keiths diction

by xshanoodlesx Wed Jun 11, 2008 6:51 pm

i love keith i wanted him to win any dream will do i think he is an amazing singer and all around preformer but i think he is now to polished after seeing him in joseph a while ago his diction is to good and that means we dont hear his voice as brilliant as it realy is in some places to me it was more likr talking but with rhythem so please answer this poll honestly and its annonomus (if u want it to be) so answer it honestly please i just want to no what others think. pleasee dont take this the wrong way i still think keith has amazing talent Very Happy

xx

by Grannieannie Thu Jun 12, 2008 3:31 am

I saw Keith in Joseph towards the end of his run in it. As someone with an accent myself (Irish, despite living in the UK for 40 years), I am aware of such things, perhaps more than most people. I also know that having an accent can sometimes make it more difficult to make oneself understood, so I was therefore pleasantly surprised to note that Keith seemed to have lost something of his Scottish lilt. I'm sure that when he is at home and amongst his family and friends, he speaks as he always has but I do think that if he is to become the great entertainer that I believe he can, he needs to have a more 'neutral' accent whilst on stage. Is he 'too polished'? No, I don't think so - I think that his performance showed that he has learned so much in the past year and I'm sure that he will continue to do so and continue to grow as a performer in years to come.

by bee_* Thu Jun 12, 2008 6:15 am

yeh i have to agree when i was watching joseph i kept wishing he would lower the posh accent down a bit cause to me it only sounded like keith when he realy sung powerfuly like in the song were it says become a star i think keith is fantastic but yeh i have to agrree he sounds better with a sofend down accent

by **halfpint** Thu Jun 12, 2008 6:57 am

I’m not going vote because I don’t accept the premise of the question! To begin with I think you are confusing diction with accent. How well someone pronounces their words is a different matter to the style that they pronouce them in.

Secondly I think that you are making the assumption that just because someone sings a particular way for a role, that they have permanently changed their style of singing. I've seen quite a few musicals over the last month and have been surprised at how some performers have sounded.

For example Danny Boys in Avenue Q sings a couple of different roles, both with American accents and one is really whiney and nasally. But it’s meant to be like that, its part of the character!

The lady that played Glinda in Wicked sings it all high and squeaky (and sounded dreadful, IMO) but again that’s what the character requires.

When the girls on IDA were singing their own pieces, they sang in their own accents. But for the exit song, As Long As He Needs Me, out came the cockney accent.

Likewise the role of the narrator in Joseph is meant to be sung with a “Queen’s English” accent. If you get a chance, listen to some other versions and you’ll see that they all sing it the same way.

There were a couple of performers in Les Miserables that in places, especially the faster tempo parts, whose diction was so bad I genuinely couldn’t understand a word they said! It completely ruins the moment as you feel like you aren’t connecting with the show anymore.

As for Keith, have a listen to the clips Wonky Johnny did from the Choices for Life tour (they are on the links page of the website). I can definitely hear a Scottish lilt! So I wouldn’t be too worried Wink

by **terri** Thu Jun 12, 2008 7:04 am

I liked keith from the start i didnt care if his diction was bad he was a good singer and that was all that mattered i wanted keith to win ADWD and was gutted when he didnt but the good thing is that he has a great career and in the future that is yet still to bloosm. GO KEITH!! good luck in the future!

by xsmileX Thu Jun 12, 2008 7:36 am

well for starters xshanoodlesx is shanice me mate from skwl n she has all the songs even everytime i look at you shes helpin us chart him on youtube she LOVEs him and shes a nice lass ok so yeh dnt think shes a keith hater cz she has askd this Q cz shes far from it
and i put ADWD iv seen him at edinburgh and i cudnt fault him i didnt even notice his accent (she means accent halfpint) then me n shanoodles both saw him at carlisle she went b4 me tho n pointed out that he had a posh accent and tyhen when i saw him the second tym i hav to admit wid her pointin it out to me it did bug me a bit cz yes to me in certain places it did sound like talking and yes it did get on me nerves slightly after she pointed it out but i no he has to be lyk that so people nos wot the bleedy hell is going on in the play cz he is NARRATOR after all like! but em yeh when he was in ADWD i had no probs understanding him i liked him best then.

but u lot all no i love his voice no matter wot the accent is but yeh ADWD!

by xshanoodlesx Thu Jun 12, 2008 8:01 am

xsmileX wrote:well for starters xshanoodlesx is shanice me mate from skwl n she has all the songs even everytime i look at you shes helpin us chart him on youtube she LOVEs him and shes a nice lass ok so yeh dnt think shes a keith hater cz she has askd this Q cz shes far from it
and i put ADWD iv seen him at edinburgh and i cudnt fault him i didnt even notice his accent (she means accent halfpint) then me n shanoodles both saw him at carlisle she went b4 me tho n pointed out that he had a posh accent and tyhen when i saw him the second tym i hav to admit wid her pointin it out to me it did bug me a bit cz yes to me in certain places it did sound like talking and yes it did get on me nerves slightly after she pointed it out but i no he has to be lyk that so people nos wot the bleedy hell is going on in the play cz he is NARRATOR after all like! but em yeh when he was in ADWD i had no probs understanding him i liked him best then.

but u lot all no i love his voice no matter wot the accent is but yeh ADWD!

yes i dont want it to sound like i im picking at keith because im am not!!!!! i just wanted to know if anybody else felt the same way i did. and sorry jenna for pointing it out LOL

by Rosefire Thu Jun 12, 2008 9:21 am

I have a funny story to share:

Turned on my laptop one night and showed a flatmate a bit of ADWD, including Keith's performance of "Moondance" in the final. She listened to him sing for a few minutes. Then comes the part where Keith addresses the audience why they should vote for him. When he switched his accent my flatmate blurted out, "Why's he talking like that?"

Me: That's how he normally talks. He's Scottish.
Her: What? So he was singing and talking American all this time? Why?
Me: *Shrugs* That's what performers have to do. Everyone has to understand what they're saying.
Her: Is it always American? Or does he have to speak "British" too?
Me: They all work on diction in this competition but I think it depends on which show you were going to do. Like in "OKlahoma" you'd need to speak a Western twang instead of standard English.
Her: ........
Me: He's good, isn't he?
Her: Yeah, he is. How old is he?
Me: 19
Her: Woah. Cool.

Something like that. Wink

by **demonllama** Thu Jun 12, 2008 3:57 pm

I understand your question Shanoodles (and welcome to the board!), and I think you do mean diction, not accent. His accent pops through occasionally, but that's normal when you're not singing in your own accent.

I preferred his pre-Joseph diction because sometimes he overpronounced the odd leading or end word on the tour - but just because I express a different of opinion to someone else doesn't mean I'm a hater, so please don't think anyone thinks that of you. No one else here thinks you're a hater either.

He did need to sing with an English accent for Joseph because that the accent the part/songs were written for.

It's all good and it all makes a unique Narrator, but we also have to remember that he's only just starting out professionally still. It's still early days! He's doing so well.

by xsmileX Thu Jun 12, 2008 4:03 pm

u no she txtd me today tellin me to go on n write somet cz sum 1 called halfpint was scaring her hahahahahaha
and change that pic NOW shanice!

i dunno if she means diction or accent bit of both i think she cant stand posh talkers lol so it cud of been accent but i fort it was diction oh well no 1 nos better then me that her mind works in wierd ways Very Happy

by **demonllama** Thu Jun 12, 2008 4:20 pm

I don't think Halfpint meant to sound so fierce ... Very Happy

by **halfpint** Thu Jun 12, 2008 4:32 pm

Indeed I didn't, Sorry Shanice!!! I didn't mean to sound scarey!! and welcome too to the forum!

I'm just kinda fed up of hearing about Keith's diction, just because JB commented on it, everyone else seems to be totally focused on it too!!

While at first it wasn't great, I never though that it was that bad either. There are plenty of so called artists in the charts now who's diction is appauling!!

What I forgot to add in my previous post is that I agree! Sometimes he did overpronouce the words! However I would prefer this than for the opposite and not be able to understand what he was saying. The point I was trying to make though was that I think this was a symptom of the role he was singing for not a permenent change. Although I did get a bit carried away with examples, didn't I!!

by Grannieannie Fri Jun 13, 2008 4:06 am

Can I just add to all of the above? The definition of 'diction' as given in an online dictionary is (1) Style of speaking and (2) The accent, inflection, intonation and speech-sounding quality manifested by an individual. On that basis, all of the above comments have some validity.

by **laura** Fri Jun 13, 2008 1:31 pm

i liked keith from the start of ADWD and i dont think that his dicition was that bad i could understand everything he sang in very song but maybe that was just me lol and xshanoodlesx welcome to the board
laura x

by **Suzanne** Sat Jun 14, 2008 10:27 am

I loved Keith from the start, but everyone changes as they grow, and you have to grow into the role you take on. It's the producer's that insist that is how you do it. If anyone want's to get on in life in music you have to listen to whoever is gonna make u famous. If at times someones sounds to over pronounced, i don't care. I couldn't be up on stage singing my heart out everynight, sometimes two or three times in a day. The voice would be tired at times, emm... you know what i mean? maybe tired not the word. (I'm tired, i'm old) I'm gonna follow Keith, even if he sings double dutch (am good at talking that) it's just life and pressure from them who pull the strings and hold the money. But in life evreyone is different and has different expectations and is entitled to thier opinion.
By the way, Welcome to the group xshanoodlesx. Don't change the picc and if you have anymore, SHARE!!!!

by xsmileX Sat Jun 14, 2008 8:04 pm

Suzanne wrote:Don't change the picc and if you have anymore, SHARE!!!!

she better hadnt do!

oh and shes got nothing against ppl wid a posh accent just to point that out we have a mate called james that says bath, scone and post poshly lol hes cool Very Happy

by **Suzanne** Mon Jun 16, 2008 11:24 am

xsmileX wrote:
Suzanne wrote:Don't change the picc and if you have anymore, SHARE!!!!

she better hadnt do!

oh and shes got nothing against ppl wid a posh accent just to point that out we have a mate called james that says bath, scone and post poshly lol hes cool

I'm posh i talk the queens english, with an accent like her's!!!

by xsmileX Thu Jun 19, 2008 9:31 am

Suzanne wrote:
xsmileX wrote:
Suzanne wrote:Don't change the picc and if you have anymore, SHARE!!!!

she better hadnt do!

oh and shes got nothing against ppl wid a posh accent just to point that out we have a mate called james that says bath, scone and post poshly lol hes cool

I'm posh i talk the queens english, with an accent like her's!!!

yeh its always wierd when i here some1 talking with a posh accent cause you dont get many proper speaking accents up here were i live

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