Leave Celine Alone.

Why? Just why? If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. This isn’t even playing over the end credits like the original did. While the original version of “Beauty and the Beast” hit straight for the Adult Contemporary market for which it was intended, this one targets a younger demographic. Who is that demographic though? On the one hand, it’s the post-millennials who love Grande and are familiar with Legend. On the other, it’s the millennial who saw the original in theaters. However, it sorely misses the mark.

First of all, their voices don’t mix well. Maybe part of it is the production. Legend’s vocal delivery is almost concerning. His articulation creates a very choppy sounding product, which is uncharacteristic for such a great vocalist. Grande on the other hand, sounds overproduced to a painful degree. It’s kind of like listening to Lea Michele’s material from Glee. Girlfriend can sing, but the producers don’t know how to produce a real singer.

Let’s not even get started on the instrumental track. That drum track sounds like it’s straight out of GarageBand, as do many aspects of this instrumental. Furthermore the mix is off and the instruments don’t sound unified, just like the voices. *An earlier version of this post implied that David Foster produced this song. We have since learned that Ron Fair is responsible for the production of this version of the song. For those who were also unaware, Walter Afanasieff produced the original Celine Dion version.*

Grade:
25/97

Here’s to hoping Celine Dion’s new original song makes up to this mess.

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