Slowing the song down and lowering the key in which it is played likely won't help the apparent lack of strength in Taylor's voice. This is what I was referring to when I mentioned the "breathy, barely there pop/folk" vocals. I just watched part of a concert of hers on Palladia. She was doing one of her own songs with an uptempo kind of loud arrangement. Her voice was nearly overwhelmed by her own band. I think she'll likely hit the notes okay, or find some adequate (but perhaps less satisfying) alternatives, but the songs she will be singing were originally performed by singers with strong robust voices and I'm afraid compared to them, Taylor's performance will pale. But on the other hand, when Beyonce was singing with Destiny's Child, I didn't think much of her vocal ability, at least the stuff by them I heard on the radio. But since she has been out on her own, singing different types of songs, it's pretty obvious she was hiding a pretty strong instrument. I'm hoping this turns out to be the case with Taylor.
She guest-starred on a CSI episode a few years back, playing a more dramatic role. As I recall, she wasn't bad.
Heh, and for all the discussion, it won't be Swift after all. Say hello to Ms. Samantha Barks, who has conveniently already played the part in public.
We were all pretty much taking it for granted that Swift would say yes to the role, although, realistically, we probably shouldn't have. It would've been neat to see her take on the role, but her not being involved has no affect on my anticipation for the film, since I'd been looking forward to seeing it even before the news of Swift being offered the role broke.
All that for nothing eh? I was actually looking forward to seeing how Swift would do, but this is great to hear.
And now presenting Samantha Barks as Éponine singing On My Own in the 25th Anniversary Concert. [yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYWIVmTBECE[/yt]
New info about the new song that's written for the film version: It's called "Suddenly" and will be sung by Valjean. http://www.playbill.com/news/articl...d-Live-Singing-Cameron-Mackintosh-Reveals-All Since they say that it will come after Cosette is taken from the Thenardiers, I'd guess it will be about her growing up and a way to jump forward in time.
Not that I actually object to more Valjean goodness, but... he's already got so many great songs. Maybe something of a duet with Cossette?
Based on what that article says, I think I know exactly the sequence from the novel that the song is going to portray, and I'm looking forward to seeing how it comes across and fits into the fabric of the rest of the musical. I'm also hoping that at some point they'll incorporate the new song and its accompanying scene(s) into the stage production, because, if I'm right about the scene sequence that the song will most likely cover, it'd be neat to see done on stage.
Looks like Sacha Baron Cohen will be deep in character (LINK) if the Sun is to be believed, and will not change or wash his costume while playing Monsieur Thénardier.