Not many singers can be credited with starting entire movements. Twenty two years ago, around the time Vision of Love was peaking at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, Mariah Carey did such a thing. There had been tons of great singers before her - one had just exploded five years earlier, for goodness sakes - but no one had introduced melisma, the unrelenting flurry of runs, riffs, and adlibs, onto national airwaves. By unleashing her five octave range and embellishment of standard notes onto an unsuspecting public, Mariah had unwittingly shaped the directions of hundreds of young women that followed her - three of them, who all made top ten, have directed credited her and/or this song for inspiring them to take their crafts seriously.

But Mariah is more than one song, and, as berberocka notes, more than just that whistle note. A creamy alto base, strong chest notes, a delicious head voice and that unreachable spot proved something unmatchable, as Mariah became, arguably, the definitive voice of the 1990s - for good, bad, and ugly. I couldn't imagine this world without her, and I wouldn't want to.

Someone just please kill Blackpower, saying Beyoncé is just as good as Whitney Houston is something that deserves death penalty. There's no way Beyoncé could do this:


Not even a chance. And I'm not talking about hitting the notes. Beyoncé's voice is not that special. She's just really good at singing.

About Xtina, you can say whatever you want. But her instrument is amazing. The things she could do with proper technique, God only knows...