MY OTHER FAVORITE SINGERS
First i don't like divas but there are some in the listi don't care about critics so here are some well known talentsmixed with some more controversial singersBut, i can fall in love with a voice ,a charismatic person or eventually a superb beautyand if all this is in the same person (like in Agnetha and Frida) that's a dream come true !as you will see i love beautiful ladies but appreciate good voices too !
SISSEL KYRKJEBØ : this Norwegian singer have this kind of candor and polished manner i do like in female singers she reminds me a little bit of Agnetha but has a very different timbre though she's in the same range .i first discovered her with her cover of 'like an angel passing through my room' (i never watched the 'titanic' by the way and use to hate celine dion !)
what can i say ,she's wonderful and i think the peak of her talent can be appreciated in her magic interpretation of my all time favorite folk tune "Koppången" (Moraeus / Bäckman) composed by a member of the well known brothers Moraeus from Benny Andersson band fame ,taken from her 'in symphony' album.
I prefer her Norwegian repertoire it's by far her best , (her English repertoire is very commercial and average) , and my favorite song of hers is Vårvindar friska a Swedish folk song in jazz style .
SARAH BRIGHTMAN this is the Diva with all the extravaganza ,i watched on TV one of her vegas show i really hated it but i love the 'personage' she's like a princess of fairy tale that every boy would like to marry !
beautiful like an angel and this soprano ...
i think she would have been my all time favourite if i didn't know Agnetha !
i discovered her with the 'the phantom' but enjoy pratically every Loyd Webber cover ,except her rendition of 'Memory' (elaine page's far better ) and 'dont cry for me arg' wich is better by judy collins .
i was really enchanted by her 'Arrival' cover and hope one day she'll work with Benny !
ANTONELLA RUGGIERO : ex 'Matia bazar' singer ,an Italian band very close to Abba's pop crafted songwriting ,known for big classics like 'solo tu' and 'ti sento', she's a Diva but in the best way ,since she went in solo her repertoire become more 'new age oriented ' and she is delightful ,her voice though very close in some aspect to barbra streisand ,she's got more punch and is far less hysterical than the american singer .
i can listen to her voice for hours.
ELLA FITZGERALD who doesn't know her ?
may be the younger but if we could define the perfect female voice it would be her !
and just like all jazz singer (Frida also though she denies it !) some interpretaions of her are not ultimate because she's really not good at pop songs and musicals (mack the knife)
But her songbooks are perfection ! and my favorite is Gershwin's 'porgy and Bess' with Louis !
FAIRUZ : this is the perfect equivalent of Agnetha and Abba in the arab world ,dissmissed as an ordinary pop singer in the seventies (like Abba compared to the beatles during the eighties) considered like a second hand singer beside Om kalsoom ,although the late is a great singer ,there's no comparison ,fairuz is far better in her pop and classical andalous field (it's a sort of baroque music in the Arab world ,called andalous in the maghreb and mouachahat in the east) accompanied with her band well crafted musicians from Lebanon ,they're backing her and sometimes sing with her when she made musicals in the sixties . one of her master pieces is the song A'tini al-Nay (give me the flute) an old poem from Khalil gibran and with the same idea of 'thank you for the music' !
ASMAHAN : is another Arab singer (of Syrian druze origin) who had the 'Achilles syndrom' of dying young ,her voice is totally exceptional ,she was the biggest rival to Om kalsoom but end up her life tragically (car crash) the voice was a mezzo soprano very close to Frida's voice but more powerful. she introduced western singing techniques and was a sort of pioneer !
She's supposed from royal ascendant , her origin have always been mysterious and some might have made her a sort of Mata hari but something is sure the beauty of her face and voice !
ENYA
if not the voice ,the repertoire, especially the first albums are really perfect pop albums new age oriented ,i enjoyed every song until the latest ,it could have been the future sound of Abba , a wall of sound perceived in the visitors and on the Gemini albums .
CARPENTERS who would listen to this perfect voice and not like it ?
Karen is the range of Frida's voice with the musical style of Agnetha , this is the singer i can listen to for hours and just like Agnetha ,she can make a silly and bad song into a delightful tune !
MAGGIE REILLY
another Agnetha like voice ,not only she has the same range but the same candor and innocence .Perhaps olfield was in love with Agnetha like every man in the seventies and eighties but he not only chose her but finally took another Agnetha's like singer Anita Hegerland as lead singer and wife !
her oldfield songs are enchanting and especially 'blue night' ,her cover of 'as time goes by' (out of print) is the peak of hers .
FRANÇOISE HARDY this sixties pop icon model for paco rabanne ; she has a pure voice ,without a virtuoso or skillful voice character,she manage to transmit emotion and beauty ,she has the perfect taste to choose the perfect tunes for her own lyrics . making every note that she sings a celebration , just like Agnetha she masters melancholy with art .i always loved her and will still.
ANN AND NANCY WILSON (HEART) my all time favorite rock singers ,that European flavor (of course they're Canadian ) makes them special in the american rock landscape , they have that majestic flavor and class ,they're both great singers and also powerful ,sometimes a little hard but never that much !
they recorded many hits and inspired many rock bands .this is the combination of art rock and strong beautiful voices !
WHITNEY HOUSTON : such a great ,maybe the greatest american singer after Ella ,no matter what happened ,she still remain the "Greatest singer of all " she's been through dire straits these recent years but i hope she will get better.
BLONDIE'S Debbie harry , a powerful singer with lot of energy compensating the lack of voice ,the band has a great repertoire and had a genius idea in choosing this singer because they won't be Blondie without Debbie harry !
MAMA CASS AND MICHELLE PHILIPS (THE MAMAS & THE PAPAS)
those ladies are pure Cristal combining charisma and talent ,though the fate of mama cass was as dark as Karen carpenter's ,the recordings seem to testify the unforgettable talent and incredible harmony vocals .
DUBSTAR'S SARAH BLACKWOOD
this singer who is actually with a band called client ,has something special though you can compare her to Debbie harry ,she's got her own voice and is recognizable among millions .
i discovered her with the atmospheric pop or dream pop of dubstar ,'disgraceful ' is a sort of UFO among the nineties popscape ,beautiful with very original harmonies and melody lifted by her special voice.they're many hits in her bag and worked in "client 'even with Depeche mode's Martin Gore which is a landmark.
ROBERTA FLACK this is pure tenderness ,that's what she inspire to me ,just like Agnetha ,it's the sort of singer and songs you enjoy on a spring afternoon watching through the window the first flowers blossom ! you can feel the tenderness in her voice ,something i feel also with stevie wonder ,a singer she worked with.
DORIS DAY a classic sugar pop singer that i mention because she's so beautiful and such a beautiful voice ,it could be the first incarnation of Agnetha .
i don't listen to her songs very often but enjoy hearing them on radio or in her old movies .
OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN this is the cheesiest singer i ever heard but honnestly she's got everything i love ,beautiful looks ,sugary voice ,but unlike Agnetha ,she does it too much and has all that country catalogue that i hate ! she lacks totally fire in her voice .Agnetha is Aries and Olivia is Libra ! that's it !
My favorite song of hers (a part from 'Xanadu' with 'ELO') is "make a move on me" very ABBAesque
RANDY CRAWFORD this is also a very tender singer ,her evergreen 'one day i'll fly away' is a master piece but i love hearing her voice whatever she sings !
BASIA ex Matt bianco a bosa nova eighties band ,she's polish and have a big talent , a jazzy voice but enough versatile .
REAL McCOY this was the real competitor to ace of base and though i did listen to AOB more because they were swedish and i was lingering for Abba ,this singer Patsy Petersen,has a very sweet voice and an energetic edgy voice but unfortunately couldn't make a big career.
BETTY BOO this one is a dismissed great singer with lot of sense of humor ,but talent or anything else can't do everything ,until nowadays you couldn't do anything without a record label and during her heydays , saprophytes like Madonna or Elton john were heading the scene !
SHAKIRA this is my big love and i'm really conscious that it's because she's really very attractive a part from her first hits the songs aren't my kind of favorite but i enjoy seeing her on video !
GIGLIOLA CINQUETTI ; a beautiful Italian singer with lot of class and a beautiful voice .she won the eurovision with "non no l'eta"
but the word ' Italian or Swedish singer' is a synonym of beautiful voice !
CINDY LAUPER : this is a missed opportunity ;why ?
because she's the one who deserve Madonna's career ,she took on with a turbo album and a stream of hits but didn't reach the level of the other one ,this has longtime puzzled me (not anymore) she's got a million times more talent !
"all through the night" and "I drove all night" are among my all time favorite songs and the latest is a Steinberg composition just like Whitney's "I get so emotional" one of my all time favorite too .
MARTI WEBB : i discovered her of course with Loyd Webber and with Freudiana (Alan parson) but a song particularly is dear to my heart 'One Of My Weaker Moments'
in "song and dance" i like both versions (sarah's and marti's but the late has something emotional that sarah's lack because she's more classical trained)
TINA ARENA this is the closest voice to Agnetha ,i don't like any of her repertoire (very celine dion like) except her Loyd Webber cover 'whistle down the wind' (which is the best version) and 'i Want to Spend My Lifetime Loving You' a duet with banderas for the Zorro OST.
her rendition of "the winner takes it all" is the closest to Agnetha's
And of course she's so beautiful !!
OFRA HAZA
This woman made Yemeni old folk music popular around the world !
even if she has a weak voice ,she manage to sing magically and enchanting the listener ,i don't know how many times i listened to her world wide hit 'im Nin'alu'
the video is fantastic with those Petra landscape !
she died tragically too much young !
ASTRUD GILBERTO
Oh Brazilian ,best singers in the world ? certainly ,that coolness of bossa nova is really incredible ,every body knows that it's more easy to go out of tune while singing low ,that's why all those 'x factor .... etc.' contesters sing so loud like celine or mariah ,just to avoid false notes !
this woman is delightful ,plenty of tenderness and skilfulness ,of course lifted by the incredible talent of Antonio Carlos Jobim ,one my all time favorite composers .
I'm sure I forgot some others ! (Nanne gronvall a crazy lady with much energy a sort of swedish ancestor of lady gaga (she began in the eighties) , Carola , lena philipson , maritza horn ,lena andersson, and third ABBA chorist : Liza Öhman you can appreciate her skills on a special number 'Jingelmaskinens Klagan' with Mike B Tretow's album her voice is extraordinary versatile !
of course the real group , the Nilsson sisters (ainsbuk sisters) and Karen Glenmark (Gemini) are excellent !
