User:Journalist/Sandbox
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[edit] Artistry and public image
Dion grew up listening to the music of Aretha Franklin, Michael Jackson, Carole King, Anne Murray, and Barbra Striesand and the Bee Gees, all of whom she has collaborated with. During her younger years, which she spent performing in her parents' piano bar along with her other siblings, she also performed many songs by Ginette Reno and other popular Quebecois artists. She has also expressed appreciation for opera singer Luciano Pavarotti, Edith Piaf, and Sir Elton John.
Her English-language material has been influenced by numerous genres, including pop, rock, gospel, R&B and soul, and her lyrics focus on themes of poverty, world hunger, and spirituality, with an over emphasis on romance, and love.[1][2] After the birth of her child, her work also began to emphasize maternal and spiritual love. Dion has faced considerable criticism from many critics, who state that her music is clichéd, and often marked by excessive sentimentality.[3][4] According to Keith Harris of Rolling Stone, "[Dion's] sentimentality is bombastic and defiant rather than demure and retiring....[she] stands at the end of the chain of drastic devolution that goes Aretha-Whitney-Mariah. Far from being an aberration, Dion actually stands as a symbol of a certain kind of pop sensibility — bigger is better, too much is never enough, and the riper the emotion the more true."[5] Dion's francophone releases, by contrast, tend to be deeper and more varied than her English releases, and consequently have achieved more credibility[6]
Dion is often regarded as one of pop music's greatest and influential voices,[7] and according to some sources, she possesses a five-octave vocal range.[6][8] In MTV's "22 Greatest Voices in Music" countdown, she placed ninth (sixth for a female), and she was also placed fourth in Cove Magazine's list of "The 100 Outstanding Pop Vocalists."[9] Upon her debut, many critics had noted her restrained vocals as being a refreshing change from the melismatic singing styles that was overcapitalized by many singers. She was praised for her technical virtuosity and her intensity. As Charles Alexander of Time Magazine writes, "Her voice glides effortlessly from deep whispers to dead-on high notes, a sweet siren that combines force with grace."[10] As her music progressed, however, Dion's vocal performances came to resemble more closely those of her contemporaries, especially Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey, and she was heavily criticized for lacking the emotional intensity that once was a part of her earlier work.[11][12] One critic stated that the emotion, "seems to have been trained right out of her lovely voice," leaving her with "more voice than heart."[13]
Many critics have stated that Dion's involvement in the production aspect of her music is fundamentally lacking, which results in her work being overproduced and impersonal. Additionally, while she came from a family in which all of her siblings were musicians, she never learned to play any musical instruments. However, she did help to compose many of her earlier French songs, and had always tried to involve herself with the production and recording of her albums. On her first English album, which she recorded before she had a firm command of the English language, she expressed disapproval of the record, which she stated could have been avoided if she had assumed more creative input. By the time she released her second English album, she had assumed more control of the production and recording process, hoping to dispel earlier criticisms. She stated, "On the second album I said, 'Well, I have the choice to be afraid one more time and not be 100 percent happy, or not be afraid and be part of this album.' This is my album."[6] She world continue to involve herself in the production of subsequent releases, helping to write a few of her songs on These Are Special Times (1999),[14] and Let's Talk About Love.
Despite her success, Dion is often the subject of media ridicule and parody. She is frequently impersonated on shows like MADtv, Saturday Night Live and South Park for her strong accent, as well as her conservative nature and on-stage movements. She is also heavily mocked in her home country of Canada on popular shows Royal Canadian Air Farce and This Hour Has 22 Minutes. However, Dion has stated that she is unaffected by the comments, and has even stated that she is flattered that people take the time to impersonate her.[15] She even invited Ana Gasteyer, who parodied her on SNL, to appear on stage during one of her performances.
Dion is rarely the center of media controversies. However, in 2005, following the Hurricane Katrina disaster, she appeared on Larry King Live and tearfully criticized U.S. President George W. Bush regarding the Iraq War and his slow response in aiding the victims of Hurricane Katrina: "How come it's so easy to send planes in another country, to kill everyone in a second, to destroy lives? We need to be there right now to rescue the rest of the people."[16] She later claimed, "When I do interviews with Larry King or the big TV shows like that, they put you on the spot, which is very difficult. I do have an opinion, but I'm a singer. I'm not a politician."[17]
