To think Celeste ruined what should have been a brilliant moment?

[beachtimeagain]

Queens Jubilee Concert - What a Wonderful World.

I mean, that's supposed to be a happy soulful song. She shouted it and didn't smile once. Such a shame

@mustlovegin so in all honesty I have mixed feelings about that. I don't think it's wrong for them to perform as of course they are musicians in their own right! Roger has his new album and I'm happy for him - it's not that I would expect their lives as musicians to end when Freddie died. That was thirty years ago! It's just that I feel discomfort around them (in my opinion) exploiting him. I know not everyone will agree on that! And I don't expect universal agreement. But certainly also don't think they shouldn't perform at all. I know it is complex 🤗

I do not see it as exploiting. Surely the greatest tribute to any musician is that their band find a way to carry on playing their music. If Queen had folded when Freddie died or any other band never replaced musicians that left or passed away, they’d be forgotten. This way the music was part of a huge celebration and lives on. Chill the fekk out.

I had never heard of Adam Lambert until I saw they were touring in my city. I absolutely loved the performance, especially the Queen's contribution with her tea cup! And the drummers joining in. I watched it 3 or 4 times already! I thought Adam looked incredible, I loved his look. I also love that they are keeping Freddie's music alive. Brian May looked so happy, I loved everything about it.

Celeste - again I hadn't heard of her, I have a specific taste in music and don't venture outside of it. I was excited as she looked so incredible but the performance wasn't great, but as others said I am willing to believe it was down to sound issues. I hated the arrangement of the song though, I just didn't think it worked in anyway. Didn't put me off her, I intend to listen to some of her own work, hopefully others will too.

Rod Stewart and sweet caroline - absolutely ridiculous, whoever suggested that needs firing.

Diana Ross - I actually enjoyed seeing her. And Alicia Keys was the star of the show for me, was so glad she was there - what a performance!

@NosyJosie oh, actually I agree about the music being part of the jubilee! I was speaking more generally, about Brian and Roger and Adam Lambert. Freddie would have been pleased that their music was part of the Jubilee, I'm sure.

Remember the last jubilee concert? He sounded like he'd left his false teeth by the bed and borrowed someone else's. It was embarrassing, so going pre-recorded was a good choice!

it’s pretty disingenuous to imply he’s doing Queen some massive favour by gracing them with his presence as a “star in his own right”

I don't think it is that. It's a thing he does, alongside other things, and it benefits them both. Everyone involved sensibly doesn't want accusations of him trying to be the new Freddie/replace Freddie or for him to be an integral part of the band. So it's what works best. Are you saying a singer shouldn't want their name to be publicised? He can't win can he?

I listened to the concert after reading this thread. Celeste wasn't singing badly but I think the arrangement was in too high a key for her natural vocal range. They should have transposed down a couple of intervals. The brass section also seemed to go into overdrive and overwhelmed her voice a bit, perhaps affecting her being able to hear herself which is incredibly important for getting the notes right.

It's 48 hours later and I'm still thinking about how awful Celeste was.

I find that style of singing hard to define but it's ubiquitous now and that makes me hit mute on anybody that has that sound. It's just so try-hard and affected.

No . Without any doubt the sound of music number was the worse. Those women were literally screaming. Not in tune with each other. It was so awful I had to turn sound off. I know it is supposed to be an incredibly hard song to sing- they weren’t up to it. Any more than rod was.
the whole thing was a few good performances mingled in with awful car crash performance.

I never heard of him till tuning in…I thought his voice was painfully uncontrolled vs Freddy. Ok, Freddy was unique…but he didn’t even have an ounce of charisma needed to carry it through. Just an average performer showing why very few people can pull off those songs.

Can we talk some more about how amazing Sam Ryder was? He's so joyful!

Agree and sweet Caroline didn't work with his voice

I just put Glastonbury 2025 on BBC2 and watched Celeste for the first time ever. I don’t know how she ever was accepted, she’s singing off key and flat a lot. Rubbish!!