Broadway To Pop Crossovers

Broadway To Pop Crossovers

There are a bunch of Broadway/West End Babies that try to cross from their perfectly trained voices into the weird wacky world of pop music.

As much as I love the voices of vocalists like Elaine Paige, Michael Ball and to some extent, John Barrowman, when they do albums of pop songs I tend to spend more time laughing hysterically then actually enjoying the album.

There's just something about the perfect diction that a singer acquires after years of performing in musical theater that makes the average pop song sound ridiculous.

I'll use John Barrowman as an example, because I love to pick on JB. Hearing him sing Keith Urban's You'll Think Of Me just cracks me up, which is actually a few steps up from Michael Ball's singing of Bowie's Life On Mars.

These performers really need to find songs that suit their vocal abilities. Granted JB and Michael sell records mostly because of who they are, and in JB's case because he's one of the hottest men on the planet, obnoxious or otherwise but why make yourself sound silly? It boggles my mind.

I'm not saying these guys should stick to show tunes, because that would be very limiting too, but I really think that when it comes to selecting songs for an album they should pick something that suits the arrangements and singing style they plan to use. Oh and one more jab and John Barrowman, Uptown Girl? OMGWTFBBQ! Maybe on his next album, to go along with that spoof of Single Ladies, he'll cover it. Now that would be something worth listening to and laughing at.