Blog by Sean Gehon, Tuesday, June 12, 2007
A friend and I were recently discussing the art of being a triple threat. A triple threat is usually defined as someone who can sing, dance and act. My friend described herself as a two point five. I, of course, being the inquisitive fellow I am, asked what she meant by that… and I was informed that she could dance, she could act, but she was only half a singer, probably in the Britney Spears category. So today I found myself thinking, can anybody be a triple threat or are some people just fated to be a two, or a two point five, or even a zero?
Love her, hate her, or love to hate her, Mariah Carey is back. She may not have a follow up album to 2005’s hit The Emancipation of Mimi, but she is getting ready to return to the big screen. Many of you may remember Mariah Carey’s first acting attempt in the box office bomb and critically panned Glitter. You’re probably asking yourself why anyone would allow her to try again. Adam Sandler is getting ready to film his next comedy hit and wants Mariah Carey to appear in the film… as herself. This may be the greatest acting accomplishment of Mariah Carey’s career. Maybe she’ll be able to add an Oscar to her collection of Grammys.
Can anyone learn to act? Mariah has already proven that she doesn’t exactly have the chops on the big screen, but luckily for her, she’s not the first actress to fail on the big screen. Britney Spears, Madonna and Jessica Simpson are also among the pop stars who decided to take a turn at acting and didn’t necessarily fare so well. Although Madonna did get great reviews for her performance as Eva Peron in Evita, not all pop stars can be as lucky.
Is it necessarily important to be a triple threat in Hollywood, or even a double threat? Mariah is known for, and has been made extremely wealthy by her multi-octave range and killer hits spanning nearly two decades. Can Mariah become an even bigger star by conquering the silver screen? I really doubt Mariah is capable of getting any bigger. After her failure around the time of Glitter, both the album and the movie, she has come back swinging. The only person in billboard history to have more number one hits than Mariah is Elvis Presley. Mariah even went on to have the highest selling album of 2005.
I suppose if Madonna can learn to act and achieve success in Evita, anyone can. Unfortunately, Mariah will be playing herself, which as we’ve all come to accept, means she’s going to have to behave in an abnormal manner. Frankly, Mariah can sing like no other, but she can’t act. There is no way around it. I love Mariah Carey for all her crazy antics… but she really does need to stop acting.
Time will only tell whether or not Mariah Carey is going to succeed on the big screen, but I’m willing to bet she’ll have a hard time doing it. I have no doubt Mariah will continue to have chart topping success with her killer vocals and amazing music. Maybe she should just stick to singing on the soundtracks as opposed to appearing in the actual movies.
Sean (My favourite Mariah Carey song: http://youtube.com/watch?v=MBY82CWwKck )
