I remember the 2011 Super Bowl with particular clarity, as i was visiting a student’s home for a Super Bowl Party. As soon as I saw that it was acapella, I KNEW that Aguilera was going to be in trouble, as the musicianship required to stay in key for the entire song in such a huge venue (PA System delays and echos, etc) was something she did not posses. Compounded by her frequent unnecessary forays into melisma and embellishments, she kept landing flat after every silly “run” and kept dismounting into a new key. The runs also destroyed the continuity of the song, and affected the phrasing. She ended up at least a half step lower than she started, as she kept getting lost.
We stood there with our jaws dropped, and when she was finished I blurted out:
“If she were MY voice student, I would have slapped her upside her head for that!”
I agree. I don’t know the ends and outs of singing, however, being that I was very bad, I have heard most singers today are scale singers which isn’t really singing?