Does anyone else hate singers who do this? Sing the fucking song the way it was written. Are they just trying to cover up imperfections or forgetting the instrumentation? It must make the conductor furious. It reminds me of singers who point the mic to the audience so they don’t have to sing. It’s only the big belters who pull this crap. I remember The Simpsons making fun of black singers wailing and singing gibberish turning a 2 minute national anthem into 14 minutes.
Singers like Whitney Houston and Taylor Dayne going off melody in live songs
| by Anonymous | reply 9 | October 8, 2025 5:15 AM |
Yes, I despise when singers do this, OP. I always prefer when they do the studio version.
| by Anonymous | reply 3 | October 8, 2025 2:35 AM |
Actually, my favorite concert ever was Whitney Houston’s specifically because she didn’t sing her songs exactly like the recordings.
They were played so much on the radio that I was thrilled she sang them so differently—gospel power, interpolations, showing what she really was capable of. Her voice was so much more than what we heard on her records.
| by Anonymous | reply 4 | October 8, 2025 2:46 AM |
[Quote] It must make the conductor furious
Actually the vocal arrangers create the concert versions of those songs. They’re not random interpolations done on a whim. All of it is written and rehearsed
| by Anonymous | reply 5 | October 8, 2025 2:48 AM |
They’re not robots, OP. If you want to hear them sing it exactly the same, stay at home and listen to them on your iPod.
Some singers don’t have much input into production, they might even dislike the final over-polished version.
| by Anonymous | reply 6 | October 8, 2025 3:49 AM |
R4: Agree. I remember as a kid I loved Whitney but used to hate her not singing the songs live exactly how they’re structured on record - probably because I wanted to sing along. As an adult, and especially after she died, I love that she always mixed it up a bit live. Because she didn’t write any of her own songs and because she nailed everything in the studio first time pretty much, there’s no hidden vault of unreleased songs of hers to hear. So I love discovering old clips on YouTube from concerts where she sings the songs slightly differently to the record or any other live performance I’ve ever heard. It’s almost as good as getting a new Whitney song.
| by Anonymous | reply 7 | October 8, 2025 4:45 AM |
you do realize that most album versions are edited together from tens of takes, don't you? And that they get to take breaks between those takes? a live concert and a studio cession are completely different beasts and many components of the performance will be adjusted for the demands of live performance. orchestrations will be different, tempo might change and depending on many factors including the amount of dancing and the sound system, the singer might need to adjust their vocals. As mentioned earlier if you want to hear the studio version, listen to the album.
| by Anonymous | reply 8 | October 8, 2025 5:07 AM |
Improvisation and interpretation is fundamental to many types of singing. This isn’t a Broadway show
| by Anonymous | reply 9 | October 8, 2025 5:15 AM |