Idina "Let It Go" New Years

I thought she handled it pretty well considering she's probably tired from a long week at If/Then and had to be singing outside when it's about 20 degrees. She was able to fake it with lots of extra riffing until that final "Let the storm rage on" ... kinda hard to fake that last note.

until that final "Let the storm rage on" ... kinda hard to fake that last note.

That note/scream/cry for help was beyond scary, but the whole thing was off.

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The only time I can remember her nailing that last note is when she was on Jimmy Fallon. She biffed it at the Oscars, Radio city and now NYE. Why doesn't she just take it down? It sounds painful.

Edit. Just watched it: I think that was her taking it down. Didn't sound as bad as the others.

Updated On: 1/1/15 at 06:06 AM

Don't really know what to tell ya. Menzel is probably one of the hardest working performers on Broadway right now, She can't be perfect all the time. People get sick, Voices give out. It happens. She was hired to do her job and she did it fairly well if you ask me.

You say she is inconsistent outside of the studio, but have you seen her perform live on Broadway? She is very consistent in IF/THEN. Never a rogue note when I saw her (twice). Yes she has improved from her Wicked Days.

Let's also keep in mind that on a soundtrack, people are able to auto tune and make the voice sound perfect. So of course she may sound different or "inconsistent" when singing the song without help.

Meh. She just couldn't hit that note but overall a decent performance, with an exciting setting/event behind it.

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At the Oscars, it was because she was very visibly terrified. I would be too.

Last night, she was singing outside in freezing temperatures.

That said, maybe they need to start Christine Daae-ing that note when she sings the song live...

I will give her credit to her owning the fact that she can't always sing "Let it Go". She's said this countless times in interviews that she rarely can sing it perfectly.

Here she is on Bravo TV's WATCH WHAT HAPPENS LIVE (sitting next to Julie Andrews) talking about the Adele Dazeem situation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCVSRI835Ok

Updated On: 1/1/15 at 11:37 AM

I thought she performed a flawless "Defying Gravity" at the Broadway Celebration in Performance at the White House event from a couple of years back. Kerry Washington was visably blown away by it - - - just check out her reaction after Idina's performance. It's actually pretty great!




Idina - Defying Gravity - White House performance

Updated On: 1/1/15 at 12:16 PM

Saw her twice in RENT, twice in WICKED, and once in IF/THEN. Extraordinary vocals each time. IF/THEN was a Sunday matinee after she'd played the show 16 times straight, recording the album the Monday (off) before. She was vocally in peak form, and took "Always Starting Over" to the roof, with musicality and passion. I'm not a groupie, just someone who sees her give her all, and deliver exciting vocals. I like the voice, it can be thrilling (as it sometimes is in the oft-maligned IF/THEN). Listen to "Learn to Live Without," from the IF/THEN album. She's got an effortless way around both the vocal demands and the emotion, and turns it into a sort of Cheryl Crow song of loss.

As for "Let it Go," it's a bitch, it's written to be sung once in a studio for an animated film. Menzel will have to negotiate its treacherous reaches for the rest of her career. It cannot always sound as it Elsa performs it. I thought she was fine at the Oscars, within the limitations of the venue and the catastrophic personal affront. She seems to be a performer who divides if not polarizes people. I think her work in IF/THEN 8 times a week is proof she's a pro who gives unstintingly. She's a star who delivers. She's not an autotuned robot, however.

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Updated On: 1/1/15 at 01:16 PM

And here is Wellemeijn Verkaik (German, Dutch, British, American Elphaba and German/Dutch Elsa) singing it live...


Let It Go

Updated On: 1/1/15 at 01:23 PM

I agree that she's got a really good voice. The problem for me is the song. Not a fan. It's irritatingly screechy at parts and if you're going to have that element in a song you better have a singer who can pull that off. And I would dare say that isn't easy to find. And I doubt that even those who can make a screech sound good won't hit it every time. Kudos for her for trying. I think she does a good job with what she's given. For me it's the song. Not her.
She's got a brassy voice though so if anyone is going to hit it most of the time it's her. Or at least come close.

Updated On: 1/1/15 at 01:37 PM