Haley Reinhart versus The World

[Miguel]

...wherein Haley takes on famous artists in covering well-known songs.

First up, Justin Timberlake and "(Sittin' on) The Dock of the Bay" performed at the White House:



Versus:

[Tusk]

Kind of an unfair comparison, Justin is more an entertainer before he is a vocalist.... he sounded out of sync with the orchestra to me...

Here's a more contemporary comparison

Sara Bareilles


Haley's whistling was a pleasant surprise that wins that performance for her
(So much more soulful a rendition too)

[john]

Okay, Bruno Mars vs Haley covering The Way You Make Me Feel live

[mercfan3]

That's actually a little unfair to Haley. Bruno was a Michael impersonator before he became famous.

[midnightblues]

II have never herd a female sing TWUMMF Hales was the first when she sang it in Jakarta She is much better than the Mars man. IMO second to MJ. The girl rocks the tune

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[NUG]

Midnight - that Jakarta performance blew me away!! That, and also this one is my favorite of the 3 (even though she tripped up the words a bit at the begging):

[Himm2]

Jacquie Lee (The Voice 5 runner up) HOTRS:



Haley Reinhart (The Idol 10 winner)(In my mind) HOTRS:

[mercfan3]

Here's a live performance of Jacquie doing HOTRS. She's gotten so much better since The Voice. (Her pitch control..her tone of course, is as polarizing as Haley's.) She's incredible for a 17 year old, imo.

One of the cutest things about this though, is that here..she's singing the song the way Christina taught her how to sing it. However, there are previous performances of her doing it before The Voice, and it's clear that it is heavily influenced by Haley. (She also tweeted to Pia because people say she looks like Pia, so I know she knows who Haley is. )

Of course, Haley still wins.

[Tom22]

That's actually a little unfair to Haley. Bruno was a Michael impersonator before he became famous.

yeah.. and well, some artists are the real thing as is Bruno Mars.

Real thing vs Real thing leads to two great performances and happy listeners !

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@Midnight That little band Haley played with in Jakarata was really pretty special.

I love the Bluesy Haley ... and sometimes like the less bluesy jazz Haley but, Haley can sing pop too and a lot of her LU album songs had more pop than we've heard live except for in Jakarata... and its a good easy sort of pop ala Beatles pop (haley has done rocking blues versions of various Beatles songs)

Its a raspberry cream covered tort vs a double chocolate syrup covered brownie. They're both great but different.

ps Bruno's stage side-kick.. the tall guy with the hat is very funny in many live videos I've seen. He and Bruno really have a stage schtich going on and he keeps Bruno loose and he takes off pressure of eyes always on etc.

I think that guy is a reason I'd really like to see Bruno play live if I could ever get the chance in a smaller club....

pss .. Bruno not only did back up for many bands before he made it on his one, in addition to the MJ thing you mention .. he grew up on stage in I believe a family Hawaiian band playing small resorts and venues ... probably lounges etc. If you guys have been in Hawaii you know how the little bands have the lead man doing lots of banter and "aloha's" and working rooms and all sorts of songs.

I think many many of the top performers of the ages have had a lot of dues paid on stage and the "dues" are more than an entry price, they also build habits and strengths to fall back on in many situations. Barbra Streisand had years of Broadway and off Broadway etc.... Taylor Swift spent a fair number of years working week after week at smallish rodeos to begin with starting at 16 years old.

doesn't take the same form necessarily.... so certainly Idol counts the same way for Haley in part.... especially experience on a big stage and camera time which few starting performers every had. but times working small crowds 100(s?) of times helps too. (she isn't starting at zero there.. haley's comets in high school counts)

[mercfan3]

Bruno Mars is excellent, no slight to him intended. My point was, just like Justin is at a disadvantage to Haley in vocals, Haley might have a perceived slight disadvantage towards someone like Bruno..who not only grew up idolizing MJ but was an impersonator as a job. Haley doesn't sing the song like MJ..and sometimes with people like MJ (Icons) if you don't sing the song exactly the same, people don't like it as well. That's all I was getting at.

BTW: My parents went to see Bruno, and the impression I got was..go see him if you get the opportunity.

Anyway, as for the thread..

Bria Kelly from The Voice has done a few of the same songs Haley has. (Ironically, vocally she actually reminds me of a female cross between Daughtry and Casey.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaJx1Oinu0M
http://youtu.be/GkM0-xYsSgs

For this one, I simply prefer Haley's more gentle approach. But I actually love the way both girls sing it. I love Bria's voice...but she's got a goat vibrato, uses a lot of "tricks" pronounces words funny, has unique tone and has some occasional pitch problems. But after seeing her "steamroller blues" she's a singer I'll always keep track of, so long as she pursues music. She happens to be the one vocalist from one of these shows that Slezak and I disagree on.

Steamroller Blues
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJNO3vkhEGQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdNRARuUuAI

I wish Haley had taken more of the vocals on this, but her role in it is really cool. Bria just kills it, IMO. (I think it's the best Voice audition of all time.) If Bria ever "makes it" as an artist, much like HOTRS for Haley, this will be her song. But I'd like to combine Haley's part with Bria's and have a nice recording of that...

Finally, Piece of My Heart
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcmrSvfin-8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSEpbK6_8d4

I prefer Haley's version of the song. I like her note choices. But I like both versions.

Just like when I heard Haley, I thought she might have one of the best voices I've ever heard, I thought Bria had one of the coolest voices I've ever had..but of course, I like the distinctive out of the box voices, so she may not be everyone's cup of tea. She probably would have rivaled Jacquie in my third favorite reality tv singer snowflake ranking if she had been ready to be on the show. (Just too young and too undeveloped.)