Art. Everyone has a different definition, interpretation and idea of it (excuse the generalization here). That is what makes art unique. Vocal art is music and our interpretation of music. This can be your own interpretation of a popular artist’s song. However, there is a limit as to how “unique” vocal art can truly get. Thanks to media, such as YouTube, we are able to view different interpretations of popular music.
An article from Jezebel.com titled, Yoko Ono’s Cover of Katy Perry’s ‘Firework’ Is the Best Thing Ever, stirred up my curiosity of how good Yoko Ono’s interpretation of ‘Fireworks’ could be. I was extremely curious as the author, Madeleine Davies, wrote that the Yoko’s rendition of ‘Fireworks’ is her “favorite” and has “a lot of spirit.”
Here you be the judge:
I linked this video to my friends and here is their response, verbatim. “Christine, Wth did I just watch?!” and “at the beginning i thought she was having an orgasm…” If your reactions were anything like my friends [as opposed to the author from Jezebel.com] than I am glad we agree on something. I just hope and pray the author was exhibiting some heavy sarcasm when she posted that article. Personally, I was horrified at what I watched and felt that I lost 30 seconds of my life that I would never get back. When I referred to “unique” vocal art, I was thinking more along the lines of artists who have made a name for themselves through YouTube.
Alex Goot (video above), Jimmy Wong, Jason Chen, Sam Tsui, Boyce Avenue are only a couple of the YouTube vocal artists that garner about a couple million views in the videos they make. These YouTube sensations truly have amazing talent that may rival music made by well known artists. Sometimes I would prefer YouTube artist’s rendition of popular culture song over the original singer’s. Mike Tompkins is one of the YouTube artists that utilizes his voice and mouth to create all the sounds for his videos. Below is Mike’s creative rendition of ‘Fireworks’ by Katy Perry.
Media and the internet has given us a new outlet to express ourselves. The use of twitter, facebook, and other social media outlets have brought us closer to our favorite celebrities. The same media outlets has also given us new ways to express art. So now contemplate this: is Yoko Ono’s screaming considered to be art? Is it art if the person who created is a celebrity? What is considered art?
Extra:
Below is the original song ‘Fireworks’ sung by Katy Perry for all my friends who have not heard the song before.
The Unstoppable Bra 