The only vocal training I had was playing with a tape recorder as a kid, and you know, doing the beginning of the 'Lone Ranger' show, with a hearty hi-o silver, and just having fun, never really thinking I would be an announcer.
It's very much like opera singers. They do the same thing. The first thing in the morning and the last thing at night, the thing they think about is their voice and how to take care of it.
Christina Aguilera's 'Stripped' had a lot of good songs. It's my range, so I use it to warm up a lot.
Going to regular public high school and working and auditioning was really, really tough. I never really fit in and hit the stride that all the other kids were on. Instead of going out and hanging out with my friends at that age, I remember being in my bedroom and putting on like a Christina Aguilera tape and just like belting. And seeing if I could hit every single note just like her.
Lots of these songs I hadn't performed, but I've always wanted to. These are songs that I wanted to get in my wheelhouse. I sang them over and over and over and over again. Of course, I've fallen in love with them all.
There is nothing more boring than doing singing exercises.
It was what I did after school. I'd learn a song in choir that day and I'd sing it, all the parts.
Vocally, it's important to sing every day. It's a muscle, and you have to keep it in shape.
I've been singing Shakira songs in front of my bathroom mirror into my hairbrush forever. It's like a daily routine.
The vocal chords are like most other muscles that need to be worked out.
You have to have great passion, because to sing operatic music requires lots of work. I study for at least two hours every day. The voice is like an instrument and requires constant exercise.
You've just got to sing, do some kind of singing every day. Early mornings and cold weather can mess with that. I drink special teas with cayenne pepper, but I think you're psyching yourself out, really.
I am never going to sound like Johnny Mathis.
Shortly after this I was made a member of the boys' choir, it being found that I possessed a clear, strong soprano voice. I enjoyed the singing very much.
When I do a T.V. show, I hear all these artists in their dressing rooms doing scales - I've never done it because I've never had voice training. What I do to prepare is get in my car and sing along to the radio for about 20 minutes.
I don't sing operatically, and I sing very intimately, but I still do the scales, and I think in terms of intonation and making sure that I'm hitting the notes right on the head... and having it appear quite effortless.
A long time ago I started talking into a balloon so I could feel myself talking, to practice judging volume, and compare it to other musicians.
There was a time, actually, when I hadn't been singing, and I'd lost a lot of my ability. My range had shrunk.
I had to learn all the pieces backward and forward [to play it in "Florence Foster Jenkins"]. We practiced on weekends. It was very much like being in school, except it was with Meryl Streep. Like, I would go to her apartment and we would practice Mozart's "Queen of the Night."
It is not necessary that the scion of a singing family, even if he sings, can excel in it. In order to reach his peak he has to work very, very hard.
