Kiiiii @ a lot of the things he praised about Bey being things Mimi put her stamp on years prior (she's queen of high tempo singing).
Although, I can't find an example of Mimi modulating like Bey does at the end of Love on Top. Not that she couldn't, but did she ever do that in a song?
Let me go watch this other video.
Mariah, queen of high tempo singing? I'm actually struggling to think of something as fast-paced as Babs'
Jingle Bells (or Piano Practicing, though that was taken off YT).
And I don't think Mariah has any songs where she modulates multiple times like Bey did. She might, though. She has a lot of songs in her catalog, and certainly has the range and technical ability to pull it off. This does remind me, though:
The first example, "
Di fronte all'amore," might well be considered the mother of all pop arias. Though "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me (originally "Io che non vivo piu ei un ora senza te") was to become the biggest chart success of Dusty's career, her relatively unknown recording of "Di fronte all'amore" is an equally affecting model of the melodramatic pop aria genre. In terms of the two features previously mentioned - strategically placed modulations and the threat of vocal collapse - "Di fronte all'amore" displays their clearest, most concentrated, and most thrilling use. Literally packed with modulations, the song's first section (an AABA design) begins in Bb minor and circles back to it by 1:32 after traveling through three other key areas: to B minor at 0:27, to C minor at 0:50, and to F minor at 1:09. The Bb minor "middle eight" instrumental section (1:32 to 1:53) serves as a tonal bridge both closing off the first section and providing a launch for the second. Section two (BA) would seem to be reenacting the modulation sequence of section one, but the tonal scheme has been truncated (gasp!), and we lunge into F minor without first going through C minor. It looks like this: Bbm -> Bm -> Cm -> Fm -> Bbm -> Bm -> Fm (middle eight in italics). The overall effect of this large number of modulations within such a short time span is one of dangerously escalating tension and instability, with an element of extreme urgency added by part two's truncation. A spectacular congruence of dramatic elements occurs between 2:10 and 2:16: It is here that we leap over C minor, reach the highest point of the melody (c") on the word pero [but], and become aware that the voice has been driven by the modulations to the very end of its range and is starting to crack. The singer hurtles into the song's final line and highest notes, imploring, "non avere paura di me" [don't be afraid of me], with an orchestra playing at full volume and crashing timpani announcing an equally crashing silence at 2:38, directly before the cadential "di me." On this vocal precipice and with the singer's previously repressed emotions now on full sonic display, we are held at full throttle until the very end of the song.
So many modulations. Dusty. <3
OMG - this lady is higher level stanning. She's about to start crying talking about "I Will Always Love You"...
Beverly Knight's Vocal Runs, Riffs, and Melismatic Phrases (Studio), if you haven't heard her before.
I haven't taken the time to explore her music, but she's on my list.