Ariana Grande: Changing your voice is a normal thing if you have a ‘large range’

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.”

[From E! News]

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.