And here’s to you, Mrs. Rabindran
Singing contests are so popular in India that someone made an entire movie around the idea (Loins of Punjab). With the popularity of outsourcing and English-medium education in India, I always figured we’d be first in line if American bands ever started outsourcing their singing.
But hark! What strange beasts slouch toward Madison Square Garden? Milord, ’tis the Philippines with its pocket-sized belters. Sixteen-year-old Charice Pempengco shared a stage with Celine Dion…
… while Arnel Pineda became Journey’s new lead singer:
If only Darshana Menon or Aneek Dhar would switch to American pop standards, they too could become human playback monitors for washed-up bands. Indians love ’70s rock anyway. Do it for the motherland.
on Thursday, November 20th, 2008, 7:12 pm in Music, Video clips › 
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There is only one Journey. And Steve Perry is it’s lead singer. But this dude comes the closest to replicating Steve’s pipes.
karaoke powa.
That’s a huge sound coming out of that Celine sing-alike.
As for Pineda, if the 70s/80s vocal styling gets old - he could do popopera a la Divo - though he loses pitch now and then.
This jogs some quasi-recent memories.
I saw Journey with Steve Augeri a few years back along with Styx & REO Speedwagon. Augeri was quite good… but I was disappointed to read on Wiki that he was using pre-recorded vocals (is that true or is the band skewering him?).
It was interesting because Journey tip-toed around the signature Perry songs. The original members were also insecure about Augeri hogging the limelight + he’s younger & better looking. They made it a point to come out on stage and revel in spotlight while Augeri was banished to the shadows.
The Styx folks had the same issue with the replacement for Dennis DeYoung. Although Tommy Shaw is a dynamite kick-ass live vocalist in all of his 5′ 2″ stature.
REO Speedwagon had no such issues and they had great chemistry and presence on stage. Kevin was a great live artist.
Wow! Charice did an amazing job with that song. What a beautiful TV moment!