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Post by jons on Jun 2, 2007 13:25:35 GMT
There's no thread for Josh Groban! Sacrilege!! Josh's video for 'February Song' is on this month's ClassicFmTv most wanted video list. You have to be in the UK to vote however, but if you can here is the information: Text: 'CLASSIC 5' to 84211
Phone: 0901 114 6405
www.classicfm.com/Article.asp?id=238386&spid=9333Good luck Josh! |
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Post by Richard on Jun 2, 2007 15:06:25 GMT
Hello Jon!  There is another general thread about Josh Groban HERE, but the last post was in August 2005. I've now locked that thread, so any further discussion about Josh can continue here. Best Wishes, Richard  |
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Post by milewalker on Jun 2, 2007 23:45:12 GMT
There is no question that Josh is a superlative singer. For some reason however, I have had some problems warming up to him - it may be something about his "faux romantic" song selection.
I do like his overall showmanship skills. For example, he is more than adequate at playing several instruments, and while his skills there are probably not professional in their own right, they are more advanced than a simple accompaniment.and serve him quite well when he uses them in concert.
In this regard, Hayley could learn a thing or two in my opinion.
Jon
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Dave
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Post by Dave on Jun 2, 2007 23:58:52 GMT
I think Josh is OK but I place him alongside a dozen other classical crossover singers, right in with the pack in fact. I wouldn't go out of my way to watch a TV "special" of his or go to a Groban concert but I know he's amazingly popular in the States and I respect that. I find it odd how some singers do amazingly well on one side of the Pond but barely cause a ripple on the other side. Josh is one, Katherine Jenkins is another (the other way round and a more extreme example than Hayley). Instrumentally, there's no rush for Hayley, she has another 6 years to improve her skills before she reaches Josh's present age  Cheers, Dave |
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Post by Natasha on Jun 3, 2007 0:41:48 GMT
I think Josh Groban is a massive talent. He has a gorgeous voice, and the fact that he is a bass in the midst of so many tenors is a nice change! The thing that bothers me about him mostly is the songs he sings. I absolutely love some of them, but most of them I chose to skip over. He is definitely not the showman like Russell Watson, who is just an incredible performer, but Josh is a great artist with an amazing voice that is able to sound studio-quality in his live performances. I would love to sing with him someday, and I know Hayley would as well! |
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Post by milewalker on Jun 3, 2007 0:54:59 GMT
I think Josh Groban is a massive talent. He has a gorgeous voice, and the fact that he is a bass in the midst of so many tenors is a nice change! The thing that bothers me about him mostly is the songs he sings. I absolutely love some of them, but most of them I chose to skip over. He is definitely not the showman like Russell Watson, who is just an incredible performer, but Josh is a great artist with an amazing voice that is able to sound studio-quality in his live performances. I would love to sing with him someday, and I know Hayley would as well! With all due respect ClassicGrace. I have never seen Mr Watson do anything like this..... youtube.com/watch?v=52k-OCt2EggLet me know what you think everyone.....I think I may have been underestimating his peripheral skills..... Jon |
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Post by Dave on Jun 3, 2007 1:36:24 GMT
Yes he certainly has some excellent "peripheral skills", well displayed in that clip.
I was less impressed with his vocals though, it compares poorly with the original, in my opinion - he has the wrong type of voice. That's no criticism of his vocal ability, only of his choice of song. It would have been OK in the concert setting though.
Hayley might do well on that song, I think.
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Post by milewalker on Jun 3, 2007 2:20:53 GMT
Hi Dave,
As it happened, I saw this concert on PBS, and my wife liked him, so I bought it....in any event I didnt think he was actually in particularly good voice during that concert in general - he was inconsistant in my opinion - but it was nonetheless reasonably entertaining, precisely because of those support skills. As I said above, I am not a big fan of his, but he certainly has his moments.
One thing that might be said in his defense is that he is multitasking here - the piano accompaniment is complex enough that it may divide his attention, and therefore lower the level of his vocal performance just a bit.
I would love to hear Hayley do that song.....it is quite representative of the kind of repertoire expansion she might be capable of, and really dont hear enough of in my opinion.
Jon
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Post by Natasha on Jun 3, 2007 12:48:00 GMT
Oh I am aware that Josh plays instruments for his performances, and when I heard that I was very impressed! Especially because you read that a lot of artists play instruments but you seldom actually hear them perform them - in the crossover genre anyways. But what I meant about Josh not being like Russell Watson, is that when Russell does a concert he REALLY gets into it. He chats with the people in the audience, and on occasion gets down and sings among them! On his DVD from NZ he was dancing and having the audience sing along to "Volare." I know of no other classical singer who would ever do that kind of thing! And I think it's because Russell is not from a classical background, and used to work in clubs/pubs that he has such an excellent presence and personality on stage.... so that's what I was talking about! But now back to Josh! I think Josh is different from the other classical crossover artists, because as far as I know he was never trained classically (a and (b tends to stay away from most arias. But then, it's obviously working for him!  |
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Post by jons on Jun 3, 2007 14:20:54 GMT
Josh's latest album is superlative. I don't skip a song on 'Awake'.
To be honest the album is Josh's equivalent to Hayley's Treasure. Its a slight departure from his other albums, especially the songs with Ladysmith Black Mambazo.
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Post by BarefootSoprano on Jun 3, 2007 16:55:00 GMT
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Dave
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Post by Dave on Jun 3, 2007 18:23:42 GMT
Josh's latest album is superlative. I don't skip a song on 'Awake'. To be honest the album is Josh's equivalent to Hayley's Treasure. Its a slight departure from his other albums, especially the songs with Ladysmith Black Mambazo. To show what can sometmes happen to an "old" album in the UK, if it's handled right, read this... from today's Music Week. It will lift up the hearts of Groban fans and makes me wonder why the same cannot be done with Hayley's Treasure.Cheers, Dave who corrected Music week's silly typo  |
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Post by Martin on Jun 3, 2007 18:50:27 GMT
To show what can sometmes happen to an "old" album in the UK, if it's handled right, read this... from today's Music Week. It will lift up the hearts of Groban fans and makes me wonder why the same cannot be done with Hayley's Treasure.Cheers, Dave I entirely agree, Dave. Admittedly, further promotion & advertising would cost Decca money but the potential rewards are there if the right exposure is achieved. Hayley hasn't got any large city concerts planned for the near future but a TV appearance or two would help enormously. Michael Parkinson has recently had Russell Watson on his chat show and next week he has Alfie Boe (the opera singer). So how about Hayley, Parky?  Martin |
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Post by milewalker on Jun 4, 2007 0:05:57 GMT
Hi all,
A couple of random observations in no particular order.....
There have been comments above to the effect that Josh's song selection leaves a bit to be desired, and as far as it goes, personally I agree with that - I would probably like him more than I do if he rendered an aria once in a while. Having said this, he and his management have apparantely hit on a very effective mix which allows him to reach a much broader audience than Hayley does. If memory serves me correctly, Awake wasnt even listed as a crossover album. Whatever the case he (and also Enya btw) do get a decent amount of radio airplay on Adult Contempory stations in the US, and they have both even had occasional excursions into stations with a pop format.
I suspect that Decca and Hayley will do something more with Treasure - maybe a second release, or maybe another promotional tour in the UK. However, I also suspect that she is coming up against a growing problem - that the market saturation created by Pure there may limit her sales ceiling.
Jon
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Post by Dave on Jun 4, 2007 0:18:51 GMT
If memory serves me correctly, Awake wasnt even listed as a crossover album. Jon Hi Jon, Just to let you know, Awake has been no. 1 in the Billboard Classical Crossover chart for most of the last six months... and it still is. You may be thinking of the UK Classical charts where, not surprisingly, it fails to qualify. Cheers, Dave |
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