Why aren't there any fat & ugly "divas"?

[WF7I]

I find it mildly amusing (sort of like "faintly embarassing") that all of the pop culture female singers have to have a flat (exposed) tummy, sexy moves and weigh less than a feather. What happens to all of the really really good female singers who happen to be fat, ugly as sin, with a lazy eye? You know they HAVE to outnumber the Brittneys, right? After all, most of our nation is overweight.

One particular singer comes to mind. Her name is something like Cesaria, she is an overweight woman with an obvious eye problem who lives on some island off the coast of Africa. Her music is awesome but kind of "cult"ish, never ever heard on the radio or seen on MTV/VH1.

[w3sy]

So.... what exactly is the problem here? http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

Truly, Britney Spears can't sing. Period. She's got a crappy voice. Maybe by the time she turns 40 or so, someone will notice. Haw!

If you want fat, sloppy, old singers -- Try opera. Only in opera can you have a 300 pound, 50 year old woman play a teenage Japanese Geisha (spelling?) Girl.

[kg4kww]

Hey baby, you wanted a fat and ugly diva?

Well here I am, and I'm waiting for you to love me!!!

http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000025PVQ.01._SCMZZZZZZZ_.jpg

[w3bny]

Oh yeah.. ugly horrible.. pew...

http://img153.exs.cx/img153/8936/reneefleming1ui.jpg

Like I could picture Britney-Britney in Tanhauser or La Traviata. BAH!!

Heathens!

[AG3Y]

Victor Borge' used to tell about the "Mozart Opera". #His "bottom line" was that the Diva, stabbed herself "right between the two big. . . . . . . . trees in the middle of the stage" ! # Extremely risque' in those much more innocent days ! #

http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

Actually, the old cliche' about the overweight Diva, is probably blown way out of proportion ( pun intended !) , and probably only one or two really heavyweight gals ever sang in Opera, and those were probably Wagnerian roles! Go ahead, prove me wrong !

73, Jim

[AG3Y]

BTW, Sandi Patti, who has one of the most outstanding voices in music today, IS a plump little gal ! So to be sure, there are SOME around, if you go looking for them!

http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[W3MIV]

Have you looked at Streisand lately? From the title, I would guess not.

[AG3Y]

Streisand once considered having a nose job to "correct" her famous profile! When she was told that it might alter the sound of her voice, she quickly changed her mind !

BTW, I agree that Britney can't sing worth a darn !

[W3MIV]

Quote[/b] (AG3Y @ Jan. 06 2005,14:30)]When she was told that it might alter the sound of her voice, she quickly changed her mind !
All too true. Like changing from a bass viol to one of those tiny, Japanese jobs. Durante had nothing on Babs.

Try imagining a gorilla thumping and roaring through an inflated condom the size of a truck innertube.

[N8CPA]

My opinions about such divas are really too strong for this website. But it's really more about their parents. #I'll summarize: I'm convinced that they get used as instruments of parents' narcissism from an early age. #Britney and Beyonce are probably examples what Jon-Benet would have become, had she survived.

[KB9YCO]

Why? Because most of these so-called divas are products of a record company and their exposure and popularity has more to do with marketing and looking good than with actual talent.

[AG3Y]

Oh, BTW, here is a brand-new URL featuring streaming audio of vocal recordings! Brought to you by Washington D.C.s leading Classical Musical FM radio station WGMS

Vocal Recordings via streaming audio (http://www.vivalavoce.com/)

I haven't even tried it out myself, yet, it is so new ! Let me know what you think!

73, Jim

[w3sy]

Renee Fleming ---- Rrrrooooowwwwllllll. if she were a ham, her call would be W3POA.

[kd5rpo]

I agree with YCO. In my time we had a rock diva that certainly would be considered extra extra large, and that would be Moma Cass Elliot of the Momas and Poppas in the 1960's.

The talented voice was as heart warming as a song bird.


Perhaps we live in a time of shallow values.


KD5RPO

[w2wtf]

Since I hate MTV (wow and being part of the MTV generation) I could care less about what a female singer looks like. But what does make me ill is record companies pushing people with no talent or intellect strictly on the hormone reaction from the male side of population. Even though she wasen't really a singer M. Monroe would be considered fat by todays standards. Not saying I'm attracted to Huge women but the beanpole no curves thing is out for me. (What can I say i like breasts...)

[w3sy]

You know.... If Karen Carpenter ate the sandwich Mama Cass was eating, they'd BOTH be alive today.....

FOOOOOD for thought....

[kd5rpo]

Quote[/b] ]You know.... If Karen Carpenter ate the sandwich Mama Cass was eating, they'd BOTH be alive today.....

FOOOOOD for thought....

Moma Cass actually did not die eating a sandwich. It was heart failure at her home.

100% urban ledgend.

Makes a good but morbid joke though.


KD5RPO

[kn6z]

Bette Midler, k. d. Lang, and Urethra Franklin are fairly unattractive, big name singers.

[K7JBQ]

Quote[/b] (kn6z @ Jan. 07 2005,13:48)]Urethra Franklin
Was that intentional?

73,
Bill

[KB9VXP]

Thanks for the link..I have it playing now..good stuff! BTW, I think you all are right. Do they all have to be perfect? Eh, a little imperfection never hurt anyone....

[kn6z]

Quote[/b] (K7JBQ @ Jan. 07 2005,13:57)]Quote[/b] (kn6z @ Jan. 07 2005,13:48)]Urethra Franklin
Was that intentional?

73,
Bill
I wouldn't admit it if it wasn't.

[WA5VQM]

Quote[/b] (kn6z @ Jan. 07 2005,13:48)]Bette Midler, k. d. Lang, and Urethra Franklin are fairly unattractive, big name singers.
Aretha is a force of nature. Bette and k.d. can indeed sing circles around the present "Divas". Mama Cass was another great one. I never cared for Janis Joplin's records much but saw a concert film recently and she was very strong vocally, with more range and nuance than I'd expected.

None are attractive physically but I can listen to them all day. Today's barbie dolls are a sick joke on the public.

[N0KLT]

The Divine Sarah Vaughn and Ella Fitzgerald (the best of them all imho) were no small gals and no great beauties either but my oh my could then sing.

[K7JBQ]

All true, but none of those women performed in the "video" era.
A few years ago, it matter most how one sounded. Now it's all about eye candy.
Worst example yet: The idiot bimbo who "sang" during halftime of the USC-Oklahoma game. Did you hear the boos? Guess the crowd "heard" better than they saw.

73,
Bill

[gw4rcm]

You want a beautiful diva?
Google Katherine Jenkings
Not only can she sing , she could also be on playboy front cover.
And she's Welsh.
RCM

[K7JBQ]

rcm,

She can't possibly be Welsh. Too many vowels.

73,
Bill

[gw4rcm]

Quote[/b] (K7JBQ @ Jan. 07 2005,15:52)]rcm,

She can't possibly be Welsh. Too many vowels.

73,
Bill
She's more Welsh than I am, and I'm Welsh.
http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif
RCM

[KB8VNP]

Didn't Freddie Mercury and Queen sing...

...Fat-bottomed girls you make the rockin' world go 'round....

http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[AG3Y]

Ethel Merman - need I say more ?

[AG3Y]

Now Sarah Brightman ( Phantom Of The Opera fame ) is a gorgious gal, and sings like an angel. While doing some of my Vinyl to CD transfers, I am working on some recordings from Cynthia Clawson that were recorded something like 25 years ago. Now Cynthia was not all that beautiful ( better than average, but not drop dead beautiful ) but her voice is almost a perfect match for Brightman's ! ! ! It is uncanny to hear one beside the other. Brightman was still in gradeschool when Clawson was making her recordings!

Some of the fascinating things you come across when you have multiple interests!

73, Jim

[w7auw]

Kate Smith , Martha Raye, Carol Channing, Barbara Streisand, ugly broads but the could sing

[K7KBN]

Steve W3SY --

Have you seen "The Abduction of Figaro", a simply grand opera by PDQ Bach? It's great!

[AG3Y]

Steve probably sang in it, after all, he sang "The Blotto Basso" in "The Seasonings" wasn't it, Steve ?

What did they do, Pat, make a video of "The Abduction?" I've only heard a recording, and that was a Loooong time ago !

[AG3Y]

BTW, I was thinking of someone like Helen Traubel when I mentioned Wagnerian Sopranoes !

http://www.cs.princeton.edu/~san/traubel4.jpg


Can't you just see her "Toya Ta Hoe"ing around the stage ?

http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

73, Jim

[k5rna]

As a retired musician (thank God) music is almost a thing of the past.The pop and i hate to use the word singers or only super high paid stripers and they have the so called dancers jumping aronnd like some kind of wind up toys so most won't notice they can't sing.

[k4kyv]

Quote[/b] (kg4foy @ Jan. 06 2005,21:39)]But what does make me ill is record companies pushing people with no talent or intellect strictly on the hormone reaction from the male side of population.
Brittney Spears is more a role model for teeny bopper girls. Most guys don't have much to say about her.

[K7KBN]

AG3Y - here y'go: Abduction of Figaro (http://www.schickele.com/shoppe/figarodvd.htm).

I don't have the DVD - yet. I do have the VHS version, which is still hilarious. If you've heard any of Prof. Pete's post-John Ferrante recordings, you've heard Dana Krueger, who sings the part of Susanna Susannadanna.

And Ferrante is in it too: He sings the part of Opec, the servant of Pasha Shaboom.

[kc7jty]

Its not only divas but all women in the public's eye. Some of the women in the media are a circus (geek) act visually. The hair, makeup, outfits are a riot. Any perceived flaw in the appearance of someone in the public eye will cause the viewer to turn to another channel. In America the populace is not capable of determining or appreciating quality, so the visual thing is king. We are told what to like and it works.
When I see a good singer (male or female) performing live and singing his/her heart out with the saliva occasionally spewing or unusual facial expressions, eyes closed, etc, I savor it because its REAL.
It is amazing how many fear/are uncomfortable with reality. We are being robbed of the true professionals in the industry because they don't have the correct appearance or manner.

[AG3Y]

I believe you will notice immediately that the announcer in the audio excerpts file of "The Abduction of Figero " is none other than the previous host of NPR's Morning Edition, Bob Edwards. # Gosh, how I miss him ! #

I had a chance to see Bob Edwards live when "A Prarie Home Companion" came to D.C. this past Summer ! # Man, was that ever a great show, Bob Edwards, and Garrison Keeler on the same stage at the same time!

73, and thanks for the URL !

[w7auw]

jty likes nazi broads named frau. bluuker!

[KG4CGC]

Quote[/b] (ke7auw @ Jan. 07 2005,13:20)]Kate Smith , Martha Raye, Carol Channing, Barbara Streisand, #ugly broads but the could sing
You forgot EP! I mean that in the nicest most sincere way Robert.
http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[kc7jty]

Quote[/b] (ke7auw @ Jan. 07 2005,14:46)]jty likes nazi broads named frau. #bluuker!
Oh Yeah!!?? Thats news to me freulein. (for you dim bulbs out there freulein is pronounced froy-line and translates here as "missy")

[kc7jty]

I wouldn't say Carol Channing was "ugly"...not when she was younger anyway. Had a good bod.

[KL7FZ]

Why aren't there any fat & ugly "divas"?,

Geez! You have to ask?

KL7FZ

[N0KLT]

Well there is always Elton John. Based on his recent outbursts and temper tantrums he would be classified as a 'diva'. And he certainly fits my definition of fat and ugly.

[w7auw]

Chaka Kahn, now dat b..... ugly