Big Machine Records CEO Scott Borchetta came to Taylor Swift‘s defense earlier regarding her very pitchy performance at the Grammys this past Sunday. While doing so, he also took a shot at American Idol saying:
“This is not ‘American Idol.’ This is not a competition of getting up and seeing who can sing the highest note. This is about a true artist and writer and communicator. It’s not about that technically perfect performance.
Maybe she’s not the best technical singer, but she’s probably the best emotional singer because everybody else who gets up there and is technically perfect, people don’t seem to want more of it.”
Seems that the first American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson took an offense to his remarks and responded in an open letter to him on her blog:
Wow …..Dear Scott Borchetta,
I understand defending your artist obviously because I have done the same in the past for artists I like, including Taylor, so you might see why its upsetting to read you attacking American Idol for producing simply vocalists that hit ‘the high notes’. Thank you for that ‘Captain Obvious’ sense of humor because you know what, we not only hit the high notes, you forgot to mention we generally hit the ‘right’ notes as well. Every artist has a bad performance or two and that is understandable, but throwing blame will not make the situation at hand any better. I have been criticized left and right for having shaky performances before (and they were shaky) and what my manager or label executives say to me and the public is “I’ll kick butt next time” or “every performance isn’t going to be perfect” ……I bring this up because you should take a lesson from these people and instead of lashing out at other artists (that in your ‘humble’ opinion lack true artistry), you should simply take a breath and realize that sometimes things won’t go according to plan or work out and that’s okay.
Sincerely,
One of those contestants from American Idol who only made it because of her high notes
We completely agree with Kelly on this one. And was Mr. Borchetta serious in calling Taylor the “best emotional singer?” *side eye* How emotional can you get when singing about fairy tales and being fifteen? He must have not watched the same Grammy performance we did because no one seemed to “want more of it.”
