The end of the semester and DG9005 has arrived so soon and I can’t believe I’ll be bidding this module goodbye very soon! The past few weeks have been really fun and eye-opening and I have no regrets signing up for this module at the start of the sem.
When it came down to picking a song I wanted to do for Presentation 2, I decided to do one of my all-time favourites, At Last, a slow and jazzy ballad by Etta James. I first fell in love with this song when it was covered by Beyoncé when she sang it at Barack Obama’s inauguration. The song has also been covered by many other artistes including Christina Aguilera and Jessie J.
I practiced the song many times leading up to Presentation Day, mostly with my close friends recording me so I could firstly play it back and hear what I was doing right or wrong and also get their feedback on my vocal arrangement.
Unfortunately, about 4 days prior to the performance, I fell really ill and had a horrible cough and throat. I loaded up on Four Legs cooling water, grass jelly drinks and refrained from spicy or oily food and recovered just enough to make it through the song (thank God!) on the day itself.
Not my best (and I’ll explain why later) but here goes:
Self-evaluation:
First off, I felt that there was an overall shortness of breath in some parts (including the opening note) and my voice was a little shaky. Not gonna make excuses and blame the phlegm but I guess a learning point here would really to ensure to take in a sufficient amount of air and really control that diaphragm to ensure a steady release.
I also felt that although I had spent a significant amount of time warming up prior to the performance, it wasn’t enough and my high notes got a little ‘shouty‘ especially at 1:34 and 1:52.
What I did like about my performance were the falsetto notes at the end and I guess the biggest positive point was that I genuinely had fun performing on that stage.
It’s a pity that DG9005 has come to an end but the lessons and tips / techniques that have been taught to us by Leona will always come in handy whenever I get to perform again. Super proud of everyone in Dulce for excelling and improving greatly!