... We Can't Go Into Another Key & You Stay In The Old Key ...

As Randy Jackson might have confirmed this, Lazaro Arbos' take on (They Long To Be) Close To You has been considered the worst live performance on American Idol to date. Also, listen to what Mariah Carey and Keith Urban had to say about a particular issue. Just skip the first 25 seconds of the clip if you don't care about some foolishness.

Lazaro Arbos - Close to You - American Idol 12... by IdolxMuzic

"That is horrible", "It's not the right song for you", and "He can't sing" are few common responses to this embarrassing performance. Randy Jackson pointed out that this type of performance typically occurred during audition round. While we can blame the judges and the whole show for letting the contestant to advance to later rounds, here are possible issues surrounding this particular performance:

• The Wrong Key: In order to choose the right key, singers need to understand the concept of key signature. A key signature refers to pattern of flats or sharps of a musical scale. Determining at which points are sharp or flats requires trial and error. Getting to the right notes and suitable transitions would still need further fine tuning. Lazaro indicated that he had gone through different keys that were too high and too low for the song, but he still struggled.
• Lack of Mastery: It would be easier to assume that the song was not right for him. Whether or not a better one should be chosen, it all comes down to preparation. Besides choosing the right key, other considerations that come into play involve choosing a sweet spot of vocal range, understanding song lyrics, and recognizing singer's vocal potential. After going through all of these, it is not unusual for a contestant to decide on another song at the last minutes. Proceeding with a song, Mariah Carey mentioned that a singer needs to own the song, to express it, and to have greater comfort in performing it.
• Misguided Messages: Each American Idol contestant has his/her opportunity to rehearse a chosen song with musical instruments accompaniment. During this time, a sample of audience that usually involves producers, vocal coaches, and stage managers, could offer feedback and provide constructive criticism on various aspects like song choice, pitch issue, and singer's movement. While any criticism or feedback should ideally lead to an optimum live performance, some contestants might have been misguided by mixed messages. Mixed messages have often occurred with the judges when one tells a contestant to focus on playing the piano while another encourages on dominating the stage, for example. This might have confused Lazaro as he tried to improve his vocal chops with his performance.
• Singer's Issues: A confident and proficient singer would not be swayed by judges' or producers' lack of clear directions. While it was revealed that Lazaro never had any musical training and vocal coaching prior to his audition, lots of better singers that went further in the competition did not get prior experience either. It was also discovered that he was not familiar with many well known songs from the past, which could make it more difficult. This means that Lazaro really needs more time to understand a song and extensive vocal coaching to improve his singing proficiency, which may not be available each week. Based on all factors mentioned so far, it was safe to assume that Lazaro Arbos was not ready for prime time.
• Manipulated Reality: The judges were not fooled by his voice in the audition round and Lazaro's talent seemed promising. He was shown to be stuttering when he talked, but could sing gracefully without any stuttering. Taking advantage on his speech struggle, the producers dramatized his story so the contestant's courage could touch many viewers, gain support from similar handicapped community, and possibly improve television ratings. Working with the judges, the producers might also have set up a strategy of favoring mediocre male contestants in order to boost female contestants' chances of winning the 2013 American Idol. Whether or not it was a real strategy, the show was left with five female singers when Lazaro Arbos, the last man standing, was eliminated from the singing competition.

The difficulty of choosing a key or flowing along with key changes was not the only issue. When the judges and the producers committed him to go further in the competition, Lazaro Arbos either did not get adequate support or the expectations were too high for him. Still, he managed to get votes or support from community that shared the same struggle, or from tweenies that focused on his cuteness or from Cuban community that would like to see him longer in the competition. It was unfortunate that he left the competition with the worst performance or one of the worst performances. Hopefully, Lazaro would seek further vocal coaching and other support to continue singing gracefully.

How to Sing in Key? Lifting Up Your Singing Potential

There are few simple tricks that can help you learn to sing on pitch. They complement this post. There are also other posts about mastering various aspects of vocal techniques.

Like many singers who have auditioned in American Idol or other talent shows, you have not been able to sing in tune with or without a musical instrument. You might have been going too high or too low on interpreting notes. This could be due to the lack of singing practice, which leads to possible lack of knowing proper techniques, lack of learning one's own voice, and lack of practicing different voice exercises. For further reading on the above topics, check out Vocal Exercises for Singers, Improving Vocal Range, and Additional Tips to Singing Better. They can lead you to figure out how to sing in key.

Visit Brett Manning's Singing Success. Ask other members in online forum. Sign up to learn with a vocal coach who can help you with figuring out how to sing in key. 

In order to dig deeper on how to sing in key, you simply need to routinely practice your voice. Also there are some important tips mentioned in other posts that will be discussed here again. The following will provide some ideas on how to sing in key:

• Recording and playback: If you haven't done this, pick up a voice recorder and a microphone. You can also sing with a piano (if you have one) and record yourself. Listening to a recording of your voice is a simple step towards learning what is not right and how you would improve it.
• Breathing and relaxation: This should go along routinely when you perform any vocal exercises/warm ups. You should make an effort to breath constantly before, in between, and after each exercise. To help you breath and relax better, take some yoga classes where you can also learn some relaxation techniques.
• Vocal ranges and pitches: It is somehow necessary for you to learn about chest voice, mixed voice, head voice, relative pitch, and perfect pitch. They are basically the skills for you to master different notes and to become a better listener/interpreter. You can learn them yourself or take a voice class.

Sing with Confidence. In order to get there, you need to master the skills suggested. If you need help, visit Singing Success today and sign up for a lesson.

Figuring out how to sing in key is also figuring out how serious you are with singing. In order to lift up your singing potential, you should do what have been suggested in other posts and ideas above. Going along with all ideas and suggestions, you should consider taking vocal/singing class traditionally or online. A vocal coach and your classmates in a singing class can provide better support and help you learn better. You may also learn better through video demonstrations if you choose to take online vocal lessons.

Additional Tips to Singing Better

There is a revised version of this post. Click Here for tips on how to sing better from experts and vocal coaches. Also, learn to sing better with helpful tools.

Among all tips to singing better, the very simple one is to just keep practicing. But you still need to be efficient in your singing practice, or you would be wasting your time. Many proper techniques and tips to singing have been covered in other posts. Just read and scroll through Vocal Exercises for Singers, Improving Vocal Range, and Improving Singing Voice with Online Vocal Lessons. Here are some additional tips to singing:

• Sing from the diaphragm: It is highly recommended that you practice yoga to facilitate breathing into the belly. It will take some practice to develop the diaphragm muscles to the full potential of balancing the air flow and vocal tone release. Overtime, you will sing effortlessly.
• Come out with style: Professional singers and vocal teachers will tell you to come up with your own unique style. While your idols may inspire you, your style needs to have the dynamics of ups and downs. This means that not only you develop skills that cover your potential range, but you also develop your artistry.
  How to Become a Singer With a Unique Voice -- powered by eHow.com
• Master different areas of voice: You need to play around with low, middle, and high areas of your voice. In other words, it is imperative that you master chest, head, and mixed voice. Without elaborating on each term, mastering them is a key to developing an artistry in your voice.
• Think before you jump: What story would you like to tell your audience and how do you plan to show it? With other possible questions, you should study your songs first and your planned performance. Then when you go out there to tell different stories, you would know how to execute your signature style.
  Stage Presence Tips: Planning -- powered by eHow.com
• Try something different: You don't want to get too comfortable with familiar routines just because it is too difficult to master certain exercises or notes. You need to switch things up a bit, manipulate notes or exercises, and go for them. If one does not work, get some criticism and feedback from other aspiring singers and vocal teachers.

Many tips to singing presented doesn't stop here. You can try some of these tips here and other posts, but it is more efficient if you have a partner or a vocal coach. Another tip that you can do is posting a video of your singing voice in online social media like Youtube and MySpace. Ask for any criticism, comments and feedback. Review them for your singing success.