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At what may be the height of her early career, teen sensation
Taylor Swift finds herself facing the downside of stardom -
naysayers.
The 19-year-old pop/country singer-songwriter heads in to the
American Music Awards with a leading six nominations after a dream
year of sold out concerts and the best-selling album in the United
States.
Swift will compete against the late Michael Jackson for artist of
the year, and is nominated for favourite female artist in the
pop/rock, country and adult contemporary categories, along with
favourite album for Fearless.
But her higher profile, including becoming the youngest person to
win the Country Music Association Entertainer of the Year award,
has left her open to recent sniping by some music lovers who
complain about her voice in live performances.
Just three years after releasing her first single, the pop/country
singer-songwriter has struck an emotional chord with millions of
fans for heart-felt songs like Fifteen and You Belong With Me about
first loves, being an outsider and the perils of high school.
"I can't think of anyone else (in pop) music who inspires the level
of passion in their fans on the scale she does right now," said Rob
Brunner, music editor of Entertainment Weekly.
Still, that view is not shared by all and in recent weeks, her
detractors seem to have raised their level of criticism just as
Swift has seen her star soar into the stratosphere.
"Wobbly" and "embarrassingly weak" are some of the comments - many
from disgruntled fans of traditional country music - found on
websites after recent live performances, including on television
show Saturday Night Live.
"I think the songs are great, the records are great. But she
doesn't have the pipes," said Bob Lefsetz, a former music industry
executive and author of The Lefsetz Letter blog.
No toppling Taylor
The negative chatter has done nothing to dissuade fans from
snapping up tickets to Swift's recently extended concert tour.
Nor has it curtailed sales of Fearless - the biggest selling US
album of 2009 with 2.1 million copies, and No 3 in 2008.
And many industry watchers question the importance of technical
ability in an era where Britney Spears can happily lip-synch her
way around the world during her Circus tour, and where the vocal
pitch correcting device, Auto-Tune, is widely used in recording
studios and at concerts.
Swift, who plays guitar and piano, never lip-synchs.
As for Auto-Tune: "I have never used Auto-Tune in a live
television performance, and I have never used Auto-Tune in any of
my concerts. That is a promise," she said in a statement.
She has performed live for more than one million people and won a
slew of awards voted on by fans and the industry.
If her singing is occasionally off-key, that's what makes her
genuine and is what she brings to the music arena, her managers
say.
"(Taylor) tries to hold herself to a better standard but perfection
is not one of them. At 19-years-old, I don't know how she deals
with the nerves (of singing live). And sound issues are not always
in our control," Robert Allen, one of Swift's managers, told
Reuters.
Lefsetz agrees with music critics that Swift is phenomenal
live.
But he added: "I think it is a sad state of affairs when one of
the biggest artists in the world can't sing."
Brunner said comments like that are missing the point.
"I don't listen to pop music to hear people hitting the note but
because it connects with me in some profound emotional way. While
it may not be a Celine Dion or Barbra Streisand voice, whatever
she's got is something that people are really connecting to," he
said.
Swift will not be at the AMA's because she is on tour in England
ahead of going to Australia in February.
