Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
My Profile
Top News
Reuters top ten news stories delivered to your inbox each day.
Subscribe
You are here:
Home
>
News
>
Entertainment
>
Article
Home
Business & Finance
News
U.S.
Politics
International
Technology
Entertainment
Film
Music
People
Television
Arts
Industry
Sports
Lifestyle
Oddly Enough
Health
Science
Special Coverage
Video
Pictures
Your View
The Great Debate
Blogs
Weather
Reader Feedback
Do More With Reuters
RSS
Widgets
Mobile
Podcasts
Newsletters
Your View
Make Reuters My Homepage
Partner Services
CareerBuilder
Affiliate Network
Professional Products
Support (Customer Zone)
Reuters Media
Financial Products
About Thomson Reuters
Taylor Swift's dream year brings out naysayers
Fri Nov 20, 2009 4:10pm EST
Email | Print |
Share
| Reprints | Single Page
[-]
Text
[+]
By Jill Serjeant
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - At what may be the height of her early career, teen sensation Taylor Swift finds herself facing the downside of stardom -- naysayers.
The 19-year-old pop/country singer-songwriter heads in to Sunday's American Music Awards with a leading six nominations after a dream year of sold out concerts and the best-selling album in the United States.
Swift will compete Sunday against the late Michael Jackson for artist of the year, and is nominated for favorite female artist in the pop/rock, country and adult contemporary categories, along with favorite album for "Fearless".
But her higher profile, including becoming the youngest person to win the Country Music Association Entertainer of the Year award, has left her open to recent sniping by some music lovers who complain about her voice in live performances.
Just three years after releasing her first single, the pop/country singer-songwriter has struck an emotional chord with millions of fans for heart-felt songs like "Fifteen" and "You Belong With Me" about first loves, being an outsider and the perils of high school.
"I can't think of anyone else (in pop) music who inspires the level of passion in their fans on the scale she does right now," said Rob Brunner, music editor of Entertainment Weekly.
Still, that view is not shared by all and in recent weeks, her detractors seem to have raised their level of criticism just as Swift has seen her star soar into the stratosphere.
"Wobbly" and "embarrassingly weak" are some of the comments -- many from disgruntled fans of traditional country music -- found on web sites after recent live performances, including on television show "Saturday Night Live."
"I think the songs are great, the records are great. But she doesn't have the pipes," said Bob Lefsetz, a former music industry executive and author of The Lefsetz Letter blog.
NO TOPPLING TAYLOR
The negative chatter has done nothing to dissuade fans from snapping up tickets to Swift's recently extended concert tour. Nor has it curtailed sales of "Fearless" -- the biggest selling U.S. album of 2009 with 2.1 million copies, and No. 3 in 2008.
And many industry watchers question the importance of technical ability in an era where Britney Spears can happily lip-synch her way around the world during her "Circus" tour, and where the vocal pitch correcting device, Auto-Tune, is widely used in recording studios and at concerts.
Swift, who plays guitar and piano, never lip-synchs. As for Auto-Tune: "I have never used Auto-Tune in a live television performance, and I have never used Auto-Tune in any of my concerts. That is a promise," she said in a statement to Reuters.
She has performed live for more than one million people and won a slew of awards voted on by fans and the industry. If her singing is occasionally off-key, that's what makes her genuine and is what she brings to the music arena, her managers say.
"(Taylor) tries to hold herself to a better standard but perfection is not one of them. At 19-years-old, I don't know how she deals with the nerves (of singing live). And sound issues are not always in our control," Robert Allen, one of Swift's managers, told Reuters. Continued...
View article on single page
Share:
Del.icio.us
Digg
Mixx
Yahoo!
Facebook
LinkedIn
Next Article:
"New Moon" rises to No. 1 at midnight box office
Blog: Route to Recovery -- The breaking point
Video
Video: Twitter to follow Google's lead
Movie popcorn plus soda can equal 3 McDonald's burgers
More Entertainment News
Michael Jackson's doctor says others gave him propofol
"New Moon" rises to No. 1 at midnight box office
| Video
LA attorneys distance Polanski from French lawyer
Britney Spears' ex-boyfriend, photographer jailed
"Idol" wild child Adam Lambert readies first album
More Entertainment News...
Editor's Choice
Slideshow
A selection of our best photos from the past 24 hours. Slideshow
Most Popular on Reuters
Articles
Video
BUY OR SELL-Can Dell rebound as PC spending returns?
Google says PC will start in seven seconds or less
Obama job approval rating drops under 50 percent
"Yard sale" brings U.S. empire to bargain-bin ending
Canada money launderer shows holes in Vegas casinos
Moderate Democrat boosts Senate health bill | Video
Did U.S. make mistake in skipping vaccine additive?
ANALYSIS-Google phone strategy takes off, challenges ahead
Update 2-Sands China raises $2.5 bln, low end of range
John Kerry's daughter arrested in Hollywood
Most Popular Articles RSS Feed
Video
Senate nears healthcare vote
Twitter to follow Google's lead
Peru arrests 4 for selling human fat
Obama to host Singh
Light at end of the recession tunnel
Kenya's forest dwellers evicted
Activists trash Indian TV offices
Europe mulls President Van Rompuy
Kercher suspects back in court
Geithner under pressure
Most Popular Videos RSS Feed
Reuters.com:
Help and Contact Us |
Advertise With Us |
Mobile |
Newsletters |
RSS |
Labs |
Journalism Handbook |
Archive |
Site Index |
Video Index
Thomson Reuters Corporate:
Copyright |
Disclaimer |
Privacy |
Professional Products |
Professional Products Support |
About Thomson Reuters |
Careers
International Editions:
Africa |
Arabic |
Argentina |
Brazil |
Canada |
China |
France |
Germany |
India |
Italy |
Japan |
Latin America |
Mexico |
Russia |
Spain |
United Kingdom |
United States
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.