Dramatic pause and cathartic wail. They’re just two of the many tricks and tactics singers have in their individual arsenals to make you pay attention — and make their performances seem deep and meaningful. By way of explanation, Wednesday’s late-night TV music lineup offered examples of both, executed with varying degrees of success. To see an expertly wielded mid-song wail, check out indie phenom Sharon Van Etten’s tense, evocative performance of her nostalgically personal Seventeen on Jimmy Kimmel Live. Bonus points: Van Etten — whose new album Remind Me Tomorrow arrives tomorrow, I remind you — also makes fine use of the steely, laser-focus glare during the number. On the flip side of the coin, British chart-topper Rita Ora gamely tried to work the pause into her fluffy dance-pop ditty Let You Love Me on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, only to get upstaged by her colourful video screens and stylishly symmetrical staging. Meanwhile, over on Late Night With Seth Meyers, the ridiculously named A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie — whose Hoodie SZN topped album charts this week despite selling fewer than 1,000 physical copies — also attempted the dramatic pause during his number Look Back At It, but still couldn’t make the semi-offensive song seem like anything more than the cliche-strewn collection of braggadocious blather it is. The clear winner of the night: Van Etten. And you, of course. Your prize? Her bonus online-only performance of — dramatic pause — You Shadow.
https://youtu.be/hqX0B7lElLQ
https://youtu.be/kC55BFYGpo0
https://youtu.be/3I3vJ2bjb4U
