<p id=”par-1_56″>One of the most famous <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/broadway/”>Broadway</a> songs ever is “Defying Gravity” from <em>Wicked</em>. <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/broadways-wicked-star-doesnt-want-ariana-grande-to-play-the-witch.html/”>Idina Menzel performed the song</a> in the initial production of <em>Wicked </em>and many people love her version of the song from the musical’s original cast recording. However, Menzel also gave us another rendition of the song. It’s probably the most misguided cover ever.</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-idina-menzel-worked-with-a-music-legend-to-make-an-awful-defying-gravity”>Idina Menzel worked with a music legend to make an awful ‘Defying Gravity’</h2>
<p id=”par-2_45″>Everyone has covered “Defying Gravity.” It’s been done by so many performers on Broadway and <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/wicked-queens-brian-may-played-best-version-defying-gravity.html/”>the West End</a>, and there is no shortage of metal covers of it on YouTube. Some fans like to combine it with Mendel’s signature song: <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/madonnas-frozen-better-let-it-go.html/”>“Let It Go” from <em>Frozen</em></a>.</p>
<p id=”par-3_67″>Menzel attempted to transition into the world of top 40 music by putting out an album called<em> I Stand</em>. The record was produced by Glen Ballard, the hitmaker behind Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror,” Alanis Morissette’s “You Oughta Know,” and Josh Groban’s “Believe.” Ballard and Menzel decided to create a new version of “Defying Gravity” that sounds more like a pop song than a show tune.</p>
<p id=”par-4_53″>It’s awful. It sounds like the disposable soft rock they used to play in Kohl’s changing rooms 20 years ago. It’s like they cut the wings off the song. If Menzel wanted to write a pop song, she should have written a pop song. She shouldn’t have neutered one of Broadway’s big hits.</p>
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<iframe title=”Defying Gravity” width=”925″ height=”694″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/2UabpQuCkl8?feature=oembed” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share” referrerpolicy=”strict-origin-when-cross-origin” allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-the-pop-defying-gravity-does-not-play-to-the-singer-s-strengths”>The pop ‘Defying Gravity’ does not play to the singer’s strengths</h2>
<p id=”par-5_40″>Obviously, Menzel never became a pop star. After the success of <em>Wicked</em>, she later appeared in <em>Glee </em>and the Disney films <em>Enchanted </em>and <em>Frozen</em>. In the latter, she played Queen Elsa, one of the most popular characters in recent memory.</p>
<p id=”par-6_37″>All of these projects were rooted in the sound of musical theater. Apparently, audiences like Menzel when she sticks to her strengths. They don’t want her to pretend to be “Soak Up the Sun” era Sheryl Crowe.</p>
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<iframe title=’Defying Gravity (From “Wicked” Original Broadway Cast Recording/2003)’ width=”925″ height=”694″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/fEq3xM-i0Ng?feature=oembed” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share” referrerpolicy=”strict-origin-when-cross-origin” allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-what-idina-menzel-was-thinking-when-she-ruined-her-song”>What Idina Menzel was thinking when she ruined her song</h2>
<p id=”par-7_133″>During a 2008 interview with <a href=”https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/An-Interview-with-Idina-Menzel-20080226″ target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Broadway World</a>, Menzel discussed working with Ballard on the pop version of “Defying Gravity.” “I got signed to Warner Brothers toward the end of my <em>Wicked</em> run, and as soon as I got signed, I started to think about collaborators and people I always wanted to work with,” she said. “Glen Ballard was at the top of my list, although I didn’t think it would be possible. Thankfully, I begged the label to set up a meeting, and we hit it off. From there I spent the next year and a half writing music with him and a couple of other people as well. Mostly, I sat with him, especially for the first half of the process, to really try to zone in and find the right sound.”</p>
<p id=”par-8_58″>Menzel discussed her approach to the album. “I didn’t set out to do anything but try to be true to myself and be ‘in the moment’ and work with Glen … and to just kind of sing and write about my experiences and my life,” she said. Well, maybe she should have had a more interesting game plan.</p>
<p id=”par-9_15″>Menzel and Ballard have done great work — but there’s no saving their “Defying Gravity.”</p>