ADELE, YOU GODDESS, YOU.

The live performance I chose to analyze for this week’s blog post is Adele’s 2011 MTV Music Video Award performance of “Someone Like You.” Although I feel that this song is still overplayed now, and has lost some of its luster, I will never forget watching this performance. The main thing that strikes me about this performance is the simplicity, yet pure power behind her song. First, the lighting is a simple spotlight, she doesn’t use a lot of flashing lights or colors, but a very simple backdrop. She’s wearing all black, standing at the microphone the whole time. There’s such an intimacy in this layout, that brings an incredible potency to the lyrics she is singing. She doesn’t have to distract the audience with a lot of show, they just become mesmerized by the pure power of her voice, and the heartbreaking lyrics she sings. In addition, another thing that strikes me about this performance is her hand movements throughout the song. Although she doesn’t move around a lot, the audience can really sense her emotional connection to the song through her hand movements. They move with each trill of her voice, and she continues to pat her chest as if she is truly feeling the pain of her lyrics. The audience rarely shouts, they mostly are dead silent, and I believe it’s because they also feel the raw emotion and connection to the song. She stands on a very low stage, to where she is able to connect with her audience on a deeper level, which I find is a rare quality in these types of performances nowadays. She doesn’t improvise much, and mostly just moves a key down from the recorded version, but Adele’s voice is beautiful and awesome no matter what. She is the definition of a powerhouse.