A Swift Backlash: Will Taylor's Album of the Year Grammy Hurt Her?

By PopEater Staff Posted Feb 1st 2010 01:20PM

Taylor Swift has been the music industry's golden girl ever since Kanye West jumped on the stage at the VMAs and interrupted her win for best female video. (And maybe even before.)

But will her incredible run atop of everyone's lists end soon? Last night at the Grammys, Swift took home the album of the year Grammy, surprisingly beating out Lady Gaga and Beyonce. And Swift's 'Fearless' really pales in comparison to Gaga's 'The Fame' and Beyonce's 'I Am ... Sasha Fierce.'

Swift prides herself as being a country princess who writes all of her songs and plays the instruments to accompany them. (Kudos for that is surely deserved.) But when her album beats out those more deserving, and her live performances are clearly lacking, we wonder what will happen next.

Since Kanyegate, everyone's been cheering her on. But will that end now that she's won awards she may or may not deserve?

Upon accepting album of the year, Swift didn't even thank the other nominees, as is standard in most speeches, she just rambled on about how much the award meant to her -- a move that could further condemn her in the industry's eyes.

It seems as if our readers have already turned on her. More than a few Facebook commenters were not happy about her triumphs..

"This is a sympathy-win for all the drama created by Kanye. I guess if there are any other struggling artists who want to win, they know who to call!" Stephenie N. wrote.

Adding to her undeserved bulging trophy case is the fact that Swift has yet to wow us with her live performances. She seemed terribly nervous and her voice wobbly at the Grammys when she sang with Stevie Nicks on 'Rhiannon' and 'You Belong With Me.' Listen

Next to Nicks, Swift looked and sounded like a terrified kitten who wandered up on the stage. And watching Lady Gaga and Beyonce dominate vocally reinforces Swift's own shortcomings.

PopEater fans agree. "As much as I love Taylor Swift...she continues to be HORRIBLE live! No power in her voice, she misses all the high notes, ugh...its embarassing [sic] watching Taylor win ALL these awards, only to see her perform terribly! And really Stevie?! You lowered yourself to sing BACK UP for that tripe? You're so much better than that..." JosieGrosie commented.

But you can't just chalk that up to nerves on a big night, because other times she's been just as bad. Her 'SNL' performances weren't up to par. Listen

Maybe you could have blamed her iffy VMAs showing on Kanye's mic-stealing, but considering her track record, we won't let her off the hook for this one. Listen

A string of more bad live performances coupled with big award achievements may hurt Swift in the long run. You can only ride the Kanye-train for so long, Taylor.

Tags: beyonce, Fearless, grammys, i am ... sasha fierce, kanye west, Lady Gaga, taylor swift, The Fame

Comments

(1376)

Monday 01 February

By Glenda

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For JM: Put the crack pipe down!

By Fimainc

What the hell are you talking about you non-talented wouldn't know a good voice if it bit you on the ass air-head! Beyonce and Lady GaGa sing live without autotuned enhanced sound on their voices. Unlike your little Miss Swift who could probably use a good "Tune-Up!" Live performance speaking as I'm quite sure that was her au-natural voice in the sutdio. "My Ass!" Maybe Kanye wasn't such an idiot after all, huh?

By sieben13

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Joke of the YEAR

By Steve

And you call what Taylor Swift does SINGING????

By Cami

BAHAHAHA THATS HILARIOUS!! CLEARLY YOU'VE NEVER HEARD TAYLOR SWIFT LIVE?!?!?! I HEARD HER IN 2007 AND SHE WAS TERRIBLE!!!! I SAW HER WITH BRAD PAISLEY AND KELLIE PICKLER WHO WERE ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. THERE IS NO DOUBT IN MY MIND THAT TAYLOR SWIFTS MUSIC IS ENHANCED BY SOME FORM OF TECHNOLOGY. LOOK AT HER GRAMMY PERFORMANCE. SHES TERRIBLE!!!!

By beth is back

GO Taylor!!!!!! And you haters need to RELAX.......

Tuesday 02 February

By cecelia

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Are you serious??? The ONLY reason why Taylor sounds like anything is because she's auto-tuned....as evidenced by ALL of her live performances-out of tune.
She can't sing. She has minimal talent playing the guitar. Kanye did her a favor. Now we need him to pick the next star and do them a favor....TAYLOR SUCKS!!!!! And she shouldn't have won best anything last nite.

By peter trauth

I'm an ex-music industry insider otherwise I wouldn't have given my real name to this outburst. Swift is such a farse it's embarrasing for me to watch her. She might be able to write a decent tune but her musical talent performance wise is a total joke; equal to a "Hilary Duff" type corporate disney invention. I'm just shocked that with her obvious lack of talent that she wins all these awards. It makes a scam out of todays country music industry to the extent of being behond laughable.
The "Treeve"

By Willie

SHE NEED AUTO ENHANCEMENT AND ANY OTHER KIND OF HELP SHE CAN GET....THE CHILD CANNOT CARRY A TUNE..LADY GAGA AND BEYONCE ARE TRUE ARTISTS

By ladyadelon

exactly. Dave Matthews really ought to have gotten Album of the year, but at least it wasn't Beyonce or Gaga. I can get behind Beyonce's best female vocals because she has some AMAZING pipes, but PUT A RING ON IT should NOT have won song of the year.

Overall, the Grammy's just made me lose all faith in the music industry. Popularity doesn't equal musical prowess. But according to the Grammys, it must.

By Morgan

Growing up in the music industry and on stage, I know how hard it is to make it in this industry. There are unfortunately millions of TRUE TALENT out there, that just aren't heard, or they can't buy their way in. It is sad to see a cute girl, that they can package and make her appear as a fairytale, but also a girl that has serious pitch issues. Lady GaGa, Beyonce, and 99% of the industry deserved the awards over her. She is not a performer, nor a singer, and from what I hear, she doesn't write alone either. What kind of role model is that for all her younger fans? A lie in the studio on her albums due to auto tuning, etc.... and it shows in true live performances, I truly felt for one of my all time fav's, Stevie Nicks, it was sad to see her have to share the stage with such an awful pitchy performance. It is time to get rid of the bubble gum bs and get REAL TALENT, like Jennifer Hudson, Carrie Underwood, etc... I represent 12 yr olds that sing better than Taylor! Cuteness can only get you so far, at least realisticaly....as we know, money isn't everything.

By Heather

Lady Gaga & Beyonce don't use autotune in their live performances, EVER. Are you tone deaf, or just deaf? Either way you have no earthly idea what you're talking about. Taylor is a sweet girl, and everything, but she SEVERELY lacks on the vocal department. I will never understand why/how she got a record deal, sure she's cute/bubbly, but she really didn't deserve it.

I mean I can imagine being Beyonce & Lady GaGa and knowing they were beat out by her and just cringe. It's gotten to be severely annoying at this point. If you can't sing live you don't deserve these awards.

By twistone88

YOU DONT KNOW WHAT YOUR TALKING ABOUT! NONE OF THEM SING WITH AUTOTUNE, AND THAT MAY BE TAYLORS PROBLEM. MAYBE SHE SHOULD USE AUTO TUNE ON HER PERFORMANCES, 'CAUSE ON THE GRAMMIES SHE DIDNT SOUND GOOD AT ALL. SHE COULD HAVE BEEN SICK, BUT STILL, THAT GIVEING HER THE BENIFIT OF THE DOUBT. POINT IS, SHE CAN NOT! OUT SING LADY GAGA NOR BEYONCE, YOUR TRIPPEN. SHE SOOOOOOOO! NEEDS TO WORK ON HER VOICE, PERIOD.

By john key

wooooyee its for change i see nothing with winning taylor swith
earned the rights.she very brillient and down to earth so for real brings some special kind of excitement
good vives to the music world for aduts and kids who amire her
i likes all the others very much but.im impressed with her style
hope she keep it hot hot hottt

By Candizzle

Dear JM...
WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!
It has nothing to do with being white. It has to do with Kanye being dum Kanye and Taylor being pitied. But now, because she won the stupid Grammy (or whatever) she Has no reason anymore. Are you dumb?

By JACKIE

YOU REALLY DON'T KNOW MUCH ABOUT MUSIC. TAYLOR IS A SWEET GIRL THAT WRITES HER OWN MUSIC, BUT SHE CAN'T CARRY A TUNE. EVERYONE THAT SINGS IS NOT A SINGER. I SING, I'VE SANG IN CHURCH, SCHOOL CHOIRS, AND EVEN SANG WHILE MY DAD PLAYED GUITAR AT CHURCH EVENTS AND FASHION SHOWS. I CARRIED A NOTE AND COULD SING REAL WELL IN MY DAYS, AND PROBABLY COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER BY TAKING VOICE LESSONS LIKE MY FRIEND DID, BUT I DIDN'T WANT A CAREER IN SINGING. THAT GIRL NEEDS VOICE LESSONS, YOU JUST DON'T GET ON STAGE LIKE THAT. HER VOICE IS NOT STRONG TO CARRY NOTES, SHES YOUNG, AND MAYBE IN TIME, SHE WILL BE A GOOD SINGER, BUT NOT NOW. I'VE HEARD GIRLS HER AGE THAT WOULD JUST BLOW HER AWAY. IF SHE WAS ON AMERICAN IDOL SHE WOULDN'T STAND A CHANCE WITH GIRLS HER AGE. WHEN STEVIE NICKS SANG WITH HER, IT WAS A DISGRACE, TAYLOR JUST NEEDED TO SIT DOWN. IT WAS TERRIBLE, AND IF ANYONE SAYS THAT GIRL CAN SING, THEY AREN'T BEING HONEST!

Wednesday 10 February

By rbyrd

Your right Taylor sung without enhancement of AutoTune. Her songs has no tune. She sings monotone, flat, flat.

By greenchilegranny

Poor girl has no vocal range at all. Her songs are boring and uninspired. Her 15 minutes of fame will be over soon.

By suziecue2

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Finally someone who see what I see in Taylor Swift - NOTHING!!!

By HappySara

I agree and disagree with you. Yes, she does not have a great vocal range. I absolutely agree with you on that. But to say her songs arent inspirational? Well, I totally disagree. Heres why: I am going into high school next year. If you have listened to the lyrics of her song called Fifteen, they give good advice. It is telling listeners to not take love too fast when you are young. Listen, and I mean really listen and look up the lyrics on youtube or something, and I think you will agree with me.

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