June 24, 20205 yr But yes, I wish Mel B would have taken better care of her voice AND singing abilities. She is great and could be a great singer if she set her mind to it. To me, part of the issue with Mel B has been that there doesn't seem to be much care/understanding of how her voice is used best. She's never been someone who can comfortably sing just anything, but she has a specific range where she can sound very good. The Spice Girls material plays to her strong suits. I think a few of her collaborators understood her range too...namely Missy and Jam n' Lewis. But her voice was so wrong for Mimi in Rent that it's a wonder she didn't get canned before her debut. I don't think her voice sounds comfortable on about half of LA State of Mind. Lips Lock and that performance of Fever from It's a Scary World were completely wrong for her voice. While I like For Once In My Life as a song, it's of a range she was never going to be able to replicate live...and then she went and proved she couldn't on the Today Show. She's a far better singer than both Geri and Victoria...and yet, I'm not sure Geri and Victoria (in their very few televised live performances) ever had a showing as rough as For Once in My Life on Today.
June 24, 20205 yr I agree that the For Once In My Life performance was painful but I don't think Mel was to blame. It looked really badly planned. Everything was OTT - the dance routine, smoke machines, light effects, wind machines, even her hair was all over the place. But she struggled through like a true professional. I felt overwhelmed just watching it. I don't know how she coped. She also needed more reverb on her mic and some background harmonies on the lines of the song that she was singing. The whole performance was too exposing and overly ambitious. What was her manager doing? Did she have one? Edited June 24, 20205 yr by McAndrew
June 24, 20205 yr To me, part of the issue with Mel B has been that there doesn't seem to be much care/understanding of how her voice is used best. She's never been someone who can comfortably sing just anything, but she has a specific range where she can sound very good. The Spice Girls material plays to her strong suits. I think a few of her collaborators understood her range too...namely Missy and Jam n' Lewis. But her voice was so wrong for Mimi in Rent that it's a wonder she didn't get canned before her debut. I don't think her voice sounds comfortable on about half of LA State of Mind. Lips Lock and that performance of Fever from It's a Scary World were completely wrong for her voice. While I like For Once In My Life as a song, it's of a range she was never going to be able to replicate live...and then she went and proved she couldn't on the Today Show. She's a far better singer than both Geri and Victoria...and yet, I'm not sure Geri and Victoria (in their very few televised live performances) ever had a showing as rough as For Once in My Life on Today. I totally agree, but I also think there is another issue at play here, and that is the UK media and music industry's racism (even if unintentionally so). If you listen to Mel B's audition from back in the day, and some of the performances since, you can tell her voice is quite amazing when she puts her mind to it, when she feels comfortable. However, and this is the case with most black members of UK girl bands, she was always seen as 'the gobby black girl' and never seen as a singer. Producers and press alike never treated her as primarily a singer even when she was in the band, but certainly as a solo artist. Similar happened to Geri and Victoria of course, but that's a different ball game. We all know that Geri and Victoria werent good singers. But Mel B certainly was! But the press couldn't quite see past her 'personality'. "She's so 'fiesty' and 'scary' and 'wild'" etc etc etc etc etc. Now you can say that this is partly 'her fault' because she 'should have focused on her talent' but when you have the whole world against you, you might just start to believe it. It's well known that black british singers dont have much longevity in the industry, specially girl band members who venture solo. Plus the constant derranged obsession that the press had with their singing abilities plus their racism towards her (which has been well documented and Mel herself has always spoken about) might have damaged her confidence. Psychologically, you can only imagine what that must do to your confidence. After a few years, you start to loose faith/confidence in your ability. Because Mel CAN absolutely sing. Yes, it is partly her fault for not focusing her career on it, but I think it is mostly because the industry and the press didnt give her a proper chance. They didn't know what 'to do with her', and as you say, she has always been positioned in a way that wasn't 'her' to the public as a solo artist, I think. There is a really interesting conversation happening now in the UK scene about this since some black female artists have started to talk about it publicly over the past few weeks. Look at Keisha from Sugababes. Look at Alexandra Burke. Look at Leona Lewis. Look at Gabrielle, Misha B, Jamelia, Samantha Mumba, Emily Sandé, etc. They have all been incredibly wronged by the industry because of the colour of thier skin. We can only imagine, beyond what they told us, the shite that went down behind the scenes. Mel B probably suffered it on a world wide scale, and that must really be a f***er on your confidence, you know?! I really wished Mel has been given a proper change as a solo artist. She has the talent for it and the passion. She just needed a team around her that really understood and supported her. For me, Mel's solo pop career is the biggest shame in the UK pop scene. She deserved much better! Edited June 24, 20205 yr by Mr.X
June 24, 20205 yr What I am is the best solo spice girls song then lift me up Spice girls are also a tad overrated x
June 24, 20205 yr What I am is the best solo spice girls song then lift me up Spice girls are also a tad overrated x How are they overrated when they get slammed all the time? -_-
June 24, 20205 yr What I am is the best solo spice girls song then lift me up Spice girls are also a tad overrated x The fact you just named those two the best solo spice songs just invalidated the rest of your statement! :lol:
July 26, 20204 yr No one looks good in animal print (except actual animals :P ), not even Mel B. WRONG :arrr: