| mickyparise 26.04.2012 21:04 |
Opening Number - Queen Extravaganza (Somebody To Love) American Idol 2012 link |
| joesilvey 26.04.2012 21:48 |
I thought the Queen Extravaganza, such as it, did quite a respectable job with Somebody To Love. Marc Martel was in strong voice, though a little raspier than his usual clear tone (probably rehearsing the CRAP out of them these days) and it was fun to see a pro like Jeff Scott Soto ripping out in the background. Plus, despite what RT had said, he and Brian DID appear at the end and join in. First public performance for QE, first time for most of them on LIVE, PRIMETIME, NETWORK TV... impressive considering all that... and i quite enjoyed it. |
| slithybill 26.04.2012 23:02 |
I really enjoyed it too. It impressed me enough that I'm now seriously considering driving 4 hours to see it this summer (and take my kids as well). |
| MJDSQ 26.04.2012 23:12 |
I have to say that I was great. I was very resistant regarding the whole extravaganza thing at first but I have to say that the band is amazing. And the amazing thing is how Queen is growing even more as global phenomenon. Today I watched a TV add from a LA hotel that used BoHap and it was great. Amazing how the sentences in the operatic section were used to form a dialogue. And as a great coincidence, here in Australia where I'm doing a post-grad course, I just came from a seminar presented by a Prof. from University of South Florida where he told that Queen motivated him into music, before he became a researcher, and he presented a slide with the GH3 cover. I think that this extravaganza thing, even thought it is centuries away from the real Queen, will consolidate even more this global phenomenon because Marc Martel's voice is great and people will like it regarding of being just a cover of Queen songs. |
| Marcos Napier 27.04.2012 01:13 |
Ok I stopped right after that guitar guy did that backflipping thing. Circus. |
| The Real Wizard 27.04.2012 01:18 |
Agreed, it was a little over the top .. But if you kept it on for 20 more seconds, you would've seen Bri and Rog join them, more or less doing the ending of It's Late. |
| dysan 27.04.2012 03:26 |
The Glee-ification of Queen makes me fucking sick. I've had to fight against people thinking queen were popularist naff commercial fluff for decades and now this. I will always have my childhood memories of listening to Queen, and discovering their majesty, but now I would not go out of my way to even nod at Roger or Brian in the street. |
| Holly2003 27.04.2012 03:35 |
That was fun. Much more enjoyable than I expected. |
| stuyvesant 27.04.2012 04:05 |
Loved it! well done |
| Fireplace 27.04.2012 06:14 |
dysan wrote: The Glee-ification of Queen makes me fucking sick. I've had to fight against people thinking queen were popularist naff commercial fluff for decades and now this. I will always have my childhood memories of listening to Queen, and discovering their majesty, but now I would not go out of my way to even nod at Roger or Brian in the street. Couldn't have said it any better myself. Now in a town near you: the Queen Circus Orchestra Extravaganza Thingy. Doing everything they said they'd never do. Come and see! |
| Queen4ever13 27.04.2012 09:21 |
It was okay, guess you can't have such high expectations, nothing will ever live up to the real thing. It keeps their songs circulating anyhow. |
| tcc 27.04.2012 10:58 |
I just saw it here: link It looked good. They all seemed to be enjoying themselves. |
| The Real Wizard 27.04.2012 11:18 |
Bri and Rog basically played the ending of It's Late on national TV, and people are still complaining. I bet if they released a ten disc boxed set and played the first 3 tracks on the evening news, people would still find something to complain about. This is part of their job - making TV appearances so that the next generation hears their music. A million kids have been on youtube these past 24 hours watching old Queen videos as a result. And they are telling their friends to do the same. Can the whiners suggest a better method for the remaining members of Queen to make their music known to the general public of tomorrow? If not, then click here: link |
| Leonardo Venegas 27.04.2012 11:37 |
dysan wrote: The Glee-ification of Queen makes me fucking sick. I've had to fight against people thinking queen were popularist naff commercial fluff for decades and now this. I will always have my childhood memories of listening to Queen, and discovering their majesty, but now I would not go out of my way to even nod at Roger or Brian in the street.This is not Queen, chill out!!! The things Queen did with Freddie and John will never be affected by any post era production. What they did until 1991 (or 1995) is untouchable. From 1996 until now is another story, concentrate in the real Queen and you will always be happy! Cheers! |
| GratefulFan 27.04.2012 11:41 |
The Real Wizard wrote: This is part of their job - making TV appearances so that the next generation hears their music. A million kids have been on youtube these past 24 hours watching old Queen videos as a result. And they are telling their friends to do the same.A million kids. Really. How do you know this? And their friends too. The only Queen related YouTube trend at the mo is 'Bohemian Rhapsody on the Way to School', which underscores my point from yesterday about parental influence on the discovery of older music. |
| The Real Wizard 27.04.2012 11:44 |
Wednesday's episode had 16 million viewers. A fair portion of them were teenagers. When kids find music they like, they go onto youtube and text their friends about it. This is what most kids do nowadays. This is not a battle of numbers. My original point stands. |
| Donna13 27.04.2012 12:24 |
It was fun. Too bad they are not using bigger venues for the tour. In the 1970's Queen was never on TV in the USA. I am glad they are finally getting the TV exposure they should have always had. I want everyone to know Queen's music. All generations. It is part of music history now, and I think the USA really missed out while Freddie was alive so it is still a new discovery for some people. The producers of American Idol are British and that is why we are finally having good exposure of Queen on American TV. Thank goodness for that. |
| Wiley 27.04.2012 12:44 |
Good performance by the Queen Extravaganza and nice ending. I didn't make the "It's Late" connection until Sir GH brought it up. About the Idol contestants "singing" with the band... Oh my God, It. Was. AWFUL! Painful to watch and horrendous to listen. Worse than Five, Britney and Beyonce together. Brian's WWRY guitar solo is the only reason I made it through the end. An instrumental break focusing on the Doctor on U.S. TV, that was cool. About the "Idols", IMO Adam Lambert is a million times better than them... and he kinda sucks!! |
| GratefulFan 27.04.2012 13:18 |
The Real Wizard wrote: Wednesday's episode had 16 million viewers. A fair portion of them were teenagers. When kids find music they like, they go onto youtube and text their friends about it. This is what most kids do nowadays. This is not a battle of numbers. My original point stands. "Wednesday's episode had 16 million viewers" and a "fair portion of them were teenagers", of which we're to assume "a million" watch Queen videos (and told all their friends), but it's "not a battle of numbers". I can only imagine you mean it's not a battle of meaningful numbers, but a battle of stuff you've pulled out of the air. The facts are that teen and 20-something viewership never dominated the demographics of Idol, whose median viewer age is now 48, and on top of that are down about 30% this year. That comes from an article in the LA Times a couple of weeks ago titled "American Idol: Has it Lost the Kids?". TV watching in general is way down for young people. There's little reason to automatically assume even that the total teen viewership numbered a million, let alone that that converted to watching Queen videos on YouTube for every last one of them, and further meant retention or sustained interest. And telling their friends. Truthfully you have no idea what the impact on interest in Queen by young people is, and since you're using these nebulous 'facts' to underwrite dismissing and essentially insulting 'whiners' and 'complainers' I don't think a reasonable degree of certainty is too much to ask. Really, for all we know the net effect of a karaoke showcase of Queen could be a reduction in future interest. Maybe for every second kid that ends up on YouTube for three minutes a disillusioned dad reaches saturation point and never, for example, makes singing Bohemian Rhapsody in the car on the way to school a family tradition. Who do you think is making that video go viral by the way? Kids? Or parents? Bottom line is you don't know, I don't know, and neither of our states of not knowing has much to do with people who want to voice disappointment with whatever they like. |
| john bodega 27.04.2012 13:34 |
I still think Marc's pretty good. Maybe going a little overboard in places here, but I suppose that's his way of making an impression. He really is very good. The guitarists are not nearly good enough to be putting on that schmucky routine together. The harmonies were fucking God awful. Seriously, work on that shit. I think, performance issues aside, that's the thing that TV mixers screw the hardest sometimes. Roger and Brian bursting out of nowhere was fucking great. Could've just been those two, honestly, but then it wouldn't have been on TV. Champs, the both of 'em. All in all it's very good to see Queen getting some proper recognition in a very public way. It's great to see Brian and Roger playing. And it's fantastic that the singer is (for a change) a cut way above your usual Idol cunt. I can't really get over how lackluster the guitarists are though. For all of those theatrics, they do an average job of playing the song - and they're acting like they wrote the bloody thing or something! Ultimately I like the QE idea more than the fuckin' musical... cutting out the shit jokes and just playing some music. Great idea. Without Brian and Roger jumping out at the end though, this video would just be a fantastic singer and an average backing band. I don't see how that's an Extravaganza. |
| GratefulFan 27.04.2012 13:46 |
Amazing how subjective all of this is. I really didn't like the vocal all that much. Less the eventual coolness of Brian and Roger the whole thing had kind of a Queen Revue feel. I'd like them go one step further from cutting out the jokes to cutting out the musical remnants all together and just be a rock band. As it stands, it's nothing I'm driving to Toronto for. |
| Fireplace 27.04.2012 14:05 |
The Real Wizard wrote: Can the whiners suggest a better method for the remaining members of Queen to make their music known to the general public of tomorrow? If not, then click here: link Oh, that's simple. They can join the Queen Illuminati Spy Ring and exchange acetates of the new Queen & Adam Lambert single, called "Backflip". I've been told the video is especially interesting. For those not as fortunate, I suggest Greatest Video Hits 1 & 2, the odd live DVD, and the first 5 to 7 albums. Sure beats wachting medleys with 20 second snippets of songs that have been played to death anyway. Some of these albums were backflippin' good! By the way, why is everyone who does not agree with you a whiner? Is it the godlike omniscient powers bestowed upon members of the Illuminati thingie? Or have you suddenly been possessed by the ghost of Greg Brooks? |
| Wiley 27.04.2012 14:54 |
To be honest, I had low expectations on the Extravaganza thingy and considering it was their first performance before a TV audience, I'd say they passed the test. I'm sure they will get better. Remember the first few shows in the tour with Paul Rodgers? There was excitement and all but the performances were far from perfect. I'm not saying it's the same, though, but the Extravaganza project seems like it will be an interesting show and certainly more than just a tribute band playing in a club. |
| The Real Wizard 27.04.2012 16:40 |
GratefulFan, Sometimes you are so bang on, but other times you say a whole lot but say a whole lot of nothing. This is unfortunately one of the latter. Like I said, this is not a debate of numbers. No need to nitpick my posts by saying I wasn't able to count exactly how many kids watched Queen videos on youtube today. Obviously nobody can acquire the data to do that arithmetic. And no need to bring up outlandish possibilities either. Of course I realize people of all ages watch AI and that there are an infinite number of possibilities of what exposure to a new song could lead to. I get it. But it really isn't relevant. It's just verbal masturbation. The point is - when Bri and Rog do AI, it's for publicity, particularly to expose Queen's music to the next generation. These days, teenagers tend to hear new music on youtube. And they text. A lot. Put those two things together, and there are a ton of kids who learned about this old band called Queen over the last couple days. Can we at least agree on that, without it turning into a sparring match of semantics? |
| Holly2003 27.04.2012 16:55 |
Actually GF does make a good point. For every kid watching this and developing an interest in Queen;s back catalogue there are probably as many thinking "what's this shit?" And for every kid developing an interest there are probably as many older fans, casual or otherwise, just cheesed off with what Brian and Roger are up to, or bored listening once again to WWRY/WATC etc. Clearly their new record company wants them to do this stuff but not all publicity is necessarily good publicity. On balance though I would guess this will raise Queen's profile in the USA and the extravaganza is better than I thought it would be. As for the performance, I don't usually agree with Zebonka -- mostly because he's Australian and their collective heads are big enough already -- but he's spot on with his critique. Martel started off a bit rough but at times he really nailed it. |
| matt z 27.04.2012 19:54 |
I loved how their guitarist did a flip JUST LIKE BRIAN TAYLOR!!! Their drummer was almost as good as john Mercury! I only wish Freddy May was stil around to see this!!! I LOVE YOU FREDDY FOREVER!!!! ^get used to seeing stuff like this from now on^ Anyways someone mentioned Queen being a global phenomenon....they've ALWAYS been that! The only thing you have noticed recently is the market saturation. And yeah, saw that commerical around February..someone"s invested a grip of $$$ into north american promotion I even just heard it on a local AM radio show "Mason and Ireland" And they just promoted pop boob Justin Bieber about two weeks ago on a live play by play (supposedly he IS an NBA fan, and has played in celebrity ball games...but why??) Anyways...it was interesting. First time I've heard somebody VAMP Somebody to Love as if it were broadway -_- If that's the case, they're not aiming to get back the rock crown... They're aiming for the big buck musical going crowd...not the average joe nobody. Which would be their redemption... Be that as it may... They've got a new audience. That's cool. I just wish they would record something new. I'm afraid I might be one day snickering and saying : Man... They aren't **** without Freddie... Freddies the band. Someone called it toxic GLEEIFICATION... Oh well... Maybe I'm just in a bad mood. I'll still go see it if I can scratch up enough bread. |
| queenUSA 27.04.2012 19:54 |
For me, I felt they were not introduced properly last night. These folks have been living and breathing this stuff 24/7. Who are they? Let's meet them. A brief intro package could and should have been attempted to have shown the process, meet those selected. Find out how they came into Queen. All that stuff. A proper introduction. Is that really so hard? Who is this guy singing? Let's meet Marc (and Jennifer for that matter - she's so mysterious ... Was that her on stage, the one with the back tattoo?). I digress. My 2nd point. I loathe the word "extravaganza." It makes me think of the following: 1). Macy's one day sale advert 2). Furniture store closing - all items must go. 80% off, etc. Music does not come immediately to mind - despite the very clear definition in the dictionary. Why is that? I don't know. I'm not in charge of the how and why of language. It just doesn't. Who uses the dictionary to look up extravaganza? To that point, i feel it could of used a better naming convention/marketing team. I would have hired a specialty American advertising firm to collaborate with and help develop a crossover name with greater care and more appeal to the music going American scene. It has to be tailored to modern American consumption - that's just reality when touring major U.S. Cities. Extravaganza is not a common speech term for us yanks - too fussy of a word and spelling effort (yes because we are lazy and impatient and created texting to shorten words - not lengthen them!) Spelling rant over. Please understand, I want this project to be a success. I want everything Queen does to be a success. That's where I'm coming from - no disrespect, just honest feedback. And I should have spoken up earlier, and that's on me. |
| matt z 27.04.2012 20:11 |
Donna13 wrote: It was fun. Too bad they are not using bigger venues for the tour. In the 1970's Queen was never on TV in the USA. I am glad they are finally getting the TV exposure they should have always had. I want everyone to know Queen's music. All generations. It is part of music history now, and I think the USA really missed out while Freddie was alive so it is still a new discovery for some people. The producers of American Idol are British and that is why we are finally having good exposure of Queen on American TV. Thank goodness for that.Well, to be a geek. Their most prominent US coverage was obviously their appearance on SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE Where they performed CRAZY LITTLE THING + UNDER PRESSURE. Aside from that there was a Brian May Band appearance on high rated goon Jay Leno's Tonight Show. Before that...some huge fans have documented a few mini documentaries of the band while touring the north eastern states. But those were mainly relegated to "in local news" status. Finally; the last stuff I know about are some 2-5 minute interviews prior to a new tour which were on Entertainment tonight. |
| Leonardo Venegas 27.04.2012 21:31 |
Here's a video of new generations enjoying Queen, this probably happens because good publicity or because this guy is a Queen fan who is teaching their children how great music sounds like! link |
| tomchristie22 28.04.2012 08:29 |
I agree mostly with Zebonka, the guitarists weren't far above average to begin with, and their wanky antics didn't help. The backup singers were awful. I liked everything else though. |
| john bodega 28.04.2012 09:06 |
I 'spose it's only fair that I elaborate. Somebody to Love has a wonderful solo in it, but I mean it's not his hardest one to play - by far. It doesn't justify too much grandstanding, especially when it compromises them actually getting it bang-on accurate - which, by their ability, it sounds like they'd be able to do. It's TV, though - a different beast. They obviously want to make an impression, and that's their way of doing it. |
| brunogorski 28.04.2012 09:49 |
Well, it was pretty coo- OH WAIT, WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THE GUITAR SOLO?! O_O |
| Daniel Nester 28.04.2012 12:27 |
The Read Wizard FTW. Although Zebonka is right about the harmony vocals. Could be/should be much better. I think I'll see them in Philly with my nephews... |
| GratefulFan 28.04.2012 16:32 |
The Real Wizard wrote: GratefulFan, Sometimes you are so bang on, but other times you say a whole lot but say a whole lot of nothing. This is unfortunately one of the latter. Like I said, this is not a debate of numbers. No need to nitpick my posts by saying I wasn't able to count exactly how many kids watched Queen videos on youtube today. Obviously nobody can acquire the data to do that arithmetic. And no need to bring up outlandish possibilities either. Of course I realize people of all ages watch AI and that there are an infinite number of possibilities of what exposure to a new song could lead to. I get it. But it really isn't relevant. It's just verbal masturbation. The point is - when Bri and Rog do AI, it's for publicity, particularly to expose Queen's music to the next generation. These days, teenagers tend to hear new music on youtube. And they text. A lot. Put those two things together, and there are a ton of kids who learned about this old band called Queen over the last couple days. Can we at least agree on that, without it turning into a sparring match of semantics? The problem is not whether it was a million or five hundred thousand or twenty-eight. The problem is that you, and others, have become so accustomed to the arrogant practice of dismissing people that disagree with you as 'whiners' and 'complainers' that you don't even perceive any need to justify your crappy arguments with anything more sustantial than air and fake numbers like 'a million'. And 'a million' is a special fake number isn't it, meant to impart both weight and magnitude to the piece of fluff you're presenting as an axiom: that 'Bri' and 'Rog' are there to 'promote their music to the next generation', like it's some kind of humanitarian mission. The only thing we can know for sure it that they were there to promote ticket sales for the Extravaganza, and that it fits into a general pattern of these kinds of appearances and gimmicks being related to the desire to shift product of some kind, on behalf of either themselves or their record companies. Like all advertisers, they primarily want access to the flush decision making adult demographic, not tweens. Perfectly legitimate music business practice of course that can likely only benefit the immediate goals, but the overall effect on the legacy long term is most certainly up for debate. That is, your idea that the 'whiners' and 'complainers' either have to come up with some alternative for 'Bri' and 'Rog' to 'share their music with the next generation' or shut up, is crap. There is an opportunity cost to everything, and appearing on a largely cheesy talent show is no exception. People are unlikely to get away with stifling alternative viewpoints and discussions by dimishing people as 'whiners' and 'complainers' very often going forward because people just as thoughful and invested as they are are just tired to death of it. So if you use it, plan to defend it. That and your crackpot numbers too. |
| Queen4ever13 30.04.2012 10:04 |
I thought I might see them when they came to my area but after seeing them on AI thought their performance was mediocre, Martel was better in a room alone on his you tube video, the rest of the band unimpressive, just not worth going to see. I believe at some point old age makes you try to recapture your youth and this is the result. It's no Extravaganza. |
| GratefulFan 30.04.2012 12:23 |
Even from the Ellen performance it became apparent that Martel singing in his room on tape and Martel singing live were not going to be quite the same thing. There's no question he's talented and suited for the job, but I guess I didn't expect so many rough spots at this stage of things, on that song, that is a 'signature' of sorts for him, and the Extravaganza. If they stay cohesive personally and professionally they can likely only get better with practice and reduced nerves. The biggest challenge for any serious Queen tribute is capturing the power of those three voices and the harmonies they produced. In this case that has lead to four singers on the stage in addition to all the musicians. If STL on Idol is any guide that will lead to cheesy musical style moves like each of them dancing around and singing a line or two in parts. Yvan Pedneault is right from the Canadian version of WWRY, and so is Tristan Avakian, so those sensibilities are already there and clearly directly sought by somebody. Tristan auditioned, but they went and got Pedneault all on their own. If it was local I'd almost certainly go for the inevitable good spots, but gas to Toronto and back and accommodations and food and all that jazz is just not in the cards for something that there is a very real risk of me cringing through. |
| freddiefan91 01.05.2012 02:51 |
The man singing somebody to love does not have a very good singing voice |
| Rubbersuit 03.05.2012 13:36 |
Just watched it. It was far worse than I imagined it would be. I thought Martel could sing better than that. Still better than +Lambert though. |
| waunakonor 05.05.2012 23:44 |
Dammit, I'm really trying to get a feel for what this is like, but I missed the American Idol thing and now those videos aren't up because of stupid copyright crap, so I don't know what to think about them because I haven't seen them! My problem right now is that when I first heard about this I thought it was something completely different from what it really is, and when I told my family about this thing they were totally on board right away and ready to buy tickets (for the whole family) before I even got a chance to do a little more research into it. Now I feel like the whole thing is going to be a stupid waste of time, but there's no way to know for sure until the thing starts up (I'm going to Detroit on May 31st, only a few days after the tour starts). A lot of me is unhealthily pessimistic of how this is going to turn out, but there's always the optimist in me saying that it might actually be somewhat worth watching. Mainly, I'm just excited to see what the setlist is, and all I really want to do is be a apart of the wonderful chorus singing along to Love of My Life, even if it's not Freddie Mercury leading it! (If they don't do LoML right, I am going to be super pissed off). As it is, I'm going whether I really want to or not, so it had better not suck. |
| inu-liger 06.05.2012 01:15 |
@waunakonor ... here you go: http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?3mts99c2hrmftij |
| waunakonor 06.05.2012 18:04 |
Thanks, inu-liger! Honestly...I kind of like it. The singer gets the job done well enough. I sort of agree with Zebonka that the guitar could be better, but for some reason it just doesn't bother me that much. Also, I hear no problem with the backup singers; they sound pretty good to me. I'm actually feeling optimistic about this now. |
| GratefulFan 06.05.2012 18:24 |
I suspect the backup singers are not really traditional backup singers. Both JSS and Yvan Pedneault previously held lead roles performing Queen material and it's unlikely they'll be relegated to support for Marc Martel for all selections. They'll probably each feature on songs best suited to their skills. It will be interesting to see how they use Jennifer Espinoza. |
| Gregsynth 14.05.2012 18:02 |
I'll be seeing Queen Extravaganza on May 31st (hello waunakonor)! |
