10.6.13 Who is the SECOND BEST SINGER IN THE WORLD?

Today's topic got me examining what my criteria were for a "great" singer. I cannot venture to say who is the second best singer until I define for myself what "best" means. We all have such different opinions and preferences. I found interesting stuff on the web where others have tried to explain it as well. At one site I found a paragraph about singing "high notes." It so reminded me of Adam and his responses to "how high can you sing?"  He has said he doesn't know, doesn't want to know, doesn't care. He thinks being told what was his allegedly highest note limited him in the past. What is most important is "Does it sound good?" 

The singer/author of this article said:

"Eradicate the illusion of ‘up & down’/‘high & low’. The single most detrimental term which is widely used in singing and voice teaching is the term ‘high note‘. This term creates the illusion in the singer’s mind that the note really is ’high’. If a note is ‘high’ you have to ‘reach it’. In other words, a singer has to go elsewhere than where they already are to sing the note. This is a complete and total illusion. There is no such thing as a 'high' note, use the term 'fast' note instead, because the vocal cords are simply vibrating faster."

I think this is often Adam's approach to the "high notes." For example, that glory note at the end of WWTLF is a D5. A full note higher than the benchmark for great tenors, the tenor high C. We all hold our collective breaths as he sustains that note. But, we may not notice that Adam hits the same note multiple times in CLTCL just minutes earlier. We raved about the rich, full low register in that song, but at the end, he throws away a series of D5s in runs and riffs. If you listen and watch, they really are "throw aways." He doesn't look or sound as if he is straining or reaching. He is not focused on hitting those notes as anything special. It's just part of the melodic line for him, like any other melodic line. 

Very few top notch, classical tenors can hit a full-voiced D5 like Adam. Those who do often have these strained, red faces. When I consider the vocalists I find most pleasing to listen to, and those I do not care for, this characteristic of singing light, free, clear and with no sound or appearance of tension or push is present in all my favorites.  My complaint about many pop singers who others rave about is that their voices sound so tense they hurt to listen to.

YMMV, IMO, etc.