I’ve been singing ever since I was 15 and I know it may not seem long but when I watch other people perform, I analyze their vocal techniques and how they execute the song. It wasn’t until I first heard Charice sing “And I Am Telling You” by Jennifer Holliday on the Ellen Degeneres Show that I was inspired with singing. She gave me goosebumps no matter how many times I watched the video and from then on, I was determined to learn how to sing so I joined choir. During my time in choir, I tested on some different vocal techniques and trained myself to expand my vocal range and the following year I made it into advanced choir where I learned and grew even more. I would say I taught myself some operatic, broadway, pop, and maybe even power ballad techniques whenever I would be alone at home. I can’t really determine it since I don’t have the credentials for vocals but it sounded just about right and I loved doing what I did especially when I’d perform with my choir or participate in any other events where I could share my vocals such as singing the national anthem in a quartet, singing in a solo or even kareoke.
Anyways, as years progressed, other artists caught my attention because of the differences they had such as style and particularly, techniques. I especially appreciated those who could sing live so I didn’t really pay much attention to movies or television that had people lip syncing. I loved watching broadway, live television, pop, ballad, sould, etc and I’m currently anxious in seeing my first opera.
Right now, I want to bring to attention three singers that have been running through my mind lately after the last airing of American Idol, Jennifer Holliday, Jessica Sanchez, and Charice Pempengco. I look up to all three of them and appreciate how they put so much on the plate whenever they perform that people can hardly even eat it, probably not the best analogy but close enough.
First off, I want to start off with Charice Pempengco. Her fame took off when Korea’s television show, Star King, recognized her talent and had her perform “And I Am Telling You” by Jennifer Holliday. The video gained millions of views which then Ellen and Oprah discovered and had her guest in both their shows. She gained a standing ovation in all of her performances. When she sang “I Have Nothing” by Whitney Houston on Oprah, she gained two standing ovations, one in the middle and one at the end, I never had so much goosebumps before. She demonstrated superior vocal techniques, power, range, and especially stage presence, which are her specialties. I can’t name any other artists who can do the same. Her vocals range from low to extremely high soprano registers while still keeping a rich tone. Her song “As Long as You’re there,” which she performed on Glee really showed off her haunting low and signature high notes. She uses the type of techniques that I believe a lot of Filipino artists from the Philippines focus on, clean, smooth, and minimal falsetto to really demonstrate power. From my experience in choir, I learned that if you practice on breath control and diaphragm, you can really expand how long you can hold a high note which is what I believe Charice did very exceptionally in “All by Myself” (2:45) by Celine Dionne. Obviously, she’s my favorite singer but I have lots of appreciation for others out there.
Second person I want to bring up is Jessica Sanchez. As we all know, she was second runner up in this year’s American Idol. Just like Charice, she’s been singing since she was very little so that gave her time to really develop and advance in vocal techniques. What makes her unique is the ability to “growl” as Jennifer Lopez says it, and I’m sure that everyone would recognize it has her signature characteristic whenever she’d sing. My favorite song from her would definitely be “Steal Away” by Etta James and “Try a Little Tenderness” by Otis Redding, she really growled there and showed off edge, soul, and blues. What I really like about her is that, just like Charice, she really puts on a great stage presence and even has an “alter ego,” like what Randy Jackson said. She definitely has a lot of variety and can pull off ballads, pop, soul, and so much more. After American Idol, I’m sure she has so much more to throw on stage. I know I’ll be keeping track of her progress.
Now I really love Charice and Jessica but the mother of all female vocals I would say is Momma Jennifer Holliday. After seeing her perform with Jessica on American Idol, I just couldn’t help but refer to her as Momma Holliday. So one of the things I learned while I was in choir was that if you’re making weird faces, you’re most likely doing it right. I mean, if you want to reach those high notes and really get into the emotion, pulling it out of you would definitely cause you to make faces, you just can’t help it. And yes, I’m saying Momma Holliday makes a lot of faces, it may be too much for others to take in but I can relate at a certain level. She has her own thing going on and you can’t argue with that knowing how legendary of a singer she is. Her live and original performance, “And I Am Telling you,” (3:30 MUST SEE!) by her legendary self is incredibly breath taking, soulful, and out of this world. There’s no doubt she topples anyone else’s performance on the song, and yes that includes Charice and Jessica, no matter how much I love them, I love Momma Holliday’s the most. Although Momma Holliday’s voice may not be as pure as Charice or as edgy as Jessica, she can sweep them off stage. She has more vocal stamina than Charice and more growl than Jessica, even the two of them combined can’t beat her. I’ve seen her performance plenty of times long ago but it wasn’t until now that I really learned to appreciate how she set the bar really high for other vocalists out there, not a single vocalist can top her. That’s why I love her so much!
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