Thursday, May 22, 2008

The Two David's

As long as the performance of popular music remainswedded to those lip-brushing microphones, I don'tsee how it can be taken seriously, especially by thosewho claim to be lovers of the art of singing. The issueis not the necessity of making small non-classical ornon- operatic voices heard without amplification. As Iunderstand it, all the necessary amplification can beprovided without visible mikes. It's been many yearssince we watched Judy Garland with that hand heldmonster trailing a long thick cable across the stage;very effective - for Judy - , but even then one had towonder if it wasn't just a prop. If shows on broadway canbe miked inconspicuously, [wether they shouldor not is another topic] why can't individuals like thecontestants on American Idol and other TV shows"let it all hang out" and allow us to see what they looklike while they sing. There is something so distinctlyerotic about the use of so phallic an object that I amalways surprised that the practice has become theconvention it has. And if it really isn't needed in atechnological way, I for one wish the mike would getlost.

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