Selena Gomez said that after her fourth studio album, she wants to retire from music to focus on acting. The singer revealed the decision in Vogue magazine on March 8.
“It’s hard to put something out there when it’s not taken seriously. There were moments where I was like, ‘What’s the point? Why do I keep doing this? ‘ Lose You to Love Me’ is my best song, but for some people, it’s not my best yet,” Gomez said.
With her final album yet to be released, she promises to bring a completely different inspiration to the audience, before devoting all her energy to acting.
The keyword Selena Gomez is trending on Twitter. Fans are tweeting with the hashtag #weloveyouselena to support the 29-year-old star’s move.
What made Selena successful
Selena Gomez became famous at the age of 7 when she joined Barney & Friends . But it wasn’t until 2008 that she seriously turned to music.
As the founder and lead singer of Selena Gomez & the Scene, she has released the albums Kiss & Tell and A Year Without Rain , which were certified gold by the RIAA. As of early 2011, Selena Gomez & the Scene have sold 1,354,000 albums in the United States.
In 2015, Gomez released the single Good for You featuring rapper A$AP Rocky. It peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100. Two years later, she has sold over 7 million albums and 22 million singles worldwide. Billboard magazine named her Woman of the Year that year for her positive impact on the arts.
Gomez’s initial style was light and innocent with a series of teen pop and pop-dance songs with simple, easy-to-remember lyrics. Thanks to that, her music products attracted a large number of young listeners.
But because of that, she is often criticized for lacking depth, her artistic self does not clearly stand out in her singing. Gomez is also said to only hang out “for fun”, and is not a true microphone holder.
Selena Gomez initially only seemed to be suited to easy-to-sing, easy-to-listen pop songs. Photo: Popsugar.
Selena Gomez initially only seemed to be suited to easy-to-sing, easy-to-listen pop songs. Photo: Popsugar.
If compared to two other Disney princesses who also pursued music at the same time, Demi Lovato and Miley Cyrus, Gomez’s vocal ability is weaker.
But why is she still so successful?
To sum up, Selena Gomez’s plus point is that she has clearly defined her direction from the beginning with a strong team. Her products always demonstrate meticulousness in terms of image and content.
According to Daily Mail , Selena Gomez is like a “delicious bait” attracting the media. Any issue related to Sel, especially emotional turmoil, becomes a topic of interest.
Taking advantage of that popularity, the American singer has outlined a methodical product PR strategy, such as mentioning Justin Bieber in interviews, releasing a new song after his ex-lover got married…
Don’t show off too much technique.
According to music analysis site Critic of Music, Selena Gomez has a Lirico mezzo-soprano voice – lyrical middle voice – with the best singing range at Bb2 – F#5 – C#6.
“The singer has a flat tone, sometimes as if trying awkwardly to sound sexy, or even parodying the conventions of pop singing in a seductive way,” the site writes.
However, it is undeniable that the advantage of the lyrical middle voice is that it brings a gentle, sweet feeling, sometimes containing openness if combined with strong low ranges.
That’s why Selena Gomez achieved success with Love You Like a Love Song (2011), The Heart Wants What It Wants (2014), We Don’t Talk Anymore (2016) – hits with gentle melodies, allowing Gomez to easily show off her voice in a safe range, without having to show off too much technique.
Critic of Music believes that Gomez’s singing style is flawed in her high notes, which she doesn’t hit well. She uses her chest voice throughout and lacks vibrato at the end of her sentences, making the sound harsh.
Controversial live singing ability
After Selena Gomez announced that she would stop singing, social media erupted with debate. The anti-fan community happily said that this was the best decision she ever made.
They shared Selena Gomez’s poor live performances. Without the support of studio technology, her voice was clearly weak and out of tune. Many newspapers called Gomez a “breathless diva” because she often ran out of breath and sang softly on stage.
In November 2019, Justin Bieber’s ex-lover was once again criticized for his musical talent when he performed off-key during the opening performance of the AMAs with the song Lose You to Love Me.
Fans defended that because Sel had been away from the stage for a long time, she was a bit nervous and couldn’t complete the performance well. But those who are picky see the problem more negatively.
One account wrote: “That just shows how superficial Selena is. If she was serious about her career, she would have worked on her voice before coming back.”
Selena Gomez’s live singing is always controversial. Photo: Vogue.
Selena Gomez’s live singing is always controversial. Photo: Vogue.
One of the rare times she was praised for her singing was at the Victoria’s Secret show three years ago. The video recording Gomez’s emotional performance of Hands to Myself and Me and My Girls received many compliments and attracted millions of views on social networks.
“Sel’s voice is weak, but she knows how to choose music that suits her voice and has a pretty good performance ability. People say she breathes a lot live, but I still listen to her breathing like this,” commented an audience member.
When she appeared on The Kelly Clarkson Show in March 2020, Gomez sat down to talk about her controversial singing voice. She affirmed that she has been constantly trying to become better every day.
“There are many people who think I’m not the best singer. But I work extremely hard. I love writing and creating new melodies. I believe that the Rare album is an opportunity to say everything I want to say.”
Selena’s Effort
The more strict the experts are, the more Selena Gomez tries to rise stronger.
The studio album Rare , as mentioned above, is a clear demonstration of the vocal progress of the 1992-born star. She has become more emotional, more feminine, and no longer struggles too much to convey the message through each word.
On the review aggregator Metacritic , the album Rare received an average score of 76/100 based on 12 reviews, which means it is generally considered positive.
Selena Gomez reinvented pop, funk-pop, dance, R&B, electronic, reggaeton, and alternative music in her own way with this album, which sold 112,000 copies in its first week on shelves.
The impressive achievement above shows that Rare is very worthy of climbing to the top of the Billboard 200 chart . The previous two albums – Stars Dance and Revival – achieved similar rankings, although there are still many rumors about Selena Gomez’s ability.
