What should Susan Boyle sing next?

Subject: RE: What should Susan Boyle sing next?
From: Murray MacLeod
Date: 20 Apr 09 - 06:49 PM

There is only one choice for her next song, ( assuming we are talking about winning the competition ), and that is "Memory" as suggested by SRS and seconded by others.

I would love to hear her do "Words" by the Bee-Gees, or even "To Love Somebody".

Subject: RE: What should Susan Boyle sing next?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Apr 09 - 06:53 PM

Here at the house I've been comparing washers, getting ready to replace a dead one. You can select machines from the list and print out sheets with comparisons down the line of all sorts of features, everything from the weight, the energy use, the type of tub, RPMs, the number of settings, water temperature, and more. Too bad there isn't a comparable system to use to evaluate the number of features of some of these songs. :) Vocal range, skill level (difficulty), speed, emotional temperature such as drama and pathos, popularity, etc.

SRS

Subject: RE: What should Susan Boyle sing next?
From: Alice
Date: 20 Apr 09 - 07:09 PM

In opera, arias are written for voice types that also relate to the role, so there is a definite classification of voice type/matched to song. A spinto tenor, for example, has a quality that can be bright like a lyric tenor, but also have a dramatic weight to it.

What I don't like about the song Memory is that there are a lot of low notes in it that don't ring out, and I'd like to hear her voice with a song that would use the strongest part of her range, really show what it can do.

Subject: RE: What should Susan Boyle sing next?
From: Don Firth
Date: 20 Apr 09 - 07:13 PM

On SRS's note, a slight aside. . . .

When I was singing in the massive Seattle Center Hootenannies in 1963 (crowds of up to 15,000), the fellow who was setting up the programs and deciding who sang what and in which order had the following coordinates: Up, Down, In, Out.

"Up" was peppy and up-tempo. "Down" was slow, perhaps sad. "In" was a song he figured the crowd would recognize (recently recorded by some pop-folk group). And "Out" was one they probably wouldn't be familiar with and he often wouldn't approve. He wanted us to do mostly "Up" and "In" songs.

One of the singers, Jerry Murry, said he wanted to do a "Down" and "Out" song. The guy looked at Jerry balefully and asked, "Oh, yeah? What song?"

Jerry answered, "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?"

The guy busted up and said "Okay."

Okay, back to our regular broadcast. . . .

Don Firth

Subject: RE: What should Susan Boyle sing next?
From: Alice
Date: 20 Apr 09 - 07:20 PM

LOL

that was funny, Don.

Subject: RE: What should Susan Boyle sing next?
From: Pistachio
Date: 20 Apr 09 - 07:44 PM

I'm with Frog Prince. Let her sing another favourite of hers, one she is familiar with.
It's a huge task to 'name the song', whatever is chosen will be loved by some loathed by others. I'm sure Susan and her voice will deliver and I wish her Good luck.
To be honest I'm more worried about what will be done to her, what a 'stylist' will get her to wear. Lets hope they keep it simple and classic.
H.x

Subject: RE: What should Susan Boyle sing next?
From: catspaw49
Date: 20 Apr 09 - 07:45 PM

I second a lot of these already, especially "Someone to Watch Over Me" and other Gershwin tunes. Also I think a lot of the old standards would work.......Embraceable You, The Shadow of Your Smile, Misty, When Sonny Gets Blue, September Song, But Not For Me, etc.

Give her a shot at Rose's Turn as well.........

Spaw

Subject: RE: What should Susan Boyle sing next?
From: jacqui.c
Date: 20 Apr 09 - 07:53 PM

First Time Ever I Saw Your Face?

Subject: RE: What should Susan Boyle sing next?
From: Jeri
Date: 20 Apr 09 - 08:36 PM

I think she should sing what she wants to, but it's fun to imagine what her voice would sound like on different songs. My suggestions were pretty lame, but I just don't know the genre. Spawn knows way more show tunes than I do, and I like his suggestions. I'd like to hear her sing 'Memory' too, but I don't know that her voice, clear and pretty as it is, has the power for that one. (I don't know that it doesn't, either.)

Subject: RE: What should Susan Boyle sing next?
From: Alice
Date: 20 Apr 09 - 08:39 PM

My Funny Valentine

If I Loved You (words wouldn't come in an easy way)

Subject: RE: What should Susan Boyle sing next?
From: Art Thieme
Date: 20 Apr 09 - 08:47 PM

I REALLY think she'd be great singing a song I've always loved Nina Simone singing.

"The Other Woman"

Art

Subject: RE: What should Susan Boyle sing next?
From: Alice
Date: 20 Apr 09 - 08:52 PM

Just thought of another good Gershwin standard,

The Man I Love

Someday he'll come along, The man I love
And he'll be big and strong, The man I love
And when he comes my way
I'll do my best to make him stay

He'll look at me and smile, I'll understand
Then in a little while, He'll take my hand
And though it seems absurd
I know we both won't say a word......

I think she could spin that one out the way she did Cry Me A River.

All Of Me

have we already said Summertime ???

Subject: RE: What should Susan Boyle sing next?
From: Alice
Date: 20 Apr 09 - 08:53 PM

ah, just thought of one I'd REALLY like to hear her sing.....

The Last Rose Of Summer

Subject: RE: What should Susan Boyle sing next?
From: Alice
Date: 20 Apr 09 - 09:00 PM

Fly Me To The Moon

Don't Get Around Much Any More

and.....

NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT

Subject: RE: What should Susan Boyle sing next?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 20 Apr 09 - 09:11 PM

Achy Breaky Heart

Subject: RE: What should Susan Boyle sing next?
From: Alice
Date: 20 Apr 09 - 09:16 PM

You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To

'Til There Was You

Many A New Day

Let Me Entertain You

Subject: RE: What should Susan Boyle sing next?
From: frogprince
Date: 20 Apr 09 - 09:48 PM

"Achy Breaky Heart"...Little Hawk... go away; or do you want to suggest "Who Let the Dogs Out" next...

Subject: RE: What should Susan Boyle sing next?
From: Alice
Date: 20 Apr 09 - 09:54 PM

(re: the Gypsy song, I was thinking of the shimmy Susan did)

Subject: RE: What should Susan Boyle sing next?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Apr 09 - 10:08 PM

It's a huge task to 'name the song', whatever is chosen will be loved by some loathed by others.

Of course--this is a fanciful exercise. But I like those suggestions of the older classics. Gershwin, Weill (did anyone listen to "The Saga of Jenny"--very "up" in a perverse sort of way on Don's briefly sketched system. And that was a funny story, Don! I was out in that audience a few times, I'm happy to say. Mainly with eyes for only a couple of performers known to me. You, Dad, Stan, Pete Seeger. . . )

Name some more torch songs. What did Dietrich or Garbo or whoever of that ilk sing in their old movies with songs and the Euro song tradition in composers and lyrics (the brain drain before and during WWII)?

What about an animatedly angry song, like "I'm gonna wash that man right out of my hair" from South Pacific or "Just You Wait" from My Fair Lady.

SRS

Subject: RE: What should Susan Boyle sing next?
From: Don Firth
Date: 20 Apr 09 - 10:13 PM

Ah! My Fair Lady! "I Could Have Danced All Night." Exuberant, and should show off her singing voice pretty well.

Don Firth

Subject: RE: What should Susan Boyle sing next?
From: Don Firth
Date: 20 Apr 09 - 10:16 PM

. . . and then, of course, there's "Just you wait, 'enry 'iggins, just you wait!!"

Don Firth

Subject: RE: What should Susan Boyle sing next?
From: Alice
Date: 20 Apr 09 - 10:49 PM

Cry Me a River is considered a torch song.. I like her rendition. I already mentioned Smoke Gets In Your Eyes.

More would be:

As Time Goes By

What'll I Do?

Somewhere Beyond The Sea

The Man That Got Away (from A Star Is Born)

Smile

Smile though your heart is aching
Smile even though its breaking
When there are clouds in the sky, youll get by
If you smile through your fear and sorrow
Smile and maybe tomorrow
You'll see the sun come shining through for you

I'll Be Seeing You

In The Still Of The Night

It Had To Be You

Nevertheless (maybe I'm right and maybe I'm wrong)

Without You
(I can't forget this evening and your face when you were leaving, Harry Nilsson)

Subject: RE: What should Susan Boyle sing next?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Apr 09 - 10:58 PM

We'll have to send her a list of songs to put on her first few CDs. :)

Subject: RE: What should Susan Boyle sing next?
From: Don Firth
Date: 20 Apr 09 - 10:59 PM

(What was I thinkin' of. "Just You Wait." Maggie just said that!)

Don Firth

Subject: RE: What should Susan Boyle sing next?
From: katlaughing
Date: 20 Apr 09 - 11:05 PM

Sheesh...there's a lot of what's-the-next-emotional-high baggage loaded in some of these songs...how about we forget she's never been kissed, etc., forget the progression to the next my-man song, and she does something like Let A Smile Be Your Umbrella or Always on the Sunnyside?**bg** Or, Singing in the Rain? Or something from the Unsinkable Molly Brown.

Subject: RE: What should Susan Boyle sing next?
From: Alice
Date: 20 Apr 09 - 11:09 PM

LOL

Kat! Emotional baggage is what Torch songs are all about!

I guess 'cause I like how well she did Cry Me A River, I think that ilk would do well for her.

Subject: RE: What should Susan Boyle sing next?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Apr 09 - 11:11 PM

I think the only way she can get away with a show tune is if it is one of the real high-fliers. It just happens that angst and emotion work. It wouldn't make sense for her to sing a song from Annie, would it? A child-like story. (Though she could do one from Oliver--that has some really beautiful ones, as I recall.)

SRS

Subject: RE: What should Susan Boyle sing next?
From: Alice
Date: 20 Apr 09 - 11:16 PM

I thought I'd posted one from Oliver, a song Nancy sings,

As Long As He Needs Me

Subject: RE: What should Susan Boyle sing next?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Apr 09 - 11:24 PM

I remember reading that title. Couldn't remember what it was from at the time.

Subject: RE: What should Susan Boyle sing next?
From: Genie
Date: 20 Apr 09 - 11:30 PM

"Over The Rainbow" - which, BTW, is the actual title of the song - would be a good choice IF she can bring her own interpretation of the song. Preferably without totally losing the original melody, as Eva Cassidy (haunting as her rendition was) did.   

Maybe "Stormy Weather?"

Or could she handle something like the Heart song "Alone" or Carole King's "Natural Woman?"

Other things being equal, the audiences on these shows seem to be more drawn to up-tempo belted-out songs than to slow, soft ballads.

Genie

Subject: RE: What should Susan Boyle sing next?
From: katlaughing
Date: 20 Apr 09 - 11:34 PM

On the contrary, I think Tomorrow from Annie would be quite fun for her to do and significant vis a vis her apparent life-up-til-now.:-)

I thought CMAR was better than the other song she did, so I get the angst, etc. and I think she'd obviously be good at them...I just thought, oh, well...I can't see her doing My Blue Heaven, though!

Subject: RE: What should Susan Boyle sing next?
From: Alice
Date: 20 Apr 09 - 11:40 PM

I don't watch American Idol, but a couple years ago I did happen to catch seeing a contestant, Melinda Doolittle, (who I thought should have won in 2007) sing My Funny Valentine, and I thought she was just great. She also sang As Long As He Needs Me. Now, there was a talent that should have gone to the top, but a "prettier face" and weaker singer won instead.

Melinda Doolittle, As Long As He Needs Me

Subject: RE: What should Susan Boyle sing next?
From: Genie
Date: 20 Apr 09 - 11:45 PM

"Tomorrow" is usually kind of belted out - at least parts of it are. That'd work.

She could also do something like "You'll Never Walk Alone" or "Climb Every Mountain."


But I really do think she could also pull off some non-musical theatre type, more rhythm and blues or Motown songs. Or power versions of pop songs, e.g.:

Bridge Over Troubled Water
RESPECT
Ain't No Mountain High Enough
Because You Loved Me
Alfie
Unchained Melody
Blue Bayou

Subject: RE: What should Susan Boyle sing next?
From: Genie
Date: 20 Apr 09 - 11:46 PM

Nadia Turner also did an awesome job on that same song in AI's Season 4. It's a good choice.

Subject: RE: What should Susan Boyle sing next?
From: Art Thieme
Date: 20 Apr 09 - 11:53 PM

Fry Me A Liver,
Fry me a liver,
I fried a liver for you.

Art

Subject: RE: What should Susan Boyle sing next?
From: Alice
Date: 21 Apr 09 - 12:00 AM

with fava beans and a nice Chianti?

Subject: RE: What should Susan Boyle sing next?
From: Genie
Date: 21 Apr 09 - 12:23 AM

Ah, we're back to the LOL cats captions, eh, Alice? *g*

BTW, the song I was referring to in my last post was "As Long As He Needs Me" from "Oliver."

Subject: RE: What should Susan Boyle sing next?
From: Alice
Date: 21 Apr 09 - 12:29 AM

No One Is Alone is from Into The Woods. It's a great one for Susan's voice. Here is Bernadette Peters with No One Is Alone.

Off topic, but my favorite part of Into The Woods is the duet "Agony".
"Agony" - Into The Woods

Subject: RE: What should Susan Boyle sing next?
From: Alice
Date: 21 Apr 09 - 12:44 AM

Then from Sweeney Todd, there is

Green Finch and Linnet Bird

Green finch and linnet bird
Nightingale, blackbird
How is it you sing?

How can you jubilate
Sitting in cages
Never taking wing?

Outside the sky waits
Beckoning, beckoning
Just beyond the bars
click for video

Subject: RE: What should Susan Boyle sing next?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Apr 09 - 10:31 AM

Now that I've been listening to some of these other songs, I have "Memory" stuck in my head. I wonder if this is a harbinger of Susan's next song choice? But someone mentioned a ways up that "Amazing Grace" would also be a good one. It would--very simple, but when sung well, sends shivers up my spine. (Leontyne Price sang my favorite version, I think it was a televised performance and I haven't found it since.)

Subject: RE: What should Susan Boyle sing next?
From: katlaughing
Date: 21 Apr 09 - 12:51 PM

I have seen the travelling Broadway production of CATS and was pleasantly surprised, but I have to say IF she sings Memory I think I shall vomit! It has been so overdone...I would welcome her singing something completely new and unheard!

Subject: RE: What should Susan Boyle sing next?
From: goatfell
Date: 21 Apr 09 - 12:59 PM

I agree forget about what Sinister Supporter said it's not the image that matters it's the voice, who cares what the singer looks like or sings like just as long as they are good singers who cares what they look like I mean you don't buy a cd just because the singer looks good

Subject: RE: What should Susan Boyle sing next?
From: Alice
Date: 21 Apr 09 - 01:09 PM

More from the theater genre,

Some Enchanted Evening

Getting To Know You

Hello Young Lovers

Subject: RE: What should Susan Boyle sing next?
From: Wesley S
Date: 21 Apr 09 - 01:10 PM

"I mean you don't buy a cd just because the singer looks good "

I'm afraid that a lot of people do just that - that's what Taylor Swift has based her career on.

Cute - but she can't sing. IMO.

Subject: RE: What should Susan Boyle sing next?
From: caitlin rua
Date: 21 Apr 09 - 01:26 PM

Well, CD's are going the way of the horse and carriage. Photos are for looking at. Voices are for listening to. More ways than ever to do that now. A lot of it free, too.

Subject: RE: What should Susan Boyle sing next?
From: Alice
Date: 21 Apr 09 - 01:50 PM

Oh, My GOSH!

Susan Boyle will do Whistle Down The Wind next
and sang an unaccompanied recording in her home!!!

Listen/watch here
WHISTLE DOWN THE WIND

Subject: RE: What should Susan Boyle sing next?
From: katlaughing
Date: 21 Apr 09 - 02:47 PM

NPR's Talk of the Nation is discussing What Kind of Makeover she may need to be a pro-performer which was her stated goal. Interesting.

Talk of the Nation, April 21, 2009 · Scottish villager Susan Boyle wowed judges during Britain's Got Talent auditions, in spite of her plain appearance. She's now considered the favorite to win the reality show, but her fashion does not receive the enthusiastic raves used to describe her singing voice.

Washington Post fashion editor Robin Givhan writes that though it may not be PC, Boyle should complete her Cinderella story with the help of a makeover. Givhan's not calling for an extreme makeover. "The point of a proper makeover," she writes, "is not to look like someone else but the best version of yourself."

Folks are calling in with their opinions.

Subject: RE: What should Susan Boyle sing next?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Apr 09 - 02:54 PM

Where is that video from? I don't watch the various news channels, so I don't know who that newscaster or interviewer is. CNN?

Tell us about Whistle Down the Wind. I find some info at Wikipedia.

SRS

Subject: RE: What should Susan Boyle sing next?
From: Joe Offer
Date: 21 Apr 09 - 03:11 PM

Where can I sign up for one of these makeovers?
I wanna be 40.

-Joe-

Subject: RE: What should Susan Boyle sing next?
From: Wesley S
Date: 21 Apr 09 - 03:25 PM

100

Would she be a folk singer if she sang "100 bottles of beer on the wall"?