I'm guessing that's their point. JA had no choice in what's happened to her while others have chosen to damage their voices, which could seem unfair. But really, I don't see making those comparisons as a practical way to live. We are all living under different circumstances and we make our decisions based on that, not on other people's circumstances. It's like people who get angry because they can't have children, while their are women out there having abortions. One thing really has nothing to do with the other.

It shouldn't have to do with the other but sometimes there must be resentment. There are so many singers who don't take care of their voices and pay the price. I guess you could say Julie also made mistakes (overstressing her voice thanks to Blake Edwards and that mistaken revival of Victor/Victoria), but most of the real damage was from that botched operation. I guess I was thinking of Julie Andrews because she was flayed alive in the press for her poor concert appearance last week.

Edited May 15, 201015 yr by CarlD2

It's that I just can't imagine Julie seething, although she doesn't look like a very pleasant person. There was always something "off" about her, something I did not like.

I thought Carl was saying: She too smoked and lost it all whereas these two smoked too, but are in pretty good shape nonetheless.

It shouldn't have to do with the other but sometimes there must be resentment. There are so many singers who don't take care of their voices and pay the price. I guess you could say Julie also made mistakes (overstressing her voice thanks to Blake Edwards and that mistaken revival of Victor/Victoria), but most of the real damage was from that botched operation. I guess I was thinking of Julie Andrews because she was flayed alive in the press for her poor concert appearance last week.

I didn't see anything about that, but it's definitely unfair. She deserves credit for even trying. I'm pretty sure at one point they told her she would never sing again at all.

When it comes to Dionne Warwick though, I think she sounds damn good for a 70 year old.

I didn't see anything about that, but it's definitely unfair. She deserves credit for even trying. I'm pretty sure at one point they told her she would never sing again at all.

When it comes to Dionne Warwick though, I think she sounds damn good for a 70 year old.

Julie had a concert appearance in the UK and she said ahead of time in promotion for the concert that she wouldn't be doing a lot of singing and that part of her concert would be focused on a children's book she's involved with. Yet when this happened, there was a lot of focus on how people were disappointed, people walked out, what a failure, what was she thinking, like she'd tried to con people.

I think the thing with Dionne is her voice was so unique. She never had a big voice but she had a very distinctive, lyrical voice, she could build up to notes which were effective and told the story. I don't think she can do that now, and that sort of takes away from most of her best songs.

The last time I heard Chaka Khan she was the same way. Her voice, which was her strongest feature, seemed to be gone.

Judy Garland had lost a lot of her voice but by her last years she was so known for her troubles and her weird charisma that it didn't matter as much.

Patti Labelle seems to have kept most of her voice intact.

One thing really has nothing to do with the other.

It shouldn't have to do with the other but sometimes there must be resentment.

Theodicy. The eternal question.

I think a lot of it has to do with genetics, some singers just have cords of steel. In Whitney's case, she only had to look to her mom and cousin to see what the ciggies had in store for her. Cissy's the only one who hasn't taken a huge hit, I mean I'm sure a part of her wishes she could still hit the operatic notes she backed Aretha with in this classic:

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but her life's work has been belting out throaty Sunday morning vocals at New Hope Baptist Church in Newark.

Then you have ladies like Sarah Vaughan and Carmen McRae, smoking took their lives, but not their voices.

Other ladies like Dames Shirley Bassey and Cleo Laine have lost their top registers, but have kept their voices in marvelous shape well into their seventies and eighties. Even if Shirley said in her youth that she enjoys a menthol cigarette after singins as it's "good for the throat." Oh Shirrrleyyy...

Aretha smokes too right?

Don't know if she still does, but I've heard that she smoked at least up until recent years. I've seen film of her smoking back in her twenties when she and her sister were composing/recording.

Here's Dionne puffin':

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Aretha smokin' and talkin' soaps :

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Okay, now back to people cuttin' up their faces.

Edited May 16, 201015 yr by SFK

Love this thread! DaytimeFan, you're always interesting, and I love your love for Joan Collins

Just to pick your brain and add to discussion... I think Kristian Alfonso (Hope, DAYS) remains one of daytime's most beautiful ladies. True, she would look even better with a couple extra pounds (she looked perfect in 2002 when her face filled out a little more due to her pregnancy). Is Alfonso a natural beauty or do you see any nips or tucks evident?

I just love Joan Collins! Here she is in St Tropez last week:

Kristian Alfonso has always been a striking woman and I don't think she's done anything, surgically, to her face. But Botox injections are something she is intimately involved with, she doesn't have a damn line on her face! But what keeps her looking natural is that her eye area is crinkly, which helps. She has very good Italian skin, properly cared for, it ages beautifully. She has, however, had breast implants installed. A woman as thin as she is couldn't possibly have cleavage any other way.

She really does look better with an extra 15 pounds on her.

I don't know what I love more: Joan Collins, or Joan Collins' handbag.

Shirley Bassey sounds pretty good for 73

No one's voice has held up as well as hers. If she wants a cigarette, well done Shirley and you deserve it.

Well at this point she could certainly get away with a puff or two, and I wouldn't doubt that she's maybe smoked a little socially over the years. But for the most part, she's fiercely protective of her voice. She'd never been professionally trained, and when she went to sing the first note one night and nothing came out she thought she was over and immediately sought help from a vocal coach. She learned classical technique and to this day does extensive operatic vocal excercises in her posh Monte Carlo apartment (I love it when I talk all Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous ). She and Joan have been pals for years BTW, and on-topic, Shirley had a facelift in the early '90s.

Shirley Bassey has the most amazing voice, she's taken immaculate care of herself and it shows.

Yes, Shirley lives in Roccabella, the most fabulous condo building in Monaco. Ringo Starr lives in the building too, as do billionaires Phillip and Tina Green.

And yes, Shirley had one helluva facelift in the early 90s and she's held up really, really, fantastically. One of the best facelifts I've seen to be honest. She and Joan have been friends since the 50s (Joan's father was at one time Shirley's theatrical booking agent), perhaps Joan gave Shirley Ivo's card.

Damn!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1279525/Igor--Grichka-Bogdanoff-French-twins-unrecognisable-plastic-surgery.html