The Voice

Last night, in that black hole of 3:00 to 4:00 a.m. I thought about Hannah Huston and her place on The Voice, thought about what a great voice she has, thought about a song she might sing that would wow us viewers. In my head, I wrote the whole damn letter I would send to Pharrell to see what he thought of my idea. So this morning I wrote it and sent it via Facebook to Pharrell. Now I hope he gets it and takes my recommendation to heart. Here's what I said: I’d like to recommend a song for Hannah Huston, the Gershwins’ “Someone to Watch Over Me.” It would need to be sung with the intro, since the backstory is important for an understanding of the song. The intro should be sung a cappella and without any runs, just Hannah in a pin spot, no screams from the audience, no waving anemone arms down front, long hold on “lamb” at the end of the intro. Then cue strings and into “There’s a somebody . . .” This could be a career-defining performance for Hannah. Think back to American Idol with Fantasia’s “Summertime,” or Katharine McPhee’s “Over the Rainbow.” Think also of Sinatra’s “One for My Baby” from Young at Heart, or Whitney Houston’s super version of “The Star Spangled Banner,” or Lady Gaga’s really lush version of “Lush Life” on the Tony Bennett special. Would a Gershwin standard work for a modern audience? It’s called The Great American Songbook for good reason. Would Hannah be up for it? I think so. If she sings it the way I suggest, she’d have us all in the palm of her voice. And her life might never be the same.