Wednesday, December 05, 2007

Why Bette Rules

There was a little dust up in the comments section about pop divas in a post that was purpotedly about Star Trek. My readers defended their favorite pop stars. Let me defend mine.

Bette Midler is the best.

The video below is why. The range here in one song -- from tender to desperate rage -- is raw and real. No other "star," not Cher, not Madonna, not Celine is capable of it. This is not to say that the others don't have talent (true, I took a pot shot at Madonna in the comments section, but only to get an easy rise out of my friend A.D., which worked) but so much of their talent, especially Madonna's (forgive me, A.D.) is in packaging.

Today the Divine Miss M is seeking (and successfully I think) the mantle of Rosemary Clooney (who, you ask? I'll not even link to her wikipedia article, you youngsters can do your own Googling) which means she is relying on music as an artist -- not production values.

And that's pretty rare for a "vocal" star these days.

Here's the clip I wanted to share.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

They're all very talented ladies indeed. I think of Ms.M and Elton as being a perfect pair for a duet being both are masters to the music rather than producers.

-C

Steven said...

I first heard of Bette Midler when I was probably in 6th grade and it was when we listened to her song, "The Rose" (my favorite). It was actually during a religion class while I was in the parochial schools. I think just about every girl and a few boys were shedding a few tears in the classroom that day. I want to say that we were listening to it as a result of hearing of someone's passing. Not certain if it was a student or religious figure.

Matty said...

"The Rose" is a wonderful movie, and this scene just breaks my heart. I know from previous conversations it is one of yours as well. Thanks for posting.