Whitney Houston was an Overrated Singer.

She was not. She had a rare set of pipes (not that kind) and she used 'em.

Be nice, Mariah.

She not only oversang much of her catalogue, she also didn't sing properly, and developed nodules on her throat.

Race-bait, Diva-bait, DL Reactionary-bait. OP is a troll. F&F.

R3 I think the nodules were on account o' the crack.

Someone on this board would eat the peanuts out of Mariah's shit.

OP is unfamiliar with musical forms in which the lyrics are sung in other ways than that barked out by Miss Prum, the OP's second-grade teacher.

OP is a race baiter, but OP also is a boor.

R4 Oh piss off. You got no idea how much I adore Aretha Franklin's records and Patti LaBelle's live performances. We're strictly talking about the singing prowess here. Whitney is made out to be some kind of goddess which is far from the truth. Hence, the overrated status.

OP = Jealous Mariah, about to have another breakdown as we approach the 20th anniversary of her bomb "Glitter".

FF’ed and placed on ignore.

First Celine, now Whitney. Why do we always attack other gays?

“Diane, let me tell you something! You know what? Crack is whack! Crack is cheap! I never smoked crack, Diane!”

Op is an idiot

I find Whitney technically impressive but none of her songs ever really moved me emotionally.

The one that gives me chills is "All the Man that I Need."

It's not my favorite one by her, but it's the won where she conjures up the most magic and places her among the pantheon of greats

ITA R15. She tended to over-sing or shout, she had limited emotional range, and she wasn't a great story-teller. She also suffered from her material, much of which was catchy but not great.

HOWEVER

Her pipes were magnificent and she showed them off best in "All the Man that I Need".

[quote] Whitney Houston was an Overrated Singer. There, I said it.

You bitch - how dare you. Be careful, you are about to be struck by lightning.

[quote] She not only oversang much of her catalogue, she also didn't sing properly, and developed nodules on her throat.

You mean like that bitch who stole an Oscar from Audrey Hepburn?

[quote]Someone on this board would eat the peanuts out of Mariah's shit.

What about corn?

Waiting for Whitbot to chime in here slandering everyone as "Ancient White Fags" and posting numerous videos of Whitney singing live while pointing out why she's the greatest.

Is Whitbot the same as Donna Murphy stan (who he insists dubbed Meryl Streep's vocals), R20?

I believe he's a black man in his late 30s who also pretended to be an early 20s white supermodel (who looks like Ryan Phillipe) last year, amongst others.

I think he also has an issue with drugs as well as a borderline personality disorder.

I'd really prefer him not to be associated with Whitney.

I have him on ignore.

Whitney is generally beloved and revered here, OP. You're deaf.

Ariana Grande - it's past your bedtime. Now jump off the highchair, wipe off Mommy's makeup and climb up into your princess bed.

Sweet dreams - shhhh....shhh....that's enough words for today.

Wrong r22.

Where is Miss Warwick when you really need somebody read to filth?

I must say it again... CRACK IS WACK!!!

Yes and no. Yes, in that she popularized the trend of over-singing. The stretching of vowels, singing BIG for emphasis without regard for the use of phrasing. No, in that she did have a good voice which she abused over her career.

Really, r14? I get so emotional.

I wanna dance with somebody R28.

I believe the children are our future.

You are an idiot OP!

[quote]Patti LaBelle's live performances

OP, Patti, while having a big organ, is one of the worst interpreters of melody and lyric. The woman is nothing but a mad screecher on stage, she's literally butchering every song.

As far a pop singers go, she was pretty damned good. These days, “singers” are barely able to carry a tune or match pitch without auto tune. Whitney had a rare gift. I don’t think she was that great a musician or interpreter, though-but she had a voice.

Whitney had an incredibly powerful voice with amazing range and control. Yes, she over sang on many of her recordings and practically shouted in others.

But listen to the first hit that put her on the radar, "You Give Good Love," and "Saving All my Love for You." Absolutely beautiful in every way.

I blame her record producers for the forced sound of some of her subsequent songs. They didn't want more Whitney - they wanted MORE WHITNEY!

Her duet with CeCe Wynans was a mistake on her part. She was out-sung. I loved her cover of “I’m Every Woman”…

Mariah’s fans are always jealous with other artists who are more successful and/or talented than MariFat Scarey.

R21, yep, that's him. He accuses anyone who dares to push back on his assumptions of being either "Miss Warwicke" or "charlie," and thinks he's the only black person who posts at Datalounge.

He's also a huge fangurl of Julia Roberts. He's batshit crazy and considers himself some musicologist and expert in vocal pedagogy.

I loved her up until The Bodyguard. But it was clear the movie and album took a toll on her (that "Can I Be Me?" documentary goes into this). She pushed her voice and was doing the most strenuous singing of her career with songs like I have nothing and I will always love you. Between having to perform them every night on the subsequent tour and the escalating drug use, her voice became damaged and never fully recovered.

I'm Your Baby Tonight is a great, underrated album. My Love is Your Love is her worst. Peak crack era Whitney which Debra mercilessly parodied on Mad Tv.

[quote]I loved her cover of “I’m Every Woman”…

I think it's one of her weakest efforts. That by the numbers early 90's dance beat. I remember Chaka throwing shade at it and Mary J's cover of Sweet Thing in VIBE magazine.

[quote]The woman is nothing but a mad screecher on stage, she's literally butchering every song.

Tell me about it R32.

Whitney without a doubt the absolute best. I know she didn’t write her songs, but when she sang them I felt she was singing them to me.

R38 That documentary was really sad to watch. I blame her cunt mom for her descent and downfall more than anyone else.

[quote] My Love is Your Love is her worst. Peak crack era Whitney which Debra mercilessly parodied on Mad Tv.

Sounds like you didn't listen to the album. Most critics believe it is one of her best.

As a vocalist, she was the best, period. Celine comes to the 2nd thanks to her highly trained technical skills.

Whitney had it all: the voice, the talents, the beauty but lost them all due to drugs. She was a stupid woman surrounded herself by bad people.

Well r38, opinions are like…

Mariah sucks.

Whitney is overrated. She lacked the most important feature in a voice-emotional connection to the lyrics. She had huge trouble emoting. That cannot be overlooked.

It’s funny some poster said she’s beloved here on DL. She was a weak, closeted, embarrassing drug addict who had her husband dig shit out her ass on a reality show. Yet, you guys drag TF out of others who don’t do a fraction of the embarrassing shit Whitney, or Mariah have.

Celine’s voice is grating. I hate her tone.

I will never understand the love of these big voiced divas. Most can’t emote to save their lives and over sing everything. Such a turn off. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should. It’s the equivalent of chewing the scenery with acting.

Aretha comes closest to being the true all arounder.

OP prob thinks taylor swift is a better singer.

nothin to see here.

Give me a nice 2/3 octave voice that can emote. No, Taylor isn’t even close.

[quote]Sounds like you didn't listen to the album

I did and it's weak. If it wasn't for a group of DJ's remixing the singles, it would have had dismal sales. The album didn't even reach the top ten and was being called a flop when those remixes were issued and saved it.

[quote]Most critics believe it is one of her best.

Those same critics were praising Britney Spears albums. That means nothing.

Whitney isn’t known for her music, tours, music videos, artistry- only squandered talent. So, she had a great voice yet did very little with it.

Whitney and Mariah have clear, clarion voices but a Whitney song is so satisfying by the end

I’ve never been impressed with Mariah’s voice. She’s so bland.

When I would hear that stupid whistle register, I would change the station. My parents hated her voice, too.

[quote]OP prob thinks taylor swift is a better singer. nothin to see here.

R46 This is a grade A example of a bottom-feeder level argument. Assume a position for the opponent and make a sarcastic comment on it. Did you flick your hair too when you hit post on that comment?

The voice that really is the worst is Cyndi Lauper. My god. Just horrible. Not Janet horrible. Cyndi can sing, but her voice is awful. Unpleasant. She sounds like she has a speech impediment, can get super screechy, just ugh. It makes me angry. I just saw a commercial with her saying she was covered in psoriasis until 4 years ago when she started taking some drug. What? I’ve never seen one pic of this bish with psoriasis.

I'm not particularly fond of much of Whitney's catalog but I'd still rather listen even to a cracked out Whitney croaking out "My Love Is Your Love" than the annoying whispercooing of Mariah interspersed with her whistle register shrieking.

R55 You speak for us all. Mariah’s voice is repellent, though I did love it one time in ‘Without You’. Well, for 81% of the song.

R56, you reminded me of Mariah's awful diction making it sound like she was singing "No, I can't forget the semen on your face as you were leavin',..."

When I heard her version for the first time I was astounded. I thought it was a brazenly sexual song for Mariah given her image at the time.

R57 Well, knowing Mariah, you very well could have heard it correctly the first time. She’s a ho.

Seriously, her voice is just bland, boring, and totally overrated. I’ve never understood her appeal except there are people who will buy anybody who has one of those big voices. At they will for awhile. She whored herself out to the CEO so he could push her at radio and cheat with her sales.

R15 there’s a live version of “All The Man I Need” that’s on one of her posthumous live albums. I think they recorded it at some “for the troops” show in the 90’s. You wanna talk about CHILLS? It is otherworldly and for me totally eclipses the studio version. Find it on Apple Music NOW.

R59 No thanks. Her singing isn’t particularly warm and I’m not impressed with theatrics of singing. I literally am not impressed with octaves, runs, notes. I’m impressed with the ability, and it is something that can’t be taught and it is VITAL when singing, emotionally connecting with the lyrics, telling a story with your voice. Almost none of the “big” voices can do that. I can’t stand Stevie Nicks voice, but bitch has that quality in spades so I can listen to her all day.Her live version of ‘Landslide’ is a great example of this.

This live tribute is pretty impressive

That was lovely r61, thanks for sharing. I hadn't heard of Glennis Grace. I suppose the pandemic derailed a tour here in the US?

R60, one of her last recordings "I Look To You" is quite moving. By then her voice had been damaged irreparably by her drug abuse and smoking, so she could no longer rely on her usual belting or vocal acrobatics. The loss of her upper register forced her to sing more quietly and connect with the lyric instead. It's not a particularly great song but the quiet, reflective nature of her delivery is a sad reminder of what could have been salvaged if she had got off the drugs sooner.

Even at her peak I thought there were always songs on her albums that weren't the usual bombastic performances. "You Give Good Love", "For The Love Of You", "Lover For Life", "My Love Is Your Love", "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)" are all examples of songs where she knew when to hold back and when to let it all out.

I'm a fan, always will be. How are her life came crashing down is sad to me. This is one of my favorite performances that she delivered live.

I know that much of her repertoire is watered down pop, but what I always loved about Whitney was how soulful her live performances were. I saw her in concert twice and was blown away by the difference between her studio and live vocals. Clive Davis groomed and massaged her music for white people, but live, she was straight up rythym and blues. And I loved her for it.

Whitney was oftentimes shouting instead of singing.

R32 - totally agree about Patti LaBelle. That nasal screech/yelling is completely overrated - but she puts on a good show.

R66 - provide an example. The same can be said of opera singers then, right?

Mariah’s whistling and yodeling gave too many singers in the 90s bad ideas (ahem Christina Aguilera). Before “I Will Always Love You” I could listen to Whitney all day but then she really ramped up the vocal acrobatics and I changed the station

R68 - yep, Mariah was about vocal acrobatics, none of which she can perform anymore. Christina was equally guilty. You saw it repeated in all of the American Idol auditions, laughably.

R69 I tire of her riffing.

Debbie Gibson making snarky comments about someone else’s vocal abilities? Rich.

"LET'S MAKE SHIT OUT OF A DEAD WOMAN!"

Most of my favorite singers are those in the middle-not the small voiced like Paula, Britney, Janet, , Stacy-Q. I realize most singers are in the middle, but more of them connect to the emotions or a song. I can’t name one of the big voiced singers I like or would listen to for more than a few songs.