• Shania and Maurice: 18-year old daughter and her 62-year old dad …Thumbs down,, Very Karaoke
• William Close: Maker of odd ball instruments… gag me.
• Opera singer Sergio, only semi-talent so far.
• Blue Man Group rip off; dressed in weird outfits,   thumbs down
• Loyalty Dance Crew: few stand outs, but not earth-shaking.
• Alan Laver: Rapper….. help me???
• Jorge and Alexa: 7-year old and daddy again? Whyyyy Whyyyy thumbs down
• Dog Ventriloquist:       nuf said!!!
• Girl who climbs things and twists.         Say, Cirque Junior Miss???
• Ben Blade: Crossbow master???         Is this the David Letterman show?
• Sanjula Vamana:     Sticks needles in his face, hey singers, still want to audition?
• Kazoo boys, thumbs down… stupid human tricks
• Miss Les AKA Bird Lady: Sings while her 22 cockatoos defecate on her and eat things out of her mouth.    No, I am serious.
• Some guy sang Proud Mary

That’s all folks!!!!

I sent real talent audition for America’s Got Talent. People on iTunes and CD Baby. Real Brian McKnight kind of singers who failed to get on? For this circus??

So, if you want a good laugh or want to gag, watch this seasons America’s Got Freakshow!

Jessica Marciel
Las Vegas Vocal Training

Never confuse talent with the applause of intoxicated people at a Karaoke bar. 

I have great singers who come every week after long hard day jobs, because they know that the more they learn, the better they will be. I have single mothers who have scraped for money to fund lessons for a child’s aspirations because they knew it was important.

Yet other students are now recording, and ready to be signed by a label. They still come every week or twice-weekly because they know they need to build stamina and refine their technique. If they make it to the next level, success at performances and concerts won’t just happen automatically. It will need continual coaching an ongoing honest evaluation

A Mother Is Not A Coach

One mother who insisted her daughter do a difficult song from “West Side Story” for an audition. The girl could not even grasp the concept of the lyric or the degree of difficulty of the music. I staunchly recommended another song be chosen. The mother insisted and we parted ways.

A vocal coach needs to be included in the choice of an audition song. It is that ability, among others, you are paying for.

Singing Lessons Aren’t A Trip To Disneyland

If you have a large family, and the younger ones have to wait a year for their turn, in order for you to supply the gifted one with every tool possible, you must set your priorities to give the older child the proper training, or it will wither from neglect.

There is rarely measurable improvement, when a student takes lessons every other month or every 3-4 weeks. It takes study as if one  were learning an instrument. No piano or guitar teacher, teacher would take someone twice a month, because there would likely be no real progress.

Time of day matters

Bring a child to an 8 pm lesson and they are tired, exhausted. How can they absorb and retain the lesson content. Saturday? That’s usually play-day, and it’s difficult to focus on lessons. Well, if Saturday is play-day, parents may be sending mixed-signals to their aspiring child. If weekdays ARE the only time, then make sure the child naps and does not eat before a lesson. It’s important to be alert.

My Saturdays were, jazz, tap, and ballet. My entire childhood was lessons. I could play on Sunday, ride my bike, go to the park.

Lesson Frequency and Persistent Practice Matter

If a student has any true professional aspirations, a good teacher, won’t be comfortable with seeing them twice a month (except in rare situations).  The really good coach is hard to find. I know, because I have students who have been to many before me, and moved on from frustration.

That type of teacher doesn’t offer the foundation skill and nurturing a student needs to progress. One can vocalize at home, but you cannot be your own coach or director. It requires a neutral observer and coach to move you along, point out poor phrasing and breathing mistakes. Read my post on “What you should expect from a vocal coach.”

No YouTube is better than Bad YouTube

I have coached some singers who take a couple of lessons, disappear, then post YouTube videos, and tout me as their coach.

I discourage anyone from posting YouTube videos, unless they are original, studio recorded songs.

I would like these people to take my name off the videos, but I can only ask. I can’t compel them.

Occasionally I get it wrong. I have taken on a few students twice a month and should not have. They did not get the progress my other students got.

I no longer accept hobbyist singers as students

If this is a hobby, then I will not take on that person as a student. If one serious (as an adult or parent, for a child)  you will find a way… cut out a dinner out, whatever it takes, taking voice is a serious endeavor, and potentially life-changing experience.

Taking the stage on Karaoke night is fools gold. The applause of friends, family, and patrons is temporarily good for the ego. Don’t confuse that with reality.

A person with sincere aspirations and drive needs quality coaching and the truth about what it takes.

Aspiring students are always welcome. Reality checks occasionally given… This post would be a reality check

This is a great example of a young woman with a bit of talent, posting a YouTube video. Not ready for prime time. Just because you can post to YouTube, doesn’t make it a good idea.

Jessica Marciel
Las Vegas Vocal Training

Jesse Campbell

I have watched The Voice since the first time it aired. I thought was the only show of singers competing, worth watching.

From his first performance, Jesse Campbell, a man who was homeless with a daughter and lived in his car, was my choice to win the season. He chose Christina Aguilera as his coach and be on his team. Every week, he delivered. I loved him and Anthony, who was also sent home. I thought THAT was crazy!

Tonight, it was a night when the coach picks a singer and sends them home. I was certain it would be Ashley, who sang consistently out of tune and had no stage presence. She gave a luke warm performance.  Heck, she was frequently OUT OF TUNE.

When it came down to the choice, I could not believe my ears… Christina sent Jesse packing! I finished yelling at the TV and Christina and now I am at the computer telling my readers, that I am done with this show.

I cannot watch great singers go home while bad ones remain on the show. It is sickening, and I can only hope that a label or huge producer agrees with me, will sign him up. “Daughtry” and Jennifer Hudson, were underestimated on American Idol. If there is any justice or karma to be found, Jesse Campbell will move on to be best-selling vocalist, like them.

I love Christina Aquilera‘s voice, and am mystified as to how, and why, she came to this decision.

All I know for sure is,  now, I don’t care who wins.

I want to see these shows as a stepping stone and showcase for great uncharted talent. Instead it has become a game. I have a student, Chelsea, who made the first audition for the next year’s  edition of “The Voice”. Now, I’m unsure if her participation is really a good thing?

Jesse was and is a great talent with great stage presence, and I hope he has 7 Grammy”s next year, and Christina kicks herself in the butt.

I remember “Star Search”. it was one of the first popular contests for singers, comedians and actors. LeAnn Rimes did not win, and look at what happened to her career.

All I want to say to Jesse, is:

You have “IT” and many, many people know it. I wish you luck, success and many hits on the charts. I know that you will never sleep in your car again, unless it’s a tour bus. Jesse, you go out there and show them, they made a huge mistake, and their loss is someone else”s gain. Please don”t be discouraged, it isn’t the end for you, it is the beginning. We’ll all be seeing you, soon, very soon.

Jessica Marciel
Las Vegas Vocal Training

I just feel like they try to make it so difficult and to deprive people of sleep, when that is so important to a singer, it baffles me.

“A little sleep deprivation is good for them once in a while”

~ Steven Tyler

Really? My body is my instrument, I rarely scream like Steven Tyler does. When I do, I do it correctly with my stomach muscles, not my throat.

The lack of talent this year is amazing to me. I feel like I am watching Karaoke contest. No one yet has blown me away.

There were three strong singers from the Houston, Texas audition. One who became my student, when they had that 2-month break. Scarlett Peavey found me ion the net, and moved here to prepare for the Los Angeles American Idol boot camp. The problem she experienced was pain when singing. It was too late for her to get well, so when she went to LA with the correct way to sing from me. Her vocal cords needed anti-inflammatories and rest.

The boot camp of the Hollywood Round consisted of no sleep, exhaustion, and no rest at all, inflamed her voice more. It was not a bad thing when she got cut the third day. I told her to see an ear , nose throat doctor, immediately. He said she had over done it, and needed vocal rest.

And resting is what she has been doing since December. When she is OK we will record her and shop her and I swear she will out sell anyone American Idol produces this season. No one I’ve seen this season can touch Scarlett. Since we live in Las Vegas, we hear great talent all the time. We hear real singers, who nail it every single time we hear them.

Why is Jennifer Lopez a judge? She is a dancer and actress, who lip-syncs her records. Give me a show like The Voice that has singers for judges, and I am interested. I cannot even remember who won American Idol last year.

Former Idol contestant, Katharine McPhee, co-stars on a new TV show on “Smash“. It is a legitimate show about Broadway. The problem I have with her, is , she is a good singer but not as good as the rival REAL Broadway singer she is up against on the show.

Having sung professionally since age 12, and now, decades later, I can still sing. And as a coach, my new career, I have earned the right to an opinion.

Singers need sleep. rest, coaching, multi tasking, dancing, and ‘IT’ these people need ‘IT’ and I haven’t seen ‘IT’, this season. That’s why I don’t watch American Idol on a regular basis. It is painful to see a good show devolve into a hot mess.

~ Jessica Marciel

Love, Peace, and SOUL

Jessica Marciel
Las Vegas Vocal Training

Dusty Springfield

I never thought I would answer this question. There are so many great singers and all different.

I was watching a cable film with James Caan and Sally Field, “Kiss Me Goodbye”, and at the credits, there she was, I recognized her right away, Dusty Springfield, a song written by the late Peter Allen.

We lost Dusty to cancer way too soon, just so unfair. I searched YouTube and watched her with Tom Jones, Andy Williams, a lot of great singers. She had that velvety, smokey, yet soulful, cream cheese sound. She could be breathy and take your breath away., Her interpretation of a lyric was heartfelt.When she sang Randy Newman‘s, “Think it’s gonna Rain Today” you knew she really got it. When she sang, tin can at my feet, think I”ll kick it down the street, you knew she really got the way to express the cynical lyrics.

Dusty was a British, soulful, young gay beautiful blonde. In the 60,s we didn’t see that a lot. Everyone white was “White”, she sang with Tom Jones and it was magical.

She lives on, in films, like “My Best Friend’s Wedding”, where they all break into her songs through the film.

So, after thinking about, Eva Cassidy, Whitney, Barbra, Celine, I just keep going back to Dusty. She was the one, when I hear her sing, I go to another place. A serene, beautiful place. I hope she is at peace, and I hope she knew before she died, the legacy she would leave.

Sleep well beautiful girl.

Love , Peace and Soul

Jessica Marciel
Las Vegas Vocal Training

X-Factor meltdown

I tuned in for the X-Factor semi-finals. I wasn’t knocked out by the performances, but thought that 13-year-old Rachel Crow deserved to be in the finals. She was up against a young man, perhaps 18, Marcus Canty. His performance was weak and out of tune. When the judges gave their save votes, Simon and Paula choose Rachel to stay. Wow, nice surprise. However the other judges, L.A. Reid voted for a male singer and Nicole gave up her vote because she couldn’t cut Rachel. Nicole was crying over it.

Then the Host read the ‘viewers vote’ and as he announced Rachel was leaving, she crumpled to the floor as though fainting. Her mic still on, she was hysterical. Her mother, Simon and Paula all came up and tried to soothe her, but she was out of control. Then saying to her mother “You promised!” …

Excuse me, but promised what!!?? You led your 13-year-old daughter to believe she would win this show? I was very upset, remembering my daughter in pre-school losing a costume contest and her tears welling up on stage, and swore to never put my daughter in that situation again.

The idea of removing age minimums or limits may have seemed like a good idea; however, watching this young girl come apart, before my eyes, was way too much in the name of entertainment.

The X-Factor last night, for me, was not entertainment. It was excruciating pain.

Jessica Marciel
Las Vegas Vocal Training

“Now, being a coach, I realize, I would have been a better singer than I am if I had a good coach.”

~ Jessica Marciel

It is better to have no coach than a bad one. I have had many students come to me after four or five vocal coaches, and I hear the same thing. “They never taught me how to breathe.”

We all know how to breathe, we do it all day long. The difference in singing is the need for more air than you need, just to speak, and understanding when to breathe, within the context of the lyrics. I have students who will struggle with a high note. I say, bend down over and make an L-shape and sing to the floor. The note comes out easily. When you do breathing exercises it helps you hold and control notes.

Again, when my students go in the studio, my producer Tom Marolda insists I be there, because he is unable to work the engineer board, and explain what he needs from the singer. A phrase like “How Does it Feel” becomes fell, as we soften the ‘E’. The emotion has to come through. A singer isn’t seen on a CD so one must make the listener feel what the vocalist is feeling.

The texture and colors of a song are important. You cannot sing a song the same way all through it, or it becomes monotone. My student Marine aka Lou White is recording her album, and we are concentrating on her dynamics, because this is an important project. I wanted her to almost whisper a part and then bam, when the band comes back in, it explodes and really is quite effective.

Tom wanted her voice to sound a little raspy. This is not the way she sings , so I took an hour with her and wore her out. I put her through the hardest exercises I could think of, and trashed her voice. Tom came back in and we proceeded with the song and it was more funky and a little more sexy, with a few words that had a rasp.
This isn’t something I suggest be done often, because it is hard on the vocal chords. Afterwards, we gave her warm water and honey and I had her hum gently, which soothes the throat.

Another student, Dayna, just recorded a fantastic song for an up coming film. We had to make sure she had the right timber in her voice, the right tone. Tom believes a lot of people make mistakes not including coaches during recording sessions. Vocal coaches can explain things that producers and writers can’t.

A good coach is hard to find. I will be the first to say, I was not that good, I was just learning to be able to explain how to get the voice moving and the right way to warm up. I know that Brett Manning helped me a lot. He has a great method that works for pop, R&B and country, blues, rock, metal, you name it. I have my own methods that adds some emotional connection to the music. I can help by telling a singer, where to take a breath, where to sing softly, where to punch it, etc.

Our throats are our instruments, we have no piano case, no guitar case, nothing!, we need to be, well, Diva’s! Only because to protect our throats, we need rest, water, warm up’, and special attention to our health.

I believe if you find a coach you can connect to, one that will really help you find your voice, you are lucky. It is nearly impossible to get signed now by a label. With so many independent labels and producers making you pay for your own albums before they will shop you.

There is no point in spending a lot of money unless you have the right material, producer, and connections to shop the product. It is a different time than when I recorded. They paid for everything. Now, you make your own album and then if you are lucky, you can get someone to shop you to labels. They wont listen to anything unsolicited. So, don’t waste your money unless you think YouTube will help you get discovered. It does happen, but not very often.

When and if you decide on a coach, make sure every moment of your money is well spent. I mean, they really work you, like a personal trainer would. I also believe in homework. Get a CD to take home and practice with, everyday. You don’t use your voice, you lose it.

Good luck, and hopefully this information helped

Jessica Marciel
Las Vegas Vocal Training

The latest audition was a story I just had to share with you. Ken is a strong singer and presence, tall, dark, handsome, ex military, good contestant. I will admit, at first, I thought The X Factor would be something different. The clips on YouTube , from its UK edition were impressive. But, when the show announced that Paula Abdul was joining Simon, I thought “Uh Oh, here we go again…”

Well, my Uh Oh moment came true.  Before I even get to my students audition, The show became unwatchable when they had the American Idol-like, bad singers, and a guy who actually DROPPED his pants in front of the live audience. ENOUGH! I am sorry, I am no prude, but you turn away thousands of good singers for this nonsense?

My student Ken (pictured far right, with another contestant, Javon), and his wife Michelle, flew to Los Angeles, waited six and a half hours, just to get the tickets! The next day , they waited in the rain, until 7pm. Ken made it through to the next day’s rounds. That meant, another night of lodging expenses, and Michelle and Ken missing work. Something the X-Factor Producers couldn’t care less about.

Now the third day, second round of auditions,  He got his golden ticket, and they stayed over again. This time, the security was very rude to Ken’s wife, literally pushing her back.

Ken wasn’t really upset he didn’t make this third round, BUT, he was surprised that some very good singers were passed over. They took 35 people all under 35 years of age from the Los Angeles auditions. Ken is good, and he was better than the man they did take with the oxygen tank. Just sayin’…

These shows are all scripted and calculated. I wouldn’t bet your career on any of these shows.

Jessica Marciel
Las Vegas Vocal Training