A friend of mine was required to watch “Singing in the Rain” for a class last week. She, like all blue-blooded Americans who have anything remotely close to a heart, loved the movie that tells the whimsical, fictitious story of the first talking movies. This prompted me to look up some of the singing and dancing numbers from the film. As I browsed through “Make ‘em Laugh,” “Singing in the Rain,” etc., I realized something: We settle for some sorry excuses for pop stars these days.
One viewing of the “Make ‘em Laugh” routine could probably convince the most staunch GaGa-ite that Donald O’Connor has more talent in his big toe than an army of Justin Biebers. In just one scene O’Connor plays piano, dances, sings and performs a grueling physical routine all while being hysterically funny. What’s even more impressive is that O’Connor was so committed to his act that after shooting this scene, he was prescribed three days bed rest by the hospital he was admitted to for extreme exhaustion. I’d like to see the Jonas Brothers perform such a feat.
What I’m getting at is this: When did we stop expecting our entertainers to be entertaining?
Today we settle for pop stars who sport the kind of manufactured talent that somehow allows girls who can’t sing a note to be played on the radio 24/7 (Ke$ha, I’m looking at you).
I like the quality of studio sound, and I appreciate the catchiness of some of the songs that are on a five-song loop on 105.3 FM every minute of every day, but didn’t there used to be something more to being an entertainer? Through the advancement of media, artists have more exposure than ever before or previously imagined, yet no one is quite the sensation The Beatles were in the ‘60s. With autotune and other countless audio effects, an off note is all but never heard, yet no one has the same engaging quality of voice that holds you spellbound through Etta James’ “At Last.”
Maybe I’m just a snob, but I think watching guys like Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire perform marvelously intricate tap-dancing routines while singing is far more impressive than seeing Drake wander around a stage while just kind of saying lyrics and shaking his hand at the crowd.
“But Nate,” you might say, “what about things like High School Musical, where people sing and dance really well?” Well, that’s totally different. Movies and shows like HSM star Disney drones who, while having no real personality, are made to appear talented through heavily choreographed dance routines that appear more difficult than they are.
Yes, I hate to break it to you, but Demi Lovato, Selena Gomez and the like probably don’t possess the vocal talents they appear to.
Am I saying talent is dead? No, there are plenty of talented artists on the scene today. Is there any way we can somehow go back to the way things were? Probably not.
What I want is not for all the pop stars to disappear. I just want to see them rise to the occasion and attain the same level of entertainment we had 20, 30 and 50 years ago.
Nate Rushing is a UF political science student. His column appears every Thursday.
