Emmy Rossum

[Natasha]

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EMMY ROSSUM

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To be honest, when I first saw "Phantom" I was disappointed in Emmy because I was mentally comparing her to the 3 I thought would have done tremendous vocal jobs, Charlotte Church (in her earlier days) Becky Taylor and of course Hayley.

After seeing the movie again and listening to the music endlessly I've come to really like her!

Her acting and vocal skills are really incredible for a 17-year-old. Her voice is really soothing and expressionate.

About her acting. All I can say is she was the perfect Christine for that production. I would still love to see Hayley and Becky as Christine but Emmy did a phenomenal job.

So what do you all think of this angel of music?

[portia]

She was the crucial ouch point. And Emmy was eighteen when she made the movie, not seventeen.

That said, I thought all the singing in the movie was really bad compared to the Original Cast Recording. I watched it because of Gerard Butler and the costumes.

If you want to see a good movie musical, I recommend Chicago. The set is great. The timing is unbelievable and the songs don't require as much vocal power as phantom.

[nicola]

Considering how much I obsess with Sarah Brightman, and listened to the original POTO soundtrack for 3 years previous to this film, I was very impressed with Emmy Rossum. The moment I heard her I knew that not only was she fantastic for Christine, but she was better than Sarah (that's saying something coming from me, a MASSIVE Sarah Brightman fan). Her acting was spot on. I was glad when I read critics reviews they they totally and utterly agreed. Not just on Emmy... but how disappointing Gerald Butler was... He had a good look for the phantom (he was too young, but this is Hollywood, you have to make it sexy) but his voice was atrocious. He also admitted he had never sung before and was trained from scratch. Having said that, I think Emmy and Gerald had brilliant chemistry between them both. Especially in 'Music Of The Night'. It was sung badly, but Emmy carried off that scene with pure ease in her acting. I also love Emmys rendition of 'Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again' and 'The Point Of No Return'. Breath taking. I hope she sings more in the future and releases some albums

[portia]

I would have thought they could at least have picked someone with more vocal power, or dubbed over Emmy's voice with someone better. Add to the fact that Emmy only seemed to have three expressions throughout the entire movie. I'm not the only one who's said this. A couple of critics did as well, as well as friends of mine who loved the movie. Then again, I have massive problems with Christine as a character. I'm a fan only of the Phantom music.

Gerard Butler, however, was a brilliant phantom, aside from the singing. Then again, the singing wasn't the strongest point of the movie. Did anyone love the set and costumes as much as I did? I especially love the stars in Christine's hair. Still, did anyone notice that Christine's bodice kept collapsing on its own in Point of No Return?

[Natasha]

Emmy took on a very difficult job playing Christine. No matter who sings the role, how gorgeous their voice is or how phenomenal their acting, for some they will never be Christine.

I have only seen one video of Sarah and yes, she has a beautiful voice but I think Emmy was perfect for the production and I personally have come to love her voice.

Gerald Butler was a brilliant phantom and I think Patrick Wilson was a wonderful Raoul as well. I don't see why everyone keeps saying Gerald can't sing because no one I've heard sing the Phantom's part yet can.

The worst being the guy who sang with Holly Holyoake - I think Chris Needs. She was on his radio show. Holly has a wonderful voice and sang it so well but the guy -- he had a horrible, horrible voice!

Portia, I loved the sets and costumes as well! I especially loved the stars in Christine's hair and her gorgeous white dress when she sang, "Phantom." Christine's pink dress that she wears when she dances with Roul was really pretty and he looked really handsome in the suit as well!

My favorite costumes belonged to the Pima Dona, however. I love the Prima Dona... Well, instead of talking about the whole movie I'll go ahead and make a separate thread for Phantom of the Opera!

[martindn]

Yes, there is a thread for her! HWI misses nothing!!
I was woken up this morning by the sound of a lovely voice singing Andrew Lloyd Webber''s "Wishing you were somehow here again". I lay in bed for an extra couple of minutes lstening to her, thinking that she actually sounded quite a lot like Hayley. Afterwards Sarah Kennedy described her voice as somewhere between Elaine Paige and Barbra Striesand", but didn't mention Hayley of course, they never do on Radio 2. I didn't catch the name of the singer, and had to look it up afterwards on the website. But she is a New Yorker, around 6 months older than Hayley, and has a voice that made me stop and listen. I suspect the Streisand comment is because of the NY connection, but she didn't seem to have the NY accent that has always detracted from my enjoyment of Streisand's music.
I had never heard of her before, but I enjoyed her voice, and thought I might like to hear some more of her. Perhaps some others here would enjoy that too.

Martin

[milewalker]

I thought enough of Ms Rossem to introduce her to Gerrit's Young Performers site a couple of years ago. This is not to say that I am a major fan, but I thought she was fairly good in the role - which one must remember is a movie. When casting a role like Christine, one would presumably look for the best singer among the available young actresses, and while I thought she was a little tentative at times - pitch was in question occasionally - she does have a very impressive vocal range.

I found Butler no worse than many lead singers of rock bands - and I actually think that this was the cache they were trying to achieve. He projects a primal vulnerability and sense of danger which is presumably exactly what appeals to Christine's darker side.

In both cases, there is more to singing sometimes than simply hitting pretty notes, and while I dont know that I would buy a record produced by either, within the scope of this movie I thought they did just fine.

Jon

[Nordly]

I find Emmy great in the Phantom, but on her own album she seems to be too poppy.

Love how she sounds on the Phantom though! She could be great if she tried!

[nicola]

I absolutely adore her album. She wrote it by herself, and her vocal arrangements are stunning, though they are a bit reminiscent of Enya and Imogen Heap.

It's one of my favourite albums, and her voice is so stunning. Whoever listens to her song 'Anymore' and does not cry needs a heart transplant! It's about her growing up without her father. It's immensely heart breaking.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=HU5KYObF5R0

[stevemacdonald]

Aug 19, 2008 10:17:36 GMT nicola said:

...her vocal arrangements are stunning, though they are a bit reminiscent of ... Imogen Heap. ...

Understatement of the year. When I first heard Rossum's CD I thought a new batch of Imogen Heap songs were getting played. The mimicry -- whether intentional or not -- was overwhelming.