Anoop Desai – Battlefield – North Carolina State Fair – VIDEO

Not bad. I’m not sure this song shows off the best qualities of his voice. It seems to fall a little flat to me. I like Anoop and wish the best for him. Just kinda wonder what his niche is.

This was OK…tough to really judge because the sound was pretty atrocious…but I’ll be honest and say that it demonstrates to me that it isn’t easy doing a cover….Jordin’s voice is IMHO much richer and she can Diva belt with the best of them….Anoop, not so much. But ya gotta love him for giving it a shot.

I liked the cover, he did a great job with it. Especially the beginning, it felt more emotional than when Jordin sings it. But I think his best songs from the night were “What You Do” http://www.youtube.com/user/tawneej23#p/a/u/0/36Fm-uUr_7w “For All We Know” http://www.youtube.com/user/holliebee87#p/u/3/UerUJHngAtE and his original song.

I really enjoyed the whole show. I wasn’t too keen on the ones he did with recorded backing traks, though.

I loved the arrangement on Battlefield – Anoop’s voice and David Mikush’s guitar sounded very beautiful together at the beginning, and built up to something strong and bold.

I agree with Joann. I loved What You Do. The wah he worked the stage showed how much he’s progressed as a live performer during the AI concert. The Mikush-Desai original song is a gorgeous song. Very much in line with what David Mikush has been writing, with some subtle glory notes that suit Anoop really well.

I hope he is able to do another show soon. He is SO GREAT live.

By the way, here is the set list, with all 14 songs. Taken from ncgirl’s post at ontd_ai
B.U.D.D.Y. – Musiq Soulchild
What You Do – Chrisette Michele
True Colors – Cyndi Lauper
With You – Chris Brown
Let Me Love you – Mario
I Need A Girl – Trey Songz
Go On Girl – Ne-Yo
Always On My Mind
Down – Jay Sean
Give In To Her Love – ANOOP DESAI featuring David Mikush and Pablo Vega
Used to Love You – John Legend
For All We Know – Donny Hathaway
Carolina In My Mind – James Taylor
Battlefield – Jordin Sparks

OMG. Be still my heart. I FLOVE that song so much!

Awww. Cute that Jordin enjoyed it. Not a fan of the song, and I think Anoop needs to be careful not to follow in Roundhead’s “nasally is a form of singing” trap. I did enjoy the original he performed, though.

Not loving it. He seems to have ignored whatever style tips he got on Idol & the tour. He looks sloppy and unkempt. Vocally it was just ok, he was singing words and not connecting with the lyric of Jordin’s song.

Not loving it. He seems to have ignored whatever style tips he got on Idol & the tour. He looks sloppy and unkempt. Vocally it was just ok, he was singing words and not connecting with the lyric of Jordin’s song.

I think he did a pretty good job singing this song. And as far as style goes, I think he looks best with a very light scruff and a little bit shorter hair. The outfit looks great though.

“For All We Know” is just beautiful! There is a better version that is very clear. I think the link is in the Anoop Desai original song post.

I liked several of the other songs very much but Battlefield was just all kinds of wrong for him. Disconnect and poor delivery.
I hope he never does that one again..anywhere.
Appearance wise, I liked his hair and scruff but surprised by how wayyyyy beyond casual he was dressed.

The more I listen to it, the more I love it!

I liked the cover, he did a great job with it. Especially the beginning, it felt more emotional than when Jordin sings it. But I think his best songs from the night were
‘What You Do’  http://www.youtube.com/user/tawneej23#p/a/u/0/36Fm-uUr_7w

‘For All We Know’  http://www.youtube.com/user/holliebee87#p/u/3/UerUJHngAtE

and his original song.

This …I totally agree with…he did great with Chrisette Michele’s What You Do , For All We Know and the original song….

I don’t really mind his casual dressing because–as a fan–we know that’s who he is…and as of now, he doesn’t have management and no record deals as of yet so there’s no one really there to guide him with the fashion thing……he’s just being true to himself(plus i think he’s kind of a spendthrift and never really been a vain person)….but in time he’ll learn…

I don’t really like Battlefield as a song AT ALL–think it’s kind of hokey(c’mon and get your armor….not my type of lyrics at all)…and IMO, that song does well with either a full-on production as in the original or a very stripped down acoustic version which Anoop could have done….

But all-in-all, I’d say Anoop did a pretty great job with song selection (given–I’m sure budget and time constraints)…..the best of luck to Anoop….

Thank you MJ for putting the videos up! : D

I think Anoop is no DIVA-belter as well…..his strengths are his natural tone(sweet, smooth vocals), his phrasing and his “groove”/timing I think….there were some sharp/bum notes he hit with some of the higher-ranged notes…but that’s because he is more of a natural tenor and most of the time when he interprets songs from female singers…he has to go higher than his normal range…his head tome is pretty decent but it kind of loses some of that beautiful tone he has.This can be remedied I think with some more vocal coaching…

The “richness” of his tone is best exemplified I think with For All We Know….

I think the “richness” comparison with Jordin’s voice that someone pointed out has something to do with his being Asian….that rich tone is typical of African-American singers….I think his tone makes him unique in present-day music because he doesn’t quite sound like anybody else I know of….

Let Me Love You -cover from Mario original

This song is also gorgeous–his version is a bit slower and more stripped down.The video does not have the best sound but still…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-B9hh8tABCs

Hope an HQ version comes out…

I think the ‘richness’  comparison with Jordin’s voice that someone pointed out has something to do with his being Asian’ ¦.that rich tone is typical of African-American singers’ ¦

pardon? what sources of data – empirical or anectdotal – can you supply to give credence to this broad generalization of singers, based on their ethnic or racial makeup? i’ll wait……

Just watched “Used to Love You”- John Legend. LOVE THIS! He’s lovin’ performing this song! The energy is great!

I’m so happy that now we’re getting to see the real Anoop! AI totally did not allow him to showcase his true talent. But I’m happy that he at least got the exposure. Hopefully others will now see what his fans have seen in him all along.

^First of all, I did not realize that for every post on an observation I may have has to be supported by data backing my claims.I did not realize that I am in a masteral class.

The basis of my post was my general observation that most (MOST NOT ALL) are African-Americans with voices that are big and booming and has a (I don’t know how to describe it -I am not a music person) certain richness to their tone and most(not all) rock singers are white people with high-pitched almost shrilly voices.

Haven’t you ever encountered a time when you answered a phone call and talk to someone and you have mental picture of how this person looks like? I am not being racist…it’s just an observation…

I figure that the differences in “tonal quality” among races/ethnicities may be somewhat tied to facial structures…because as we all know there are basic differences—aside from the color of the skin–in the facial structures (like many Asian races have short bridges, slanted, small eyes, etc, etc.).These differences in facial features are logically reflected in their corresponding differences in bone facial structures including perhaps the sinuses, the buccal cavity—structures that CAN AFFECT THE RESONANCE OF VOICES, THE TONE)…and I’m guessing that if there may also be (altho I don’t have sources telling me this because I’m not a speech pathologist nor a EENT who is always on the look out for scientific journals proving whatever conjecture I may have) differences in structures of the vocal cords themselves,

But since I don’t have proof that there may be basic differences in vocal cord structures among races, let’s leave than and just consider facial bone structures….like I’ve mentioned structures to which sound passes through affects(logically) the tone of the voice ergo….this may be the basis of differences in tonal quality between races.That’s why it’s impt. in singing to consider posture esp. of the neck, and chest areas, the position of the mouth and chin because these make a difference.

But since you seem to be insisting that I come up with SOURCES OF DATA(like world peace depended on it), here are some medical/paramedical journals that at least consider that race may be a determining factor in vocal quality:

A study of the reading fundamental vocal frequency of young black adults.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7265934?dopt=Abstract

Speaker Race Identification From Acoustic Cues in the Vocal Signal

http://jslhr.asha.org/cgi/content/abstract/37/4/738

These are just abstracts and these do not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that there are basic vocal quality differences among races but it raises the question that there may be such differences (otherwise why embark on the study in the first place if they’re so sure that there aren’t any differences).

Again, I do not intend to make a dissertation on this….and I do not know where you are coming from (I’m guessing maybe you think my comments are bordering on racisms or perpetuating steretypes—if my posts came off that way–I am sorry)….but I do hope that you TRY to understand that my post was just an innocent statement of observation.

Good day.

Totally surprised that alison8701 is not flailing here! After all, she is the self-professed biggest Noopy-fan. ever She must be busy with school. Anyway I have to be honest and say I just.did.not.like.Battlefield by Anoop. IMHO this is just not what his smooth, distinct vocals should be going for. Be yourself Anoop and good luck with your career.

big fan of anoop. not a fan of this cover. glad he knows what he’d actually like to pursue though, love his original and the music that he’d like to explore

I like Anoop!!! I think he is such a cutie pie.

Also, I don’t know if anyone knows but Jasmine also covered Battlefield in Memphis at their state fair. Here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WxSoG8xdWA

most of the time when he interprets songs from female singers’ ¦he has to go higher than his normal range’ ¦

One solution might be to stop doing covers of songs by teenage girls.

I liked it.

Anoop’s cover of Let Me Love You by Mario (mario saw this and tweeted about it thru his twitter acct.)…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-B9hh8tABCs

I need a Girl by Trey Songz

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrHGCWyvlrk&feature=channel

Go On Girl by NeYo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oH-Uc0qVJiQ&feature=channel

Used to Love U by John Legend….holla, holla, holla (cool song)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIj-QAA863I&feature=channel

Down by Jay Sean

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3WUhTnboOY&feature=channel

I think Anoop’s choices have been very consistent with his vision of what direction he wants to go….definitely soul R&B with a bit pop R&B….

Set list/song choices is I think is EXCELLENT….

I would just be curious to know why Anoop chose ‘Battlefield’. I love the rest of his selections and hope he will put on of his Idol songs on his first CD. I want this man to succeed! He has one of the most beautiful voices to grace the AI stage. (I would include him with Anthony Fedorov and Clay Aiken. Oh, and I could add Adam, too.)

Go Anoop Go!

jga94, thanks for bringing the new links! I’ve been waiting for the John Legend one to pop up as that’s one of my favorites off that CD (and I was beginning to think I was just hearing things on the cellcast and Anoop didn’t really sing it). Glad you think it’s cool too.

Off to listen now…

jga94
thanks for posting the links to those videos…they are the best quality I have seen of the show. And definitely help a lot more in appreciating his performances.

Anoop had kept saying that the AI stage didn’t lend itself to what he wanted to do. And while I found his voice very appealing, I really didn’t understand the sound/direction he wanted to go.
So I had been anxious to hear what he would choose and how he would interpret the songs.
Now that I’ve heard some of what he wants to do and given what he was able to accomplish in that environment, I am even more excited to see what he can do in a studio.

One solution might be to stop doing covers of songs by teenage girls.

No, the solution is practice, learn, try and never give up.We have seen him do such high notes in AI (maybe not the as-high-as-Adam-Lambert range) and hit them.He’s young, he’s naturally talented…he’ll learn.

Jordin tweeted about this song…..then Mario tweeted about his rendition of Let me Love U ( @mariosoultruth Anoop you did that homey! http://bit.ly/4fnOaT ) and now Chrisette Michele RT’ed the link to Anoop’s version of her song…..hope he knows by now….he must be very honored and excited that his idols (especially Chrisette Michele whom has has mentioned in practically every interview he had) got to see him perform their songs. : D

Really, really hope things are happening soon for Anoop….

http://www.examiner.com/x-24653-North-Carolina-TV-Talent-Examiner~y2009m10d24-Anoop-Desai-a-crowd-pleaser-at-the-NC-State-Fair

Nice review from the local paper.

Let Me Love You by Mario covered Anoop….really sexy….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HcUDv3ARMw&feature=PlayList&p=FA57D20DA2C07065

Love the arrangement……

Anoop getting some good feedback by Jim and Richard but to be fair, they’ve always been a little partial to Anoop…but still nice ….

Jambajim (Jim Cantirello, MTV): http://twitter.com/jambajim/status/5101437196
Woah! @AnoopDoggDesai’s original song is sa-weet! http://tinyurl.com/yhjerax Thanks for the link @tawneej! #SignAnoopDesai #GiveInToHerLove

RichardRushfield (Gawker): http://twitter.com/richardrushfield/status/5106219025
I need a single of this immediately. 19? @AnoopDoggDesai performing “Battlefield” @TheRealJordin cover http://bit.ly/4qX3zJ