Happy Von's Day
Today, we at the Pitch were suddenly made aware of a local singer by the name of Von Smith. What happened was, his mother called and directed us to YouTube videos of him by telling us to search for "Vonatron." According to mumsy, the kid's going to be on The View on Feb. 27 and is one of MTV's "breakout artists for '07," and he's about to sign to a label.
I went to YouTube and found this, a video of him singing at the groundbreaking ceremony of the downtown performing arts center.
I sent it around to coworkers. As Von's shrill, soulful, cherubic coos sounded throughout the hallway issuing from computer speakers, an e-mail discussion of the lad ensued...
>>> Jason Harper 2/13/2007 11:59 AM >>>
Wow. The kid can sing, sure, but he could also fit a grapefruit in his mouth.
>>> Crystal Wiebe 02/13/07 12:00 PM >>>
ugh.
>>> Nadia Pflaum 2/13/2007 12:48 PM >>>
Wow.
No way is fame gonna ruin that kid.
(snort)
>>> Jason Harper 2/13/2007 12:57 PM >>>
After a while, that piercing, overelaborate style of singing evokes, to me, the meandering whine of a well-used industrial appliance of some kind.
>>> Chris Packham 2/13/2007 12:58 PM >>>
I like it when the singer points to each note as he sings it, which this kid does not do enough. How am I supposed to follow along with his interpretive rendition?
>>> Jen Chen 2/13/2007 1:56 PM >>>
Who knew there were so many Von fans? Just saw this letter in Sunday's Star.
Local performer overlookedFor all of The Star's concert coverage, it appears to have missed the real story about the recent Kansas City Symphony Pops Concert's "Songs of Life and Love" with Broadway tenor Mike Eldred.
After a bucolic first half, Conductor Jeff Steinberg introduced the evening's surprise guest, 20-year-old Lee's Summit vocalist Von Smith. Mr. Smith sang "A New Life" from the Broadway show "Jekyll & Hyde" and brought down the house.
Sustained applause was cut off by Eldred re-entering the stage to sing again (a duet with Von, but nonetheless abruptly ending Von's moment).
And, the worst cut of all, at the end of the concert, two choirs, the symphony, its conductor, and Eldred all took bows, and Von Smith - whose performance was the high moment of the evening - wasn't even reintroduced.
The symphony owes Von one.
Carol Martin
Lee's Summit
>>> Jason Harper 2/13/2007 2:05 PM >>>
This is part of the same cultural phenomenon that gave rise to the Claymates -- suburban America's love for a soul-singing cute little whiteboy pop idol.
>>> Chris Packham 2/13/2007 2:08 PM >>>
What ever happened to Rick Astley?
>>>Megan Metzger 2/13/2007 2:18 PM >>>
a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnkZz2iZrk0" target="_blank">"Never Gonna Give You Up" totally reminds me of summers at Fairway Swimming Pool. As does "I Can't Wait" by Nu Shooz and "Holding Back the Years" by Simply Red.
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