If you've ever seen Bette Midler on stage in concert or on one of her TV specials -- when they used to really do musical specials that were more than just filmed concerts -- you know that The Divine Miss M knows how to put on quite a show. There are songs, dancers, hula skirts, motorized wheelchairs, weepy ballads, clackers, Soph jokes and ukuleles. And the music is all live! Currently, Bette's encamped at Caesar's Palace doing The Showgirl Must Go On. Talking about state of today's divas and referred to The Buggles song "Video Killed the Radio Star" to take a broad shot as MTV. No, she wasn't turning all prudish and complaining about the morality of MTV. No way.
It's all about the superficials, not the music. She believes that because of music videos, fans expect live performances to look like videos. Singers and musicians can't create new images using stagecraft based on the same songs because they're stifled. Midler blames it on MTV and the culture its created.
I have to admit that Bette's probably on target about this, although she really has never been what you would call an "MTV" star. Her music has never fit the MTV mold -- and they never run her videos today -- so she's been able to go on doing her multimedia shows without worrying about aping her videos.
Bette also had some advice for the likes of Miley and Britney: talk to the audience. She thinks they don't engage in enough conversation and that it would make their shows better if they told jokes and anecdotes -- like Bette does.
Here's a sample of the kind of audience participation Bette's famous for (and, no, it was not shown on MTV!):
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-06-2008 @ 6:36PM
Argus said...
"Back in my day we really knew how to put on a show, not like today's kids with all their gyrating and boob flashing, no siree bob! Today all the kids wanna do is sing? Who wants to here people sing at a concert? Its rediculous! You can listen to the radio if you want singing. Anecdotes about my seven cats however, you can only hear on stage. I'm telling you, forget some big tour, the way for Britney Spears to come back on top is to tell baby stories to her audience. Pre-teens love baby stories too!"
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8-06-2008 @ 8:06PM
khia213 said...
I've been saying the same thing for years. It's not about the ability to sing anymore. It's all about the artist as a visual product. They have to look a certain way. Whether they can sing is a secondary consideration. You almost never see any of this kind of artist perform live. they simply cannot reproduce the vocal that was created in the studio. And the ones that can, still can't do it on stage because they need backing tracks to make up for how winded they are from dancing.
Call me old school, but I like people who can stand on a stage and sing. Forget dancing. Just sing!
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8-06-2008 @ 8:11PM
Beinta said...
MTV plays videos?
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8-07-2008 @ 9:23AM
cdawg said...
I've seen Bette live at a charity event and she's spot on! She tells some of the funniest, baudiest, raunchiest jokes, and she really connects. However, sometimes I like the idea of a splashy production that mimics a video - see Kanye's live stuff.
At the same time I only go to rock concerts where the band just sits onstage and jams, so I don't know what I'm talking about.
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8-07-2008 @ 11:56AM
kevjohn said...
I just saw a Tom Waits concert last month and aside from hearing masterful live versions of his classic songs (which is pretty much ALL of his songs), the performance and audience interaction were amazing all around.
She's right. I could have sat at home and listened to his albums (and been $200 richer) if all I wanted to do was to hear him sing.
In other news, Bette's looking awesome these days! I hope she gets another tv show soon.
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8-07-2008 @ 12:50PM
Karen said...
Well, of course, to talk to the audience the way the Divine Miss M does, you kind of have to have a...personality. So, already Britney and Miley are in the hole.
Plus, c'mon: Bette honed her act in 1970s gay bath-houses, where you had to be quick with a one-liner or a response to the crowd. Britney and Miley honed their acts in production studios and in front of tweens...not the most challenging audiences.
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8-07-2008 @ 1:05PM
rick cokely said...
That's what I love about Bette, so outspoken. I think there is room for the crappy singers like Britney and Miley, but there will always be people like Bette, Whitney, and all those other "divas" that can sing and have personallity that will *always* outshine the studio made singers.
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