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I'm impressed with Ashanti's performance. Who would have known that she actually some vocal chops. She's no Whitney or Chaka, but she sings very clearly and has a pretty big range. With a lot of vocalist, you don't hear what they are exactly pronunciating while hitting high notes in their chest voice. However, you can definitely hear Ashanti. Her voice is crisp and she actually knows how to put a little Soul into the song. I'll go and say that her vocal performance is better than Diana Ross', who portrayed "Dorothy," in the 1978 film version of "The Wiz." However, neither top Stephanie Mills' rendition of the song, who originated the role on Broadway. Above all, Whitney Houston performs the best rendition of the song.
Here is Whitney performing the song back in 1985, before she even recorded her debut album. Note that Clive mentioned Lena Horne passing the torch to Dionne Warwick who then passes the torch to her then unknown cousin Whitney Houston. Rumor also has it that Whitney's mother, Cissy Houston took over the musical direction of this song during the middle of it because she wanted the performance to leave a strong impression!
2 comments:
I agree with you on this one. Ashanti was in her bag on this one, amd pulled it out surprisingly well. But, of course, she can't top Stephanie Mills. I'm interested to see the performances of some of the other popular songs from that movie, like "You Can't Win."
In regard to Whitney's performance.... I like it. It has a slightly more jazzy feel to it. Well, to me anyway... But I still like Stephanie Mills' rendition the most.
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