MR

This guy, Helmut Lotti, used to be a Belgian Elvis inpersonator but has gone on to sell over 13 million albums and sings fluently in Dutch and Afrikaans, English, French, German, Russian, Hebrew, Italian, Latin, and Spanish. He does primarily classic covers and an occassional rock or pop song, and is hugely popular all over Europe.

Judging by the size of the crowd in these video clips, he definitely packs them in.


Bohemian Rhapsody
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5Qr6GQE ... re=related

A Whiter Shade Of Pale
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLO2wwPS ... re=related

I took a look and listen and was not impressed. If this guys testies ever drop he "may" develop into a decent singer. Comparing him to Arnel is a slap in the face to Arnel.

Rich the Slap Guy

cinkidd wrote:I took a look and listen and was not impressed. If this guys testies ever drop he "may" develop into a decent singer. Comparing him to Arnel is a slap in the face to Arnel.

Rich the Slap Guy

I would say it's more of a slap in the face to Helmut. The guy sings in half a dozen languages and has done the hard work needed to perform with a different accent, something Arnel doesn't seem inclined to do.

13 million albums sold, he's doing something right.

he drops into falsetto pretty quick... I'm thinking Arnel has greater range and power...


... but ya can't argue with 13, 000, 000 units sold...

slucero wrote:he drops into falsetto pretty quick... I'm thinking Arnel has greater range and power...


... but ya can't argue with 13, 000, 000 units sold...

I just linked the rock songs which aren't really his strength, he is know more for his interpretations of classical songs.
His range seems closer to Cliff Richard, who despite not having the strongest pipes has probably sold over 100 million records in his day. Yeah, Arnel has a stronger voice, stronger than quite a few big name singers in fact but as we know, you need more than just a big bark to be a star.
Look at the crowds this guy is drawing, those ain't county fair types out there he's singing to.

Gunbot wrote:

slucero wrote:he drops into falsetto pretty quick... I'm thinking Arnel has greater range and power...


... but ya can't argue with 13, 000, 000 units sold...

I just linked the rock songs which aren't really his strength, he is know more for his interpretations of classical songs.
His range seems closer to Cliff Richard, who despite not having the strongest pipes has probably sold over 100 million records in his day. Yeah, Arnel has a stronger voice, stronger than quite a few big name singers in fact but as we know, you need more than just a big bark to be a star.
Look at the crowds this guy is drawing, those ain't county fair types out there he's singing to.

True
Arnel is made of the right stuff, as a person. He's got a hell of a powerful voice and can also put emotion into the words he sings. He needs to learn to talk to people, I mean to really communicate with fans from the stage....in English. I know it's all been said before, but accent and diction are a couple of areas where he really needs to figure out that he needs to invest himself 110% in those until he gets it right. Those are going to determine how far he goes....or doesn't.

The best things Arnel could learn are how to articulate in the English language, lose the accent and develope perfect diction. One artist I think of when it comes to this is Celine Dion. She knew little or no English up to like 9 weeks before releasing her first major album in the USA. I think Arnel has done a hell of a job from where he came from. Now what he does makes the difference between being known as Journey's latest lead singer or being a household name superstar. For that to happen he also needs to want to go that far. Maybe he doesn't. I think he's gotten far more fame than he bargained for or ever wanted as it is.

steveo777 wrote:

Gunbot wrote:

slucero wrote:he drops into falsetto pretty quick... I'm thinking Arnel has greater range and power...


... but ya can't argue with 13, 000, 000 units sold...

I just linked the rock songs which aren't really his strength, he is know more for his interpretations of classical songs.
His range seems closer to Cliff Richard, who despite not having the strongest pipes has probably sold over 100 million records in his day. Yeah, Arnel has a stronger voice, stronger than quite a few big name singers in fact but as we know, you need more than just a big bark to be a star.
Look at the crowds this guy is drawing, those ain't county fair types out there he's singing to.

True
Arnel is made of the right stuff, as a person. He's got a hell of a powerful voice and can also put emotion into the words he sings. He needs to learn to talk to people, I mean to really communicate with fans from the stage....in English. I know it's all been said before, but accent and diction are a couple of areas where he really needs to figure out that he needs to invest himself 110% in those until he gets it right. Those are going to determine how far he goes....or doesn't.

The best things Arnel could learn are how to articulate in the English language, lose the accent and develope perfect diction. One artist I think of when it comes to this is Celine Dion. She knew little or no English up to like 9 weeks before releasing her first major album in the USA. I think Arnel has done a hell of a job from where he came from. Now what he does makes the difference between being known as Journey's latest lead singer or being a household name superstar.

Really?!?! cause that's ^^^^^where he loses me. If I can't go w/you, I'm not interested!! ...huge talent, though!!

My whole point here was that this guy does covers, lots and lots of them and in half a dozen different languages. That's why I called him the European Arnel. Does he have Arnel's vocal prowess? No. He does have everything else a singer needs though along with the ability to compose which helps him make his renditions of the songs different. The skills he does have combine to supplement his voice, and have helped him to sell millions of albums and make a truck load of money.

Gunbot wrote:My whole point here was that this guy does covers, lots and lots of them and in half a dozen different languages. That's why I called him the European Arnel. Does he have Arnel's vocal prowess? No. He does have everything else a singer needs though along with the ability to compose which helps him make his renditions of the songs different. The skills he does have combine to supplement his voice, and have helped him to sell millions of albums and make a truck load of money.

So what are you saying ?!?!

Arnel could do this if he learned another couple of languages?!?!

Michigan Girl wrote:

Gunbot wrote:My whole point here was that this guy does covers, lots and lots of them and in half a dozen different languages. That's why I called him the European Arnel. Does he have Arnel's vocal prowess? No. He does have everything else a singer needs though along with the ability to compose which helps him make his renditions of the songs different. The skills he does have combine to supplement his voice, and have helped him to sell millions of albums and make a truck load of money.

So what are you saying ?!?!
Arnel could do this if he learned another couple of languages?!?!:?

Arnel just needs to get a good grip on one language at the moment - English.

All I was pointing out initially is that they were both cover singers, but if people feel the need to compare then let's compare the whole package as stand alone artists.

He might have the power of Arnel however trained opera singers and guys of this ilk NEVER push too hard or scream to avoid damage. The guy probably has a lot more in the tank than he is willing to push out.

Lotta headvoice going on here. Not pushing at all.
Arnel's gotta lot more balls and uses his full voice more than this guy. Still, this guy's not bad.
Cracks me up the way he over pronounces some stuff "If I'm not back tomorroooooow Carry OOON, Cary OOOON". Sounds un-natural. Lots of opera peeps do that.

I prefer his voice on the second half of the Queen tune.