Did anyone watch this last night? As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, her music, although admirable, isn’t my cup of tea, but this mixture of live performances, an interview with Graham Norton, plus a couple of pre-recorded skits made for great Friday night telly. She came across as warm, down to earth, modest and very funny, which I suppose we already knew, but it was nice to see it confirmed. Best of all was this sketch, where with the help of makeup and latex she posed as Adele-wannabe ‘Jenny’ and joined half a dozen others to audition as a tribute act.
Adele at the BBC
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That’s great. Nice story.
Yes, saw the ‘Jenny’ bit via DFB. I thought she was really good; warm and funny, as you say.
Yes it flicked my “Noel’s Xmas Presents” switch. I know I’m being emotionally manipulated by music and editing but I’m as weak as a kitten
What a nice clip. Relied on all the girls being lovely and supportive, which they were. Would’ve been awful if they’d been bitching about her for being nervous.
I’m another “don’t mind hearing Adele but haven’t gone out of my way to get her music” . However, I adored this clip – the slightly longer version on the BBC red button (get it while it lasts) is even better, with a funny, heart-warming ensemble version as a finale and more comments from Adele to the other Adeles.
The whole clip also shows her understanding of stagecraft and performance beyond just singing – guess that BRIT School does work.
Thanks! I couldn’t actually find it on the red button, but caught it here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p037s2n7/more-adele-at-the-bbc
That’s great – I ended up taping it from the red button channel last night, so wasn’t sure if it was still there this morning. I guess as the BBS have announced the likely closure of “red button” services, we’ll have to get used to finding this stuff/all the Glasto extras online in future.
I enjoyed it too – very funny and she has a likeable way about her. Some of the piano based ballads become a little samey but the song from her new album that was accompanied by two acoustic guitars was very good.
I enjoyed the show, although I was a little distracted by the show being hosted by the bloke who used to appear on Gentle Giant album covers.
I like her personality, and I think that ”Someone Like You” is an undeniable classic. But most of the songs I’ve heard since have been inferior variants of that blueprint, which makes for a very ‘samey’ listening experience. I also get irritated by that weird faux-American inflection in her voice and the strange pronunciation of certain words/lyrics. Apart from that, love her.
And, re: Graham Norton – sad to see someone who once had genuine charm with a healthy underlying biting wit turn into such a sycophantic luvvie. See also Jonathan Ross. Is it a chat show host condition?
Not a fan of her music, but she’s undeniably very pretty with a great personality and an amazing voice.
I can live without the Russell Brand style pronunciations but she seems genuine enough.
“Fank you very maarch…”
“Oh my gawd!”
I think she’s shite.
Agree
Abysmal. Truly awful. Taken “seriously”, only because she was fat and young at her outbreak so obviously couldn’t be seen twerking her sex. An Artist then. It’s like ‘Alf’ (if that moniker doesn’t give it away then nothing will) from Yazoo only on a global scale.
Well, that’s quite unpleasant.
Contempt
————————
You
Aye. A bit much for me too in retrospect.
Nice to see the Beeb giving free advertising and promotion again.
Made the U2 takeover look positively restrained.
Adele ? It’s ok, nothing special. Soul by numbers but does its job.
It’s a testament to the diversity of entertainment channels (TV, Radio & Internet) that someone who is so famous (at least in the UK), can, at the same time be so anonymous. I don’t recall the last time (before last night) I knowingly heard an Adele song. Her ‘BBC promo hour’ was on when a program we were watching on the PVR ended. Adele was singing and my wife asked “Who’s that?”. I said “I think it’s Adele” but I wasn’t sure. We watched a few minutes, unimpressed and then that annoying Irish git came on so it had to go off. I know she’s got a good voice, and I know I’m not very familiar with her catalogue but the songs don’t seem very distinctive so ‘m a little baffled at her success. Has she played the promotional circuit of the right TV shows expertly or is there something that I’m missing?
I think it’s mostly down to one performance – her live take on ‘Someone Like You’ at The Brits. This was rightly acknowledged on the show last night Before then, she’d had a middling level of success, nothing out of the ordinary – her big claim to fame until then was probably her cover of ‘Make You Feel My Love’. But that Brits performance changed everything – suddenly huge sales of the album, the Grammys, the Bond. the baby…the teaser advert, the hotly-anticipated new album. What I do like about her is that she hasn’t followed the conventional publicity treadmill: in fact, she’s done the opposite – no chat show circuit (until last night), very little media courting, no touring, dropped out of sight during and after her pregnancy. I think a lot of people relate to her because of her projected ‘one of us’ ordinariness; in that way, she’s a bit like a modern Cilla…only with a better voice, natch.
I sound like I’m some kind of Adele uber-fan – I’m really not, but her slightly unconventional career path is interesting in today’s pop cultural climate.
Here’s that Brits performance. It was really rather good:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCya1yiFFP4
Thanks for that explanation. If it really was that Brits performance that did it then I’m even more baffled now. I’ve just listened to it and didn’t make it all the way through. Still, rather her as public favourite than previous emcumbent, nails down the blackboard voiced Amy Winehouse. File under “Not For Me”.
Adele and Jessie J … 2 diamonds from Tottenham. I love the pair of them.
You know what’s coming now, don’t you? Don’t you?
Two diamonds from Tottenham.
I love the pair of them even more. 🙂
If only we had kept Chrissie Waddle when we bought Gazza … Waddle, Gascoigne and Lineker together. Defenders would have been committing harri karri.
WRT to THFC. I would love to have seen Glen Hoddle sending a 45 yard pass to the feet of Chris Waddle who simply tapped it in.
Try to picture that goal & imagine the commentator saying “Hoddle, Waddle – Doddle”
Why does she sing with her hands?
Same reason Santana plays guitar with his face or Keith Moon drums with his fizzog. Just theatrics innit?
This clip was possibly the first time I heard Adele, and I was blown away by the power, emotion and control in her voice, the two great melodies in the song – verse and chorus, the self-penned ans passionate words. I like that this is almost the opposite of the Brits performance above – stripped down, in an enclosed space, with a very small audience, and you can see the other musicians playing (love the drumming, though not sure where the backing vocalists are – maybe zeros and ones on prerecorded digital?)
It’s probably been said before, but she reminds me of Alison Moyet, big singer, from east London/Essex, songwriter, common touch, songs with an emotional punch. I listened to Alf the other day, and it’s still great. I’d love to see/hear a duet between the two of them.
I’m rather perplexed how many people here are less than enthusiastic about Adele.
If she had done nothing other than co-write Rolling in the Deep, she’d get my vote. What a monster of a song.
Well I watched the video above and I accept it is quite good but I think I’ve only heard the song a couple of times before. Normally when I hear Adele (which as I said above is not very often) it’s something very very bland. The first I heard of her was that quite awful Chasing Pavements record and I suppose she needs to overcome that as far as I’m concerned. First impressions are important in the pop world.
Her style is not my thing at all but there’s no denying she’s got a great voice and knows how to use it effectively within the sphere she currently inhabits. As stated above, she seems a pleasant person too.
Her best is yet to come, I reckon, if she chooses to continue once the current hoo-ha dies down.
It was a great show that focused on the music which is fine.
Sade would have done a similar show in the 1980s I am sure.
Doing the rounds on Facebook.
http://i474.photobucket.com/albums/rr107/Gatz_photos/image_3.jpeg
I guess that back in the day you would have belonged to the Bert Weedon ” You don’t need to move around to play the guitar” school of thought☺
Norma Waterson another one who sings with her hands. They’re bleedin’ everywhere.
Norma can’t be stopped either. I saw her with Martin on what, given her cruel arthritis, may well have been her last tour. When it was Martin’s turn to sing Norma would sit at the back of the stage, but even off mic she could clearly be heard singing along to every number.
I’ve found the people who have mentioned Adele & her album the most are those least likely to buy it.
See: U2
Tipping point for me was when she sang Skyfall at the Oscars. Apparently (according to Mrs. ‘Wardo, who tends to be ‘across’ such things) at the time she was having trouble with vocal cords and was protecting her voice. She was therefore singing at about 60% of full welly, but the restraint and the control she showed were hugely impressive. All substance, and little flash. She seems like a good egg too.
Can someone clear up a question for me?
Are literally *all* Adele’s songs about her ex? Is there a guy out there whose former girlfriend is now an insanely rich global superstar who basically does nothing but write songs about suddenly showing up on his doorstep for some sort of massive, and vaguely threatening, exercise in closure?
I only own one Adele track that’s by default. On the 4 CD set of Dylan covers Chimes Of Freedom she does a decent version of Make You Feel My Love.
It sounds like a studio track until right at the end Adele pipes up with “Fank you very maaarch” and we hear some applause.
Is the set any good, Johnny? I must say, the idea of The Gaslight Anthem doing Changing of the Guards sounds right up my strasse. Mick Hucknall singing One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later), not so much.
It’s a pretty good collection MB. All tracks claim to be previously unreleased, but I’m sure there are a few old ones there.
Anyway it shows the magnitude of Dylan’s influence on, well, just about all areas of music. Most people don’t even write/record 70+ tracks in their entire careers, let alone write 70+ worthy of being covered by the world’s biggest artists.
It’s a mammoth 4CD set and there are many real gems here – Pete Townshend does a beautiful acoustic version of Corrina, Corrina for example and I wouldn’t be without Seal & Jeff Beck’s Like A Rolling Stone.
There are no real out-and-out clunkers although Sting’s version of Girl From The North Country is predicably half-arsed
I’ve ripped it to my iPod and just let it play without knowing who most of the artists are. At least you’ll know every one of the songs.
Great cover too.
http://i.imgur.com/oaCWEak.jpg
This is brill:
Brill indeed! Adele acquits herself very honourably. And The Roots just have to be one of the most likeable bands on the planet.
This one was great fun too.