, that was a risky choice - the already-cited example of Madonna or J.Lo doing the Motown tribute at the Grammys come to mind. However, the execution here was beyond reproach, which is why I think it didn't cause a stir it potentially could have. It was a precarious line to tread, no doubt about it, and certainly a brave choice on her part.

 

Thankfully, from what I've seen, a vast majority got that it all came from the right place. She certainly got the stamp of approval in many gospel circles on social media & of course Oprah doesn't hurt.

 

Javascript is not enabled OR refresh the page to view

Click here to view the Tweet

Separately, shout out to you both for raising the level of discourse on here. It's exhausting to have to scroll through pages and pages of rehashed minutiae about eyebrows, mike cords, etc, etc. So thank you!

Edited March 16, 2019 at 02:28 PM by scielle

[CitizenK]

As an African American, who also loves Celine, I wasn’t thrilled that she sang the song. The song isn’t merely about racial justice, it is being sung from the perspective of a person who is being discriminated against which makes it different from simply singing about injustices.

 

And yes, the post showing black people’s expressions was a little offensive to me even if the intention was not to be offensive.

[maki_Dion-er]

I love all his Celine reaction videos

 

 

[smw]

I love all his Celine reaction videos

 

 

Thanks for sharing! The comments for that video are fabulous!

[browseceline]

I love all his Celine reaction videos

 

 

he knows what he is talking about, the best music reviewer on youtube!

 

 

Verzonden vanaf mijn iPad met Tapatalk

[isurrender]

Funny how he praised everything the whole fan forum is talking down. Lol

[Taking Chances]

I love his videos. I wish he had more Celine videos and less Mariah videos. I don't love reaction videos in general because I feel like Celine is often overlooked, but he always notices how good she really is and I love that. He notices the special things about her that makes her so unique that typically only super fans notice. Edited March 17, 2019 at 12:42 PM by Taking Chances

[Bruno Portugal]

I love his videos. I wish he had more Celine videos and less Mariah videos. I don't love reaction videos in general because I feel like Celine is often overlooked, but he always notices how good she really is and I love that. He notices the special things about her that makes her so unique that typically only super fans notice.

 

I believe he's a recent but already a super fan. Also his most viewed video is a Celine reaction video (MHWGO at BMA).

[Taking Chances]

I believe he's a recent but already a super fan. Also his most viewed video is a Celine reaction video (MHWGO at BMA).

 

I found him a while ago, and I've watched all his Celine video's. He has a good ear, and I love his comments. It's usually so in sync to what I think. He always asks for more suggestions, so it doesn't seem like he knows her catalog too well. I wish he would react to Celine more frequently.

[GameC]

Funny how he praised everything the whole fan forum is talking down. Lol

Not the whole forum But a difference of opinion is a normal thing, and forums allow to discuss it.

Edited March 17, 2019 at 06:14 PM by GameC

[Taking Chances]

This performance kinda reminds me of her performance of "Le Blues du businessman" back in 2005. When doing high belted notes.. it's like it's breaking.

 

https://youtu.be/hZ0z7eSJMXM

 

This performance is EVERYTHING! I remember a few of us here were complaining a few days ago about the audio. I guess they did something with this performance when they put it on that interview clip. This is better than expected!

 

https://youtu.be/HP2DHQlD1C8

 

In this clip her voice sounds much better. I just stumbled upon it today and after I watched that video with the bad audio this was redeeming.

[Katie]

Many thanks ! :wub:

 

All those performance are so so so great.

All the way and Immortality were so moving

The Greatest Love of All and A Change Is Gonna Come are fangirling. She nailed them perfectly

 

All teh way was recorded a few weeks before René's passing (End of 2015), and in addition to that All the way means a lot for them as it is one if not their song! (Just look at All the way.. A decade of song CD liners), so when she was saying "Dance with me...indeed" she was defo. adressing to him as at that point he could barely do a thing, so much ill he was unfortunately...And you could've seen how emotional she got at the end of the song

 

Regarding Immortality, well the into. speech says it all how much she was feeling the song's lyrics at that time ( One year after Daniel's and René passing away)

[isabel leite]

All teh way was recorded a few weeks before René's passing (End of 2015), and in addition to that All the way means a lot for them as it is one if not their song! (Just look at All the way.. A decade of song CD liners), so when she was saying "Dance with me...indeed" she was defo. adressing to him as at that point he could barely do a thing, so much ill he was unfortunately...And you could've seen how emotional she got at the end of the song

 

Regarding Immortality, well the into. speech says it all how much she was feeling the song's lyrics at that time ( One year after Daniel's and René passing away)

I always thought that she was singing that to Rene, since he was really ill at that time. Yes when she said 'dance with me,,,,,and at the the end she says ....it1s for sure I am gonna love you all the way,,,,yes I am! I believe she was talking to him. She mentioned many times that they used to dance to this song.

[smw]

 

 

 

 

https://youtu.be/HP2DHQlD1C8

 

In this clip her voice sounds much better. I just stumbled upon it today and after I watched that video with the bad audio this was redeeming.

 

I adore this performance. I’ve converted many people into Celine fans after showing them this. After her voice kind of cracks towards the beginning, she gets extra passionate and OWNS the song.

[yoyoma]

She might end up include a studio version in her new album

[jolo87]

 

I think that everything here depends on the intentions / reasons for which someone spoke/write in this matter here. In my case, the intent was pure, I was looking for an answer to the question that bother me, without any political or racial subtext. However, in this case, my curiosity concerned such kind of music, which can not be separated from the skin color of its creators. Where does this curiosity come from?

 

It's a bit like searching for the answer to the question whether the correct statement is: "White Man Can't Jump". Only it is harder, after all anyone can easily assess whether "the white man" jumped high enough to recognize him as good or not.

 

But in the case of music, things get complicated. Personally, I'm a huge fan of "black music" (Jazz, Soul etc.). I think that I listened to such kind of music for so many years to be able to judge if Céline's performance was good or not (and I say it was good, very good), but I still remain "white", and this is not the kind of music I grew up with, that's why I'm aware of that I can be wrong about it, do not notice many important nuances, etc.

 

That's why I took a closer look at the reactions of various people present there, especially those who, due to their skin color, are more competent for a correct assessment, only they are able to tell if "their music" is performed at "fake", "meh", "ok" or "blast" level.

 

It should also be noted here that the pictures that I put here come from the official broadcast and these are basically all the shots of the audience (I skipped probably one). So that is, the director decided that this will be important for TV broadcast. He is also responsible for the fact that the majority of shots shows the reactions of black people in the foreground.

 

Of course, I am aware that music is a universal language, but something can always affect its reception. In this case, someone pointed to the pictures shown in the back, having a political undertone corresponding to the content of the song. So the question about how much it influenced the audience's reactions (I still think that it was only slightly, if at all) and the analysis of audience reactions are neither "ridiculous" nor "embarrassing". It is perfectly right, if of course the intentions are right and I believe that my intentions (and other people who write here in this matter) are right.

 

 

 

I think the same. It was a bold move, not a simple task and I am very happy that Céline managed it.

 

So, I understand where you're coming from here. Looking specifically at how different constituencies in an audience respond can be a really valid and positive way of understanding the true impact or "meaning" of a performance, picture, work of art, etc.

 

What I would argue, though, is that we don't need to rely on other people's experiences to gauge the merit of a performance.

 

Personally, I'm not quite sure what kind of music I grew up with, or what style represents my personal style. This is true of everyone regardless of race ... you could dig deeper into the personal history of one of those people spotlighted by the cameraman in the hall (and edited into the broadcast) and find out they grew up on Bette Midler and Billy Joel and are just standing up, crying, or applauding because they felt something authentic in Celine's performance.

 

My point is that not all black people are experts in black music, just as not all white people are experts in country music.

 

The point is, we all recognize excellence and integrity in performance on a case by case by basis. We respond to what we hear in the moment.

 

So, we can talk about different styles, and criticise different performances, all as different people with our own wildly unique perspectives and musical cultures ... and we do this by listening to good music and thinking about it and (eventually) learning the difference between good and great 😊

Edited March 18, 2019 at 06:47 PM by jolo87

[jolo87]

And also, let's not forget that Celine herself was "raised" on Aretha, just like many people today ... including the diverse people in that audience ... were raised on Celine!

[GameC]

She might end up include a studio version in her new album

 

It probably would not be a good idea. As for me, about the fact that it was something special, a kind of musical jewel / masterpiece, decides in the first place that it was LIVE (with all perfections and imperfections), performed in this exact place and time. I would really like this performance to be published in the highest possible quality wherever it is possible (for example on the next album as a bonus), but the studio version, recorded specially to put it on the album? It would definitely not be the same, probably nothing more than just another cover, as always perfectly made of course, but still, nothing so special as this live performance.

 

That's why I think it should stay "live only" forever

[browseceline]

 

It probably would not be a good idea. As for me, about the fact that it was something special, a kind of musical jewel / masterpiece, decides in the first place that it was LIVE (with all perfections and imperfections), performed in this exact place and time. I would really like this performance to be published in the highest possible quality wherever it is possible (for example on the next album as a bonus), but the studio version, recorded specially to put it on the album? It would definitely not be the same, probably nothing more than just another cover, as always perfectly made of course, but still, nothing so special as this live performance.

 

That's why I think it should stay "live only" forever

 

i agree..when Elton John sang Candle in the wind at Diana’s funeral it was beautiful, emotional but then he recorded it in the studio. It was not that special anymore. Clean, even a bit different. I bought it on cdsingle that time but the live version was so much more special.

 

 

Verzonden vanaf mijn iPad met Tapatalk

[Moleque20]

Amazing vocal performance and tribute to Aretha! Well-done Celine!

[LVCeline]

I've been loving this performance lately. She is getting so much praise, I love it. She definitely pushed herself and sang from the heart.

 

Can someone tell me what she says at the very beginning though, I can't understand her and can't find the lyric. "There's an old friend that - I won't ..." what is that line?

[Holborn]

I've been loving this performance lately. She is getting so much praise, I love it. She definitely pushed herself and sang from the heart.

 

Can someone tell me what she says at the very beginning though, I can't understand her and can't find the lyric. "There's an old friend that - I won't ..." what is that line?

 

There's an old friend that I once heard say something that touched my heart and it began this way

[isabel leite]

I've been loving this performance lately. She is getting so much praise, I love it. She definitely pushed herself and sang from the heart.

 

Can someone tell me what she says at the very beginning though, I can't understand her and can't find the lyric. "There's an old friend that - I won't ..." what is that line?

There's an old friend that I once heard her say something that touched my heart, and it began this way...

[LVCeline]

There's an old friend that I once heard say...thank you, that makes sense now!

[Critiaslux]

The more I listen to her performance, the more I pay attention to all details, the more I like it.

She really mastered it. :wub:

[Katie]

The more I listen to her performance, the more I pay attention to all details, the more I like it.

She really mastered it. :wub:

 

I can not get over it!

[ordinary fan]

I can not get over it!

me too

[DionFanAlways]

it!