Round 5: 'S vs BiDS (338 views)

[Steve]

This is 'S v Breakfast in D-sharp in Round Three of the Clip-Off. You have five days exactly to submit your clips, and until 23:59 EST Thursday, January 5 to vote. January 6 is the Results Day.

The categories for Round Five are:

1. Best Vocal Cover: A performance of a song originally by another artist. The point here is not really to compare the two versions, but the cover itself to be impressive enough to stand on its own.
2. Best Late Career Performance: A performance during the last 20% of the singer's adult (18+) career.

The teams are free to post their clips, voting commences as soon as they have.

Vote here.

Current Vote Count: 4

['S]

SPOILER: Click to show

{Best Vocal Cover - Judy Garland}2:22–4:22. Stormy Weather, first recorded by Ethel Waters (link to Ethel's original here), remade by Judy in August 1960. She's in fine form with some of her most emotive, mature and bold vocal moments. I especially like her legato and vibrato here.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Best Late Career Performance - Moon Joo-ran}0:20–2:16 (skip 1:41–1:51 if you want). Here's Moon Joo-ran at 70 years old singing "Does Anyone Know This Person? (North & South)", best known as the background music for the 1983 humanitarian broadcast "Finding Dispersed Families". You can find the English lyrics here. An impressive amount of vocal artistry here. Whether it be shifts from dark to bright tones, from crescendo ascents to the softer melisma-laden lines that follow, or from wide vibrato to straight tones in the sustains, it makes for a pretty captivating performance. As you can see from the audience's reactions (l o l)

[Breakfast in D-sharp]

SPOILER: Click to show

{Best Vocal Cover}
Lorraine Ellison's version of Walk Around Heaven is even fancier than The Caravans' original, without losing any of the soul. 
1:12-3:12.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Best Late Career Performance}
Thomas Quasthoff announced his retirement from public performance at the age of 52, when he was suffering some health issues including psychosomatic vocal problems following his brother's death. He sang this live version of Tell It Like It Is more than 5 years kater. You may have already heard some of his post-comeback thicc lows in earlier rounds, but I think this clip is even more impressive from a 57-year-old classically trained bass-baritone. It shows off some smooth and snarly vocals and great improvisational skills, including scat singing with remarkably easy sounding B4s in both full voice and falsetto.
2:05-4:05.