Idina "Let It Go" New Years- Page 2
Idina "Let It Go" New Years
RippedMan
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/14/05
#25Idina
Posted: 1/1/15 at 2:13pmEh. I don't buy it. If she can record the cast album to If/Then on her days off, then she should be able to sing a song she's been singing on and off for a year at this point easily. Her voice should be like "oh, this song again" and go right into it. But she sings it in such an unhealthy way that I don't think she quite knows what she's doing. Also, if you know you're going to struggle with that note, take it down or do something else. You're also forgetting every other singer was out there in the cold - Taylor Swift sans most clothes - and still gave great performances. She's a Tony Award winning actress, so I'm not making any excuses for her. It was a rough, terrible performance.
#27Idina
Posted: 1/1/15 at 2:26pm
"Eh. I don't buy it. If she can record the cast album to If/Then on her days off, then she should be able to sing a song she's been singing on and off for a year at this point easily. Her voice should be like "oh, this song again" and go right into it"
I would agree with this, but "Let it go" it such a hard number vocally. A lot harder than that any of the numbers she has to sing in If/then, in my opinion. It's just constant belt for 95 percent of the song. It's also a song she doesn't sing 8 times a week so her voice probably hasn't completely settled with it yet. But yes, she should just take the last note down a bit.
stevenycguy
Broadway Star Joined: 12/7/05
#28Idina
Posted: 1/1/15 at 2:27pm
She has such a great voice and performed great in both Wicked and If/Then when I saw her live. Simply phenomenal.
But the New Year's Eve performance left a lot to be desired. At the beginning, she was struggling a bit. Towards the middle she suddenly turned the microphone to the crowd as if she knew she couldn't hit the note. And the screeching at the end was simply painful.
Starship
Broadway Star Joined: 7/29/12
#30Just let it go
Posted: 1/1/15 at 4:11pm
CZJ at opening night party for A Little Night Music, Dec 13, 2009.
#31Just let it go
Posted: 1/1/15 at 4:29pm
One note does not a song or performer make.
The fact that there are numerous articles about how "bad" her performance was is 1) indicative of the expectation of her perfection and 2) indicative of how disgusting people can be to other people.
She sang the song that morning on Japanese TV (indoors) and nailed it - it's a difficult song. The end.
blaxx
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/28/05
#32Just let it go
Posted: 1/1/15 at 4:33pm
Forget the Mozart arias, Let it Go is suddenly the hardest song ever written? She's the best singer alive but was punished with an unsingable song? I love groupies.
That last scream of pain made me think her jaw was giving birth to another jaw.
Listen, I don't take my clothes off for anyone, even if it is "artistic". - JANICE
Owen22
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/24/11
#33Just let it go
Posted: 1/1/15 at 5:01pm
"She was hired to do her job and she did it fairly well if you ask me."
Really? Really?
I know its subjective, but...really?
Owen22
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/24/11
#34Just let it go
Posted: 1/1/15 at 5:04pm
"I can't think of any other Broadway star or name who is as inconsistent a live singer as Idina Menzel is."
Tonya Pinkins during her "Caroline or Change" tenure...
broadwayboy223
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/2/14
#35Just let it go
Posted: 1/1/15 at 5:04pmShe just needs to lower the key a full step and maybe a half.
#36Just let it go
Posted: 1/1/15 at 5:07pm
I think it's time for some on here to just let it go.
And yes, the pun was very, very much intended.
#37Just let it go
Posted: 1/1/15 at 5:14pm
She has quite an instrument and I'm constantly worried that she'll hurt herself. I want to hear her for years, but we won't if she isn't careful.
Lopez seems to write a whole lot of real bitch songs. I just saw Book of Mormon again and that music must be nearly impossible to sing 8 times a week. Good god, he needs to think about the fact that these performers need to sing his music more than once.
blaxx
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/28/05
#38Just let it go
Posted: 1/1/15 at 5:30pm
Maybe she's not as powerful as she thinks she is 
Listen, I don't take my clothes off for anyone, even if it is "artistic". - JANICE
Visceral_Fella
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/18/12
Sutton Ross
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/20/13
Visceral_Fella
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/18/12
bahnanna
Swing Joined: 5/2/14
#43Just let it go
Posted: 1/1/15 at 8:30pm
I haven't heard her nail Let It Go in a live performance, only the recording studio, which can be easily altered or sung in parts so she can rest. YES it is a hard song (not the hardest song ever), but if she can never get it right I'd rather hear someone else sing it. Stop making excuses for her, and stop saying, "I'll bet you couldn't do that in freezing cold on live television!" Oh my goodness, of course I can't. But a lot of talented people can, so why can't they be famous?
I really, really hate her voice, and apparently she's rude to her fans and cast/crew. My voice teacher and any vocal professional I know hates her voice. Even in recordings it's hard to listen to. I really did try to like her. I think she's developing vocal nodes because she can start a song okay and by the end it's just screeching. And they are created by singing incorrectly, just watch her to figure this out.
As for the Eden Espinosa comment, I read that by the end of her run as Elphaba she couldn't do it anymore. She was phenomenal, but she did it for too long (on tour and Broadway) and probably slacked off a bit. Idina might do 8 shows a week, but Lindsay Mendez did 8 shows a week and was AMAZING as Elphaba, and I saw the very end of her run. I can name so many more stars that do 8 shows a week as main characters and are still going strong.
Willemijn Verkaik did Wicked for so long, though, and I can't get over the riffs I hear from her. RECENT ones, after doing Elphaba in 3 different languages (and 4 accents.) She should have voiced Elsa for German, Dutch, AND English. I actively search for the German version to watch in school.
bahnanna
Swing Joined: 5/2/14
#44Just let it go
Posted: 1/1/15 at 8:30pm
I haven't heard her nail Let It Go in a live performance, only the recording studio, which can be easily altered or sung in parts so she can rest. YES it is a hard song (not the hardest song ever), but if she can never get it right I'd rather hear someone else sing it. Stop making excuses for her, and stop saying, "I'll bet you couldn't do that in freezing cold on live television!" Oh my goodness, of course I can't. But a lot of talented people can, so why can't they be famous?
I really, really hate her voice, and apparently she's rude to her fans and cast/crew. My voice teacher and any vocal professional I know hates her voice. Even in recordings it's hard to listen to. I really did try to like her. I think she's developing vocal nodes because she can start a song okay and by the end it's just screeching. And they are created by singing incorrectly, just watch her to figure this out.
As for the Eden Espinosa comment, I read that by the end of her run as Elphaba she couldn't do it anymore. She was phenomenal, but she did it for too long (on tour and Broadway) and probably slacked off a bit. Idina might do 8 shows a week, but Lindsay Mendez did 8 shows a week and was AMAZING as Elphaba, and I saw the very end of her run. I can name so many more stars that do 8 shows a week as main characters and are still going strong.
Willemijn Verkaik did Wicked for so long, though, and I can't get over the riffs I hear from her. RECENT ones, after doing Elphaba in 3 different languages (and 4 accents.) She should have voiced Elsa for German, Dutch, AND English. I actively search for the German version to watch in school.
Auggie27
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/13/03
#45Just let it go
Posted: 1/1/15 at 8:36pm
It fascinates me, the rancor she engenders. She's not the first or the last at this and other boards, and this isn't the hardest song ever written. But it's not an easy one, she does do eight shows a week, and sometimes she's not at her best*. Comparing her to Taylor Swift, a pop singer twenty years her junior who has never done 8 shows a week in her career and not carrying anything like Menzel's current vocal load, just seems off-point. If you disagree, I respect that. I don't want to fight over Menzel vs. Swift. They're accomplished artists and singers. One had a good night, one had a less good one.
*This shortfalls are often noticed in the opera world, where performances are parsed with fervor. But even there, the performance schedule is 3-4 times a week tops.
"I'm a comedian, but in my spare time, things bother me." Garry Shandling
bwaydude22089
Chorus Member Joined: 5/10/13
#46Just let it go
Posted: 1/1/15 at 8:42pm
Unfortunately, I think that when she performs for millions of people (the Tonys, the Oscars, in Times Square), her nerves get the best of her. When she performs in a Broadway theatre or at a concert, she's usually pretty great. Like everywhere in life, the bad always outshines the good in terms of news and discussion. Her performance at the Tonys this past year was incredible. Her performance of Let It Go at her concert at Radio City this past summer was also pretty spectacular. There is something very unique about the way she performs, both acting and singing. There's a very engaging quality about her. Here are some videos of her singing Let It Go live. Her voice also sounds much better live than when fed through a mic on a television. It comes across very shrill on television. I was surprised how different her voice came across in person in If/Then. Much more pleasurable to listen to live.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dPim-NN3mQ (with Jennifer Nettles)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5hpv_Ji5_s (her holiday concert)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJQ1-ExcJ7Q (her Radio City concert)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keLs70u1fCE (curtain call of If/Then)
I agree with the masses though. She needs to sing the song in a lower key. Her performance on New Year's Eve sounded like it was accompanied by the film's karaoke track in the original key. That clearly doesn't sit well in her day to day vocal range. She has a pretty low voice, which is actually quite refreshing. She also needs to prepare some alternate notes. She should have just stayed on the same note as "rage" but that's in hindsight. She takes risks. I like that about her!
Updated On: 1/1/15 at 08:42 PM
#47Just let it go
Posted: 1/1/15 at 9:03pmI truly cannot believe how terrible the press is treating her about this. Over a single note (yes I do believe the rest of the performance was just fine). My god, how mean.
#48Just let it go
Posted: 1/1/15 at 9:11pmShe's human.
"Noel [Coward] and I were in Paris once. Adjoining rooms, of course. One night, I felt mischievous, so I knocked on Noel's door, and he asked, 'Who is it?' I lowered my voice and said 'Hotel detective. Have you got a gentleman in your room?' He answered, 'Just a minute, I'll ask him.'" (Beatrice Lillie)
bwaydude22089
Chorus Member Joined: 5/10/13
#49Just let it go
Posted: 1/1/15 at 9:15pm
She's also been performing on different television shows a lot lately. I'd say at least two or three performances a week for the past 2 months or so. The tree lighting, Kelly & Michael, Jimmy Fallon, the Morning Show, her IHeartRadio concert, etc. She even flew over to London for less than 24 hours to sing with Michael Buble a few weeks ago. All this plus the 8 shows a week. It's a lot more than most other Broadway performers are doing. I'm not using this as an excuse but I feel like last night was the culmination of doing too much. She may have bit off more than she could chew (... sing).
Updated On: 1/1/15 at 09:15 PM
Videos