Estephany

[Richard]

Hello Dave and everybody!

No comment!

Richard

[postscript]

Very Interesting, Dave!

I look korward to hearing the results of your further assessments
Peter S.

[nicola]

Hello Dave,

Thanks for doing the research here.

I am really saddened by your findings. I am a very big fan of the song from Fifth Element and I recognised her voice instantly on clip 2.

I don't know how much I can say, but I think she lied to me, and her taking down the songs is a sign of guilt. That's three seperate people that have given me the same verdict upon their research and it seems conclusive to me. Though, Dave, you were the first person to publish the results. Now that I have heard it myself I've made up my mind.

I'm disgusted.

[postscript]

nicola said:

Hello Dave,

Thanks for doing the research here.

I am really saddened by your findings. I am a very big fan of the song from Fifth Element and I recognised her voice instantly on clip 2.

I don't know how much I can say, but I think she lied to me, and her taking down the songs is a sign of guilt. That's three seperate people that have given me the same verdict upon their research and it seems conclusive to me. Though, Dave, you were the first person to publish the results. Now that I have heard it myself I've made up my mind.

I'm disgusted.

There is a positive aspect to all this and it behoves us all to take due note, although there have been one or two other matters in which we have had to remind ourselves of the need for caution.

• Such events DO happen, therefore authority of any new source needs corroboration.
  
• Protection of our own (H-W-I) authority in that we are accepted as at least reliable if not absolutely authoritative on all matters Hayley.
  
• If we are accepted as an authoritative source for Hayley, our acceptance of other subject threads implies an endorsement.
  

It was the quoting of the Sarah Brightman site as the original source for disquiet that caused me to take the matter seriously. Hopefully, others will respond likewise to us, that we are seen as reliable and to be trusted BUT that means trying to maintain the privilege of being reliable without necessarily restricting our 'free and easy' interactivity. Points I am sure the admin and Mods are already bearing in mind.

Peter S.

[nicola]

Hi all,

Estephany has put a new song up, it's a 30 second clip and it's singing acapella. The voice sounds the same as before.

I'm awaiting SB forums comments on this.

[lawrence]

Having watched this saga unfold, may I contribute a wry comment. The kid is only 12 - don't be too hard on her. If we assume she has aspirations beyond her real stage of development and has acted these out in child-like fashion then that is a silly prank and it wouldn't be the first time someone has taken the Mick on the internet.

It is, I suggest, rather embarassing for an adult to have been fooled by such a naive trick (if trick it is) so please do not allow that embarassment to fuel an over-reaction.

She can put new recordings on her myspace or even close her account if the attention becomes to "hot".

[roger]

Hi Lawrence and welcome to the forum.

We are not being hard on her at all. The music which claims to be hers was mentioned on this forum in all innocence and the question was subsequently raised as to whether or not it was genuine. We have merely done a little research which clearly illustrates more than an element of doubt.

My personal feelings are that, if it is a scam, then it is likely that she is doing it with the help and encouragement of adults - probably her parents. As for her being only 12 years old, what proof do we have that even that is true?

Most importantly, it is NOT our job to be judge, jury and executioner. We are merely a discussion forum where members are welcome to air their views. If, in doing so, they raise any doubt as to a singer's authenticity, and provided their argument is substanciated (which it was in this case), I accept their right to do so. Beyond that, however, HWI is not willing to become further involved.

Roger

[Dave]

Hello and welcome from me too Lawrence!

You are right in that we shouldn't overreact to such Internet sillyness, if that's all it was. But if she really is an up-and-coming young talent, we want to hear her real voice not someone elses.

The way she and/or her family or friends seem to have set about getting recognition for her is not, I think, a good way to gain respect in the music industry. Don't you think this kind of thing is likely to do long term damage to an aspiring young singer's credibility? Assuming, of course, that she is an aspiring young singer. I make no judgement here I am merely asking the question.

Cheers, Dave

[lawrence]

I doubt that any but the most misguided of parents would think that a false image could be an advantage to their daughter. If she does produce some further tracks and they are not up to the "standard" - whatever that is - of the first ones then she'll have a lot of ground to make up, I should imagine.

If she is a trainee singer and these tracks weren't genuine it might be rather like Milli Vanilli trying to demonsrate they could sing, after all.

[gerrit]

Hi All,

I believe that there is still a possibility that Estephany is a very good singer, but that possibly for some reason or other she (or those around her) thought it would be a good thing to make her singing qualities known to the world, by 'doctoring' existing clips from other singers.

I have a clip here, which according to Estephany, she recorded a-capella just a day ago. Note that this is an amateur recording, and the sound quality is far from perfect. Yet, if this turns out to be a genuine, bona fide recording, then Estephany most definitely has remarkable singing qualities. In fact, despite the imperfections of the recording, I like the voice on this clip considerably better than on any other I have heard that was caimed to be Estephany's.

The Water Is Wide

It certainly doesn't sound like any version of this song I have heard before.

Gerrit

[grant]

I have avoided getting into this debate before - there are those on this forum with far more knowledge and expertise than I, who are far better placed to analyse whatever may or may not be happening here!!

However, I have just listened to the clip posted by Gerrit and must say this one seems far more like the voice of a 12 year old than maybe the others did.

Grant

[gerrit]

Hi Grant,

It's peculiar, but I had the very same thought when I heard this one myself. I found the voice on the other clips to be "thin", but had put that down to the young age of the singer. I do hope that it can be resolved this is a unique recording, not a doctored recording. For instance, what does it sound like if the pitch is lowered by 4 semitones?

Dave - I have no experience at this stage with sound editing altering the pitch of a song. Do you have time for that?

Cheers,

Gerrit

[nicola]

Hi all,

The Water is Wide has been listened and examined by people from the Sarah Brightman Official forum. The two people there are at disagreement.

Basically, one concludes (reasonably, and is the one I believe) that Estephany did use the original recording for Elements, she sang only bits of it, however, and altered the rest with an music editor. The same person says that the Water is Wide is 100% genuine.

The other person concludes something quite different. He thinks she did not lend her vocals at all on the Elements track (very possible, given Dave's clips). He thinks that Estephany has sung the Water is Wide, but has altered her voice to sound higher.

I agree with the first person. The second person seems to be too much of a fan of the original recording and was angry about Estephany used it, so all of his conclusions have been biased since then (I think). The first person is reasonable, very knowledgable and experienced on the field. She did not judge Estephany or have a passionate opinion one way of the other. I believe she just said it the way it is.

Conclusion, then, is that there has been some vocal manipulation, but Estephany has given some input too. I think she just sang all of the songs, and just edited bits and pieces to make them sound better, to which, they probably didn't. If she ever reads this - let your voice be, let it grow naturally. You have a good foundation there, it will take years to mature it.

That's it for me on the matter. I think she is a genuine singer, and like many other artists, messes about a bit with their vocals on a computer.

[gerrit]

Hi Nicola,

I can concur with your statements, and as to reading this thread, I am going to await some further feedback.

But you can be assured that Estephany will be made aware of the entire contents of this thread as far as these are relevant to her (not all comments here are on-topic )

Gerrit

P.S. I tried to check the thread on Sarah Brightman's forum, but it does indeed require a sign-up. And I simply am not prepared to do that, as I feel no affinity with her singing at all. I simpy don't like it. I think it is a pity that non-members are not allowed to even read messages at her forum (I can understand that non-members can't post). But do these people want to spread the word bout Sarah? Then they should allow people "lurking" for a wile, without sgning up.

[nicola]

Off-topic, I know.

I know you can't see the forum, but it's absolutely huge. There are not any statistics on there, so I can't say how big, but I can understand them not letting 'lurkers' in.

Sarah's team are quite particular about privacy, rules and regulations. People are not even allowed to copy and paste Sarah's or her teams messages on her other forums. I believe they want all of Sarah's fans in one place, so they are not fed incorrect information and given false promises as they have done in the past. The team recently busted on a Sarah Brightman MySpace with 10,000 friends and took it over. They didn't want to do a MySpace, but in the end, were forced to do so because these fakes pages give out promises that Sarah can't keep, and Sarah HATES disappointing fans. One Sarah Brightman fan site (a huge one) was closed down because it annouced that Sarah was doing a second leg tour in America. Because the fans trusted this site (as it collaborated with Sarah's team in the past) everyone believed it, and Sarah said she wasn't doing it at all the fans accused her of 'cancelling' on them, when in fact, the whole thing wasn't going ahead in the first place.

I hope that explains it.

It's a shame you don't like Sarah. I've always felt she has a album out there for everyone, as she has done over 20 and they are all very different in style. But I guess, if you don't like her voice, that throws that theory out of the window. Each to one's own, I guess.