The Divas (A Discussion)

[thevoiceswimmer]

Hi guys, throughout this season I have had one issue with Toneshia. I personally find her super boring. Don't get me wrong, she's very talented, but she seems bland to me. I have found almost every adult diva (this excludes teens such as We, Shalyah, and Kennedy) in the Live Rounds to be more interesting. 

Like I think Rose, Kymberli, Kyla, Keisha, Janice, Vanessa, Sa'Rayah, Ali, Regina, Sasha, Sisaundra, Kimberly, India, Sharane, Dana , Amanda, Tessanne, DaNica >>> Toneshia

The only one I feel she tops is Courtney Harrell, but only after her live show flop.

Does anyone else feel this way? Feel free to rank, discuss shortcomings, robberies on this forum. Stay healthy!!

[FloorWax]

I agree. She's a totally solid vocalist but her performances aren't very exciting to watch. She's my least favorite diva that I've seen on the show.

 

 

[indii]

Eh, I’ve enjoyed her performances. Don’t get the divas all constantly being compared to each other. For the most part, I like them all.

Edited May 19, 2020 by indii

[QueenMae16]

Toneisha has been underwhelming this whole competition. Her story is what really drove her to the finale, nothing special especially compared to queens Kyla/Rose/Kymberli/Amanda/Janice/Keisha/Vanessa/Sasha etc.

[longtimelurker]

My take is that we mostly expect from and associate 'divas' like Toneisha with big, belty, showstopper notes. And most of the time, the divas give us exactly that and more (sometimes too much), but Toneisha just doesn't. Her singing style is very subdued compared to the ones you mentioned, and it could be because she doesn't have an as strong high register except for her head voice/whistle. She usually prefers singing lower with a darker, richer tone, which I think is technically fine, but doesn't make for memorable moments.   

[joe14]

I mean they are performing at home so I mean there isn't much they can do. That is probably half the reason you find her boring. She also comes off a little older and old fashioned. Her stylistic choices and just the overall way she carries herself denotes someone who has been performing for years. However, not all black women are divas lol. I would not classify India, Amanda, Kimberly or Vanessa as divas. Even Keisha is pushing it since she mainly did country on the show.

 

Someone above also said it. She is vocally more subdued than a lot of those woman. I personally feel she has more control over her voice than a lot of the women mentioned but yeah since she isn't doing the super high notes it can come off as less interesting. 

Edited May 19, 2020 by joe14

[Maxwell]

Toneisha peaked at her knockout.

[Archanium]

Toneisha is probably the oldest out of them all (I am too lazy to check). She is still a great vocalist, but I feel like she already past her prime.

Also, this live-at-home format didn't help her at all. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[MatthewPalermo]

Toneisha was one of my favorites this season don't get me wrong.

 

But yeah she was one of the weaker divas for sure. I feel like in all of her performances I was waiting for a crazy session of powerful notes and they never came. 

[sydneysam]

The thing with Toneisha is that she doesn't have that crazy high range that can belt like Kyla, Kymberli, etc. which makes her performances boring. It's also not only that, don't get me wrong, I do love Toneisha but for me there's nothing extraordinary about her, she do have soul though but she's just typical. And if I'm being honest, she would've not advanced to the Finale without her story.

 

I always feel like her performances lack something, maybe that stage presence is also one, but it's acceptable since they're at home. One thing too is her decisions in how she handles her notes when performing, she always likes to stay down there instead of pushing it through up there.

[sneaky]

I actually prefer Toneisha's style over the straight up church style of someone like Kymberli or Kyla.

 

Her style and look is a little old fashioned so she wont be too successful in the industry but no one from this show is.

[antikid]

The short season and these remote live shows kinda hurt Toneisha in my mind so it's hard to compare her to three most mentioned divas in this thread. It might be the recency bias but I enjoyed Rose's run on the show the most. Not taking away from Kyla and Kymberli, I think they did well each week and had great performance but there are only two performance from each I'd replay when casually listening to music while I would have no problem listening to any of Rose's performances on repeat. 

[Daillon]

Her problem is that she gives the impression of being able to doing more than she actually can.

[eidi]

At least haters can't call her a screamer

[Rat!]

Toneisha is a very skilled vocalist. She's just a case of way too much restraint. Her vocal ability doesn't manifest in high notes that the majority of people are seeking when they think of vocal prowess (and that is the case because a belted high note is easy to notice and appreciate, as opposed to a clean and appropriately done run or good vibrato). Her knockout shows that she is more than a capable vocalist but her run on this show was just her showing offgood fundamentals underlying karaoke covers. There were no blatantly exciting moments to latch onto with her.

 

While she most certainly could and should have done more, it's not really her fault she didn't live up to others' predisposed standards.

Edited May 20, 2020 by Rat!