There oughta be a law...

[pat]

... against vocalists attempting songs which are beyond their vocal abilities or emotional maturity level.


I am not a traditionalist when it comes to holiday music: I like all sorts, and I don't mind "contemporary" versions. That said...

Avril Lavigne covered "O Holy Night." **shudder**

(In the spirit of open mindedness, I actually, listened to about 30 seconds of it on iTunes.)

Comments

[hobbitbabe.livejournal.com]

Probably if I listened to it I'd be shuddering too. Even without your challenges of this week. But to be fair, I offer the following.

To me, the "right" version of O Holy Night is sung by a boy soprano with a clear young voice. I don't really have an emotional or spiritual maturity expectation for O Holy Night, the way I do for, say, Amazing Grace. Averil Lavigne started singing in church, as a junior choir member and a soloist. In that capacity, it would not surprise me if she had been singing O Holy Night as a solo in public ten years ago.

I do tend to get irritated when someone attempts to "interpret" that song by putting in expressive phrasing, any body language at all, adjustments of timing, or extra showoffy notes. And since she does that stuff in her other songs, I guess I wouldn't be surprised if her O Holy Night bothered me for those reasons.