As I get older, I get more and more disturbed by grown women who put on “baby voices” or breathy little-girl voices. It irritates me to no end. Back in June, Ariana Grande did just that within a podcast interview – she spoke in her normal, deeper speaking voice and then, within seconds, she quickly phased in her breathy little-girl voice. Here’s that clip:
When people were like “wait, this is crazy,” Ariana clapped back and said that she changes her voice like that to protect it, because she’s a singer. Many singers or vocal performers chimed in and backed her up, saying that this is a real thing that singers do to “protect their voices.” Now Ariana is expanding on that:
Ariana Grande has no tears left to cry over criticism of her voice. In fact, the Grammy winner doesn’t think it’s a big deal that she can switch between two different accents. Approaching a viral video of her changing vocal inflections with a “yes, and?” attitude, Ariana noted that the shift is “a normal thing people do, especially if you have a large range.”
“I did just spend a long time playing a character every single day,” Ariana said on the July 9 episode of the Shut Up Evan podcast, referring to her role as Glinda in the upcoming Wicked movie musical. “Muscle memory is a real thing.”
The 31-year-old also pointed out how there seems to be a double standard when male actors unintentionally stay in character after filming.
“Sure, people make jokes here and there as well, but it’s always after the fact, ‘Oh wow, how dedicated to his craft! What an amazing transformation! He’s a brilliant performer!'” she continued. “But then it’s like, god forbid I sneeze like Glinda.”
There’s actually not a double standard – when Austin Butler was still doing his Elvis voice two years after filming, it was a huge conversation and he was absolutely criticized for it. Same with Tom Hardy’s stupid Bane voice. There are no male vocalists who put on a sexy-baby voice to protect their vocal chords either, but I will acknowledge that Ariana probably has a bigger vocal range than most male singers. Anyway, if singers tell me that this is totally a legit way to protect their voices, so be it, and I agree that people should go easier on Ari. But I do think it’s a mix of “protecting her voice” and “creating a girlish sexy-baby facade.”
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
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- Ariana Grande arrives on the red carpet of the 96th Oscars® at the Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday, March 10, 2024.,Image: 855704427, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: SRS / Avalon
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- Ariana Grande on the red carpet of the 96th Oscars® at the Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday, March 10, 2024.,Image: 855781698, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red / Avalon
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- Celebrities attend the 2024 Met Gala Celebrating ‘Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion’ at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City Featuring: Ariana Grande Where: New York, United States When: 06 May 2024 Credit: Michael Stewart/INSTARimages.com
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- Celebrities attend the 2024 Met Gala Celebrating ‘Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion’ at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City Featuring: Ariana Grande Where: New York, United States When: 06 May 2024 Credit: Michael Stewart/INSTARimages.com
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- Celebrities attend the 2024 Met Gala Celebrating ‘Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion’ at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City Featuring: Ariana Grande Where: New York, United States When: 06 May 2024 Credit: Michael Stewart/INSTARimages.com
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- Ariana Grande watches the Florida Panthers vs. Edmonton Oilers during game two of the Stanley Cup Finals at Amerant Bank Area Featuring: Ariana Grande Where: Sunrise, Florida, United States When: 10 Jun 2024 Credit: Robert Bell/INSTARimages
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- Ariana Grande watches the Florida Panthers vs. Edmonton Oilers during game two of the Stanley Cup Finals at Amerant Bank Area Featuring: Ariana Grande, Joan Grande Where: Sunrise, Florida, United States When: 10 Jun 2024 Credit: Robert Bell/INSTARimages
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- Ariana Grande watches the Florida Panthers vs. Edmonton Oilers during game two of the Stanley Cup Finals at Amerant Bank Area Featuring: Ariana Grande Where: Sunrise, Florida, United States When: 10 Jun 2024 Credit: Robert Bell/INSTARimages
She is so strange looking. In every picture she has this weird, pleading look on her face.
I think is because of her eyebrows shape…
The blond hair is actually terrible on her, and I think she lost some weight to play Glinda (although I’m not sure–she’s always been tiny). I think those two things are most of the reason she’s been looking so odd lately. I’ll be relieved when she goes back to brunette.
It’s definitely the eyebrows. She had her entire face changed with plastic surgery, and the eyebrows were a casualty.
I have very little use for Ariana, don’t approve of her homewrecking — but when I step way back and look at her -entire- public life, I end up with a troubling feeling like there’s a deep well of unprocessed trauma driving a lot of her behaviors.
Maybe that comes off as concern-trolling. It’s not meant to excuse her behavior — we all have difficult things and at some point have a responsibility to take care of ourselves. It’s just that I don’t think she even realizes how many troubling signs she throws off left and right.
Anyway, I don’t care for her, I don’t care to give energy caring about what latest messy thing she’s up to – but for her own sake (and for others) I hope she eventually maybe is able to confront that and process and heal.
100% this.
She’s messy, seemingly cruel to other people and fully committed to the diva lifestyle but I can’t help but imagine that the vast majority of that behavior is rooted in or a response to past trauma.
No, it doesn’t come off as concern-trolling. It comes off as looking at someone’s life and personhood in context, and with empathy. Yes, when she was on a Nickelodeon show, I immediately ID’d the off-putting character voice as “oh, she’s protecting her soprano voice”—because I remembered my choir teacher explaining that, to preserve your vocal range, your speaking voice should be much higher than the social norm—and, in isolation, it’s a believable explanation that surely contains some truth.
But in the full context of her life, I’m sure there were other times she needed to play dumb or “be baby” to survive hostile environments, that she was infantilized by certain adults she worked with. After some harrowing experiences, I’m sure she feels *like* a child, because trauma. And as Kat says, her uglier behavior seems surely an attempt at feeling some sort of agency and control. I hope she reaches a point where she can process and heal, as well.
She was doing blacent in the past. I think, that is why people are harsher to her voice change.
Paris Hilton is also famous for this.
But i will say- when a man holds a door or something, my “thank you” is higher than my normal voice. It is not purposeful.
Is it one of those society trains women to appear girls/childlike/diminuitive/submissive things?
Ariel, do you find you also do it when anyone holds the door open for you, or only men? I find that when I say “thank you” or “you’re welcome” to someone, I say it in a higher pitch, regardless of who it is, man or woman, child, adult, senior citizen. If I say it in my normal voice it would take effort and to me it sounds sarcastic. Or if I say “that sounds great” I say “that sounds great!” with great at a higher pitch.
I’ve heard this from a lot of vocal coaches.
I watched the HBO Max docuseries “Quiet on Set” over the holiday and I am very concerned for her. Some of the videos that she specifically was forced to do as a child were overtly sexual, incredibly inappropriate, and very concerning. I don’t want to say she needs help, but I just … hope she has addressed her adolescence with a therapist.
People who were child stars are rarely well-adjusted adults, like it’s exceptional if they are like Zendaya (afaik) is. It’s not an excuse and she still needs to be held accountable for harming others, but I do feel compassion. May they all find healing.
Wasn’t she a child performer for Disney or Nickelodeon? I don’t know the exact numbers but so many child performers were sexually or emotionally abused. And I’m not making any excuses for her but it could explain why this very talented young woman has so many issues.
It’s been shown that women tend to use higher voices when they want to be seen by their audience as friendlier and non-aggressive, and use lower voices when in serious/business settings to “command respect”. I think her “protecting my voice” bit might be cap because speaking higher in a falsetto can actually add strain to your cords, but SHE’S the professional and I am NOT, so what do I know.
I do know that I noticed myself sorta doing this when speaking with customers/clients at work- if they’re unfamiliar with me and I want to seem polite I’ve noticed my voice goes up a bit. But in normal social settings or around my regular degular coworkers I tend to speak lower. I’m also one of those people who is constantly told I have a “dry” humor and a lot of the times I will simply answer a question and someone will believe I have an “attitude, because of your tone”, and I won’t even be in a bad mood. So, in a way, I get it, I think it’s just how EXTREME the difference is in her pitches when she does this that’s jarring.
I’ve noticed that my voice gets higher when I’m around people who aren’t friends or family and I’ve noticed it in other women too. Apparently this is something people do to come across as non-threatening, but it’s not even deliberate, It’s a habit. When it’s time for a job interview I have to force myself to not sound like that because it’s just been my normal way of speaking around strangers since I was really young. Maybe some of it isn’t deliberate for Ariana. I believe what she says about preserving her voice, but some of it may also be a nervous habit that comes out when she speaks publicly.
Mariah Carey and Celine Dion probably have larger ranges than Ariana. Mariah has never changed the way she talks and Celine Dion just didn’t talk before any performance to protect her voice so I’m not buying this. Her agent told her that she should talk with a baby voice for her image.
Your voice actually gets deeper after a lot of vocal exercise – not higher. And singer like Celine Dion – who has MUCH bigger range than Ariana – would simply not speak to rest her voice. It actually takes MORE vocal energy to go higher. So…she’s full of crap. I think she does this for the same reason that Paris Hilton makes her voice higher. It’s too appear sweeter and more vulnerable.
Celine actually does not have a “much larger” range than Ariana. Depending upon the sources, Celine can sing across three/four octaves. Ariana can sing across four octaves. Mariah can sing across five octaves.
I have a 4 Octave range with my voice, and it actually is a normal thing to do.
Even my old vocal coach and my ENT encouraged me to change my voice periodically to save my vocal cords. For example: If I have a cold or sinus infection, speaking in a breathy voice where I speak as I breathe out (I call it my phone sex voice, lmao) is easier on my vocal cords.
I think it’s a conscious affectation on her part, and almost everything I read about her makes me dislike her more. She is insufferable, and not as good a singer as she obviously thinks she is.
Every singer has tricks and techniques to help maintain their voice, but stealing other people’s husbands isn’t one of them.
😂😂😂
😂
I think two things can be true at the same time here. There may be some truth to her protecting her voice by speaking in a different pitch. However, that doesn’t explain the coquettish body language, the babyish affectation that she puts on. That is certainly not to preserve her voice.
When she was in Victoruis and the spinnoff her speaking voice was a least several otcaves higher
Why can’t people just be honest? Her baby voice is just an affectation. Every celebrity has a gimmick. Hers is the ~sexy baby~ act.
I think she feels lost because she’s at an age when she can no longer pull off that image. She should find another gimmick. Something less creepy and more suitable for her age and the age most of her fanbase is.
No shade. I’m not hating on her for chasing the bag. The whole babygirl thing is so off putting tho.
My two cents as a trans man doing vocal therapy.
I find that speaking in a lower register is easier on the voice. That “customer service” voice I used to put on back when I was pre-t was straining my vocal cords. That tilt in the voice at the end of a sentence, always trying to sound friendly and nonthreatening, that hurt the fff out of my cords.
Now that I am training my voice for a man’s register, gender euphoria aside, it feels so much more natural and chill. Regardless of gender, people should experiment with their voices more. Get a vocal therapist if you can, find your natural voice. A lot of people are not speaking with their real voice. It’s so nice to find your proper pitch.
Sure, but… mid-sentence??
I can’t stand her. It started with licking the donuts and ended with her home-wrecking.