Who is you favourite Hayley duet partner?

[roger]

Hi Larry,

It isn't Hayley for whom I need to make an exception. It is the other singers who keep cropping up on her albums. For me, that seems to break the continuity of the album as a whole.

Roger

[Steve H]

Hi All,

I've had to go for Sophie, I would love to hear them sing together again, especially as both voices have changed so much since they last duetted in public.

That's going to be on my 2009 wish list for sure!

Steve H

[martindn]

Hi Roger,

I have to say I don't have a problem with this. I have actually bought albums by other singers solely BECAUSE of one track which is a duet with Hayley! Would I even have bought Mike Oldfield's Music of the Spheres if Hayley hadn't been on it? Maybe not.
As for the duets on Hayley's albums, I always thought the Bocelli duet was a bit contrived, and he overpowers Hayley (as she was then, aged 17), so I think this one is overrated, although I can imagine that it cost money. And it is what Hayley wanted to do.
The Humphrey Berney one I like rather better, and the song was written by Hayley after all.
If I can include "How Many Stars" duet with Teddy Tahu Rhodes from the live in NZ DVD, this is blown out of the water in my opinion by her recent performances of the same song with Jonathan Ansell on the Valentines Tour. I wasn't able to get to any of those concerts, which is something I regret. This is why I voted for Jonathan.

The question Libby, is who is your favourite, not "who would be best to advance Hayley's career. The Valentines Tour ".has given us a rich treasury of videos of Hayley and Jonathan (thanks largely to Andy Moore), and they are all without exception, wonderful performances. It just doesn't seem to work so well with anyone else.
Yes, pure Hayley albums are wonderful, but we don't get very many of them. It is over two years now since Treasure, which is her last original new album released in the UK. If you want to hear Hayley as she is now on record, you can only do so on imports or other people's albums. Surely that is better than nothing (I don't count either the iTunes live EP or ROD as new material, even if there are three new songs on ROD).

Martin

[jimg]

Hi Roger,

I'm with you on this. When I bought my MP3 player a few weeks ago I copied every Hayley track I had off all the CD's but left off the duets with the exception of the one on HSJS1.

Jim

[Libby]

I think it's great for Hayley to be on someone else's album, because, as I've mentioned before, the people who are already fans of Paul Potts, Lee Mead, Jonathan Ansell, etc., hear Hayley's beautiful voice, and want to find out more about her and buy her albums. Don't we have several JA fans on here now because of her duet with him?
Everything Hayley does is not just about pleasing her current fans. I wish I would stop getting criticized for thinking of possible duet partners that would boost her career. If you all love Hayley so much, isn't that what you want, for Hayley to be more well-known? Well, these things would help.

Martin, I did say my favorite was Helmut Lotti, and that I also enjoyed her duet of All I Ask of You with Lee Mead. I didn't know it wasn't allowed to say who else could sing a duet with Hayley someday. Picky, picky.

[roger]

Hi Libby,

On a discussion forum such as this, there will be members who don't always agree with you but that doesn't mean anyone is criticizing you. I'm sorry if it sometimes seems that way. It is merely a natural difference of opinion.

Roger

[Libby]

Well, I don't see the harm in discussing how certain duets could help Hayley's career. I already said who my favorite was, and he acted like I didn't just because I said something he probably didn't like. The mere mention of "Josh Groban" seems to annoy him, I've noticed. Just because many of you don't like Josh Groban doesn't mean nobody else does. I don't like Jonathan Ansell's voice, but I still appreciate the affect her collaborations with him have made on her career.

[martindn]

Hi Libby,

Sorry, I didn't mean to upset you, I was only being pedantic about the subject of this thread. You had wandered a bit off topic, but nowhere nearly as badly as I have done on occasion (and am about to do again).

As I have said before, I have nothing against Josh. He doesn't particularly appeal to me for sure, but I wouldn't say I dislike him. There are a lot worse in my opinion. If I took exception to every singer that I didn't actively like, then there would be a long list. And there are some I actually dislike and will turn off the radio or TV if they come on. Josh is certainly not one of those.

We certainly don't all agree, and shouldn't expect to. Somebody must like those singers I don't because they sell records. I state my own opinions, but that is all that they are, and have no more or less weight than anybody else's.

Libby, we probably don't agree about male singers. I don't rate Lee Mead or Helmut Lotti either. I do rate Pavarrotti and Carreras, Freddie Mercury, Mario Lanza and Andrea Bocelli. That is just my opinion, yours is different and is just as important. But I reserve the right to state my opinions, even if you or everybody else disagrees. You have exactly the same right.

I have heard a lot of duets by Hayley, and I think her best ones are with Jonathan Ansell. I agree that there are solo singers I prefer to Jonathan, but I thought he was great with G4 and is great with Hayley, better in both cases than on his own.

I would suggest, Libby, that you like the softer "crooner" type of male singer, whereas I admire the more powerful voices. To hear Jonathan and Hayley at full throttle is indeed a thrilling experience. She can, as someone else said, do that with Jonathan, but not with Lee Mead or I suspect Helmut Lotti, since she would overpower them. The same might be true of Josh Groban. And I love to hear Hayley hit those powerful notes in a duet, so this is why I like Hayley and Jonathan together.

Martin

[Libby]

It's okay.

It's true, I prefer guys with lower tones in their voices. I think that's why I liked Lee Mead singing AIAOY, because of his low notes at the beginning. I think he did well with that song, but I will say in other songs, he wasn't all that impressive to me. For example, on Any Dream will Do, he sang You Raise Me Up with Josh Groban, and he could not hold a candle to him! I wouldn't say Josh is really a soft singer, not like Helmut, but he isn't a high tenor, either. Carreras is one that I don't particularly enjoy, even if he is a classical legend. I know Bocelli is considered a tenor, too, I think, but his voice is different, and he sings lower notes, too. I admit Jonathan has power in his voice, but it just doesn't sound pleasing to my ears when he does hit those notes. Josh's voice can be quite powerful, too (if you don't think so, then you haven't heard very many l of his songs; try Remember when it Rained).

I guess Teddy Tahu Rhodes sings low notes, but his voice is kind of loud. I loved Hayley's part in the songs, though, of course.

You may have a point that Hayley could probably overpower guys like Helmut or Michael Buble, but not if they sing the right song together. Sparkle brought out the soft, exquisitely pretty sound of Hayley's voice, and songs of that style are usually softer like that, rather than powerful. The song itself is just so nice and romantic, that it's hard not to like it. She doesn't have to sing powerfully in every song. Anyway, Hayley herself has expressed interest in singing with Buble. I think Helmut has a much better voice than Buble. Helmut's voice even reminded me a little of Elvis's low, crooning tones, at the beginning of the song at least.
Anyway, duets with Josh or Michael are not imminent at the moment, so you don't have to worry about anything like that yet.

Oh, I have to say that I wasn't particularly impressed with Sei Con Me. Paul Pott is good, but not that exciting in that song. I was impressed enough at him singing Nessun Dorma, but otherwise, I think I'll pass.