Idina Menzel singing Defying Gravity at the White House for Obama

[DefyingIdina04]

@hoytsp1501 I know that you really are the notorious "walt1896" Sutton Foster diehard fan. No matter how many clones you create, the fact remains that Idina Menzel is more respected and is more popular than your OVERRATED Sutton Foster idol. Idina is great!

[prettyboijay1019]

Oh god! She screamed the whole song.

[Jellyapple67]

Whoa @s0undstrulycrazy language...but you are so frigging right!

[upinflamezzz]

Not one standing ovation.

[RuckalltheFules]

@upinflamezzz bullshit huh?

[butchymcfabulous]

that must have been so nerve wracking with the president sitting in the front row. i love you idina, you rule the world .

[WickedGirl07]

i thought it was weird that she sung the song in a lower key then it randomly switched to the original key at the end, which is the harder part to sing haha

[gator78965822]

i love idina i saw her on broadway and she was amazing. i agree defying gravity is much better in person but this was pretty amazing too.I hope i get the chance to see her again someday

[chelraoch]

I mean, don't get me wrong. I love Idina. But I have to admit, she doesn't sound too good here...

[chelraoch]

Is it just me or did she sound sort of horrible in this..?

[KristinandIdinagirl]

I love everything about her! This might be my all time favorite song (when Idina sings it)

[austinzach00]

Idina is my female goddess

[joshgardell]

@enagtiney: I'd say her voice is an "acquired taste." Those who have gotten familiar with it, inasmuch as it sounds like a chipmunk's, and have gotten to like her personality don't mind it. I personally like her, too.

[enagtiney]

Voice lessons are definitely in order to modulate her voice, which sounds so squeaky that it's similar to Alvin from ALVIN & THE CHIPMUNKS.

[theprinceofbroadway]

OHHHH How I love Idina!!

[ashley15416]

She has perfect voice control. Idina Menzel is legend.

[KristinandIdinagirl]

Jesus, every time I hear her sing this song it gets better and better. Idina is SERIOUSLY underrated.

[TheKARMACREW]

i was sigin along wen this was on

[sk8tagal11]

PERFECT pitch

[dirtyprettything87]

IMO. still flawless.

its not the powerhouse song it is on broadway but in a way its kind of like her song. everyone associates her with it so shes kind of made it her own. i like it :)

for those who are moaning that that she isnt as good as she was on broadway ... that was 7years ago! and please dont tell me your comparing this to the OBC recording cause thats just plain dimwitted.

thankyou for this.

[gvm911]

Awesome! I love her, shes SO great singing, someone knows when it waaas?

[chaceecraw]

I just thought it was amazing. @soundstrulycrazy you're so right! I mean, I just can't count the times I've seen videos of her singing this song and she still surprises me when she performs it. The way she makes the song kind of... new (idk how to explain) she changes the way she sings the song everytime she sings it and she does it so gracefully and with such a great talent. I am speechlees. She is so versatil. I can't believe you all if u say that she wan't good. She was just... BREATHTAKING!

[ReinoChap]

FYI to those of you are criticize this recording.

It isn't that good of quality right here. I watched this on TV, and she absolutely nailed the crap out of this song. It was oh-mazing.

Just throwing that out there.

[Mjoe4dsiren]

no matter what anyone says! She rocked it out and this video version doesnt do it justice!  I cant wait to work with you one day Idena!

[Mjoe4dsiren]

No matter what people say... I will love you always Idena and cant wait to work with you one day.

[Joshyboycannotdance]

oooof...good try 

[civicplayer]

..................

[StrangeDarkSoul]

She's simply amazing. ♥

[samilauramarie]

she needs to be in the wicked movie is there is one! & i think that she should be back on Broadway!!! <3

[mutzaxedin]

@samilauramarie the producers stated that Idina was too old to play Elphaba ! but there is a petition online for her and Kristin to reprise their roles in the upcoming wicked movie... ! go to the " Idina Menzel & Kristin Chenoweth " fan page on facebook and ask the admin to give you the link for the petition !

[flashbackmusiclexie]

she is prety!!! MY IDOL!!

[wickedruddcook101]

even after years of not doing Wicked,,, she still has that amazing powerhouse voice that will always give me chills. She will always be THE ELPHABA no one can beat her...she IS Elphie. Love you Idina!

[GiovannaClapis]

Idina goes good with green!!

(ha.. see what I did here?)

And by the way, she was awesome!

she maybe lost a little on the "so if you care to find me...", well, to hell with that! maybe she wasn't on a good day, maybe she didn't rest her voice the way she should, whatever, no one's perfect all the time!

the truth is: there'll never be another Idina Menzel, so give her some credit for being awesome most part of her time!

♥

[hairspraylover28]

man those kids are lucky to msee her shes my #1 favorite actress

[HashBrownie101]

I like how she changed the song so that it's more "intimate"' due to the small crowd... But that last part can't be sung that way, it has to be wild and untamed.

[AtTwelve34]

What the hell was going on with the pianist at 3:25....

[bianca19]

god she's phenomenal.

[musicaltheaterlover]

Ok, listen up people. Our voices do not change once you hit her age! Bad technique = damage to the vocal chords which in turn affect the voice. There is no natural "change" it's from poor technique and abuse. Yes, hormones from pregnancy do affect the voice but not that much. Point: her voice is shot and she needs to give it a rest and get some voice lessons before she gets nodes or something and loses her voice. She's setting a bad example for young singers: belting does not mean screaming!

[BlazedHearts]

@musicaltheaterlover I have to agree with you. She was actually doing pretty well until she got up to the "so if you care to find me", which is where she basically started screaming.

[wanerck]

@BlazedHearts umm well i think she's just getting into character.. elphaba has to be enraged singing this song, otherwise it'll be bland and emotionless. she has sung this so many times not only during her run on wicked, but during her live performances as a pop version.

[BlazedHearts]

@wanerck There is a difference though.

Yes, she was getting into character, but no, she wasnt singing the song per se. It was screaming/yelling. You could hear it very clearly.

I love Idina and all but Wicked didnt do her voice any good.

[rparker91]

@musicaltheaterlover Actually, a person's voice does change naturally as they get older. One of my professors at school who is a popular Chicago area concert singer gave our class an entire lecture on how the voice changes with age and how to adapt to it. She's in her 50s, and is having to deal with the change, and it's not due to poor technique. Yes, bad technique can intensify the change, but the voice does change naturally.

[musicaltheaterlover]

@rparker91 The vocal tone darkens as a singer ages thats it. There are some other hormonal changes with women but nothing major. People that do not have good solid technique or who over sing can occasionally develop a warble but that is not common with belters.

[GiovannaClapis]

@rparker91 she's actually on her 40's, but good point! :]

[saint973]

everyone seems to have conveniently forgotten that she brought this song to the world and set the standard for every other person to sing it so for all the showing off the younger singers do they cannot match her true talent and nobody will ever sing it like she did

[defygravitybewicked]

i thought this was phenomenal.

a) she had a baby

b) her voice is changing

c) pressure.

d) lots of pressure.

and she still floored it :D <33333

[Elphieunderstudies]

@s0undstrulycrazy really I'm a noob when I've been on YouTube longer than you have. Funny.

[malyak]

Ok now i LOVE Idina but i am not a fan of this performance at all. She seems to be singing it higher than she normally would and in doing so struggles? I love the beginning though and her dress is really cute!

[jmusic09]

i like idina...every performance is different that why i love her singing because she uses different approach singing this song for how many times! its not about perfection that counts...its how she still love to sing the song how u can feel it with her singing it... perfect sucks..no thrill and challenge...

She's having difficulty in singing this now but still she do it by passion!

Our voices changes!

[s0undstrulycrazy]

You people amaze me. Do you know how many times this woman has sung this god damn song? Readings, workshops, tryouts, on Broadway, in London, on her own tour(S), events like this, COUNTLESS rehearsals, TV appearances, and i could still go on. Eventually, like every other human, her voice is going to reject it. I doubt anyone could sing it as great as this after so many times. Idina did it amazingly, a few feet from the most powerful people in the world. Shut the fuck up and give her some credit.

[SoSoBloo]

@s0undstrulycrazy - I agree and it sounded better on the TV - so PFFT

[Jena4277]

@s0undstrulycrazy a-fucking-men. 

[Elphieunderstudies]

shes really not that good lmfao. sjb 4ever

[s0undstrulycrazy]

@Elphieunderstudies lmfao you're a n00b

[deefan101]

Of couse her voice isnt gunna be flawless.... she is human! Idina is also my insperation for being in theater and persuing my dream on Broadway... I LOVE Idina!

[luvhelmet]

I love that she's wearing green!!

[JamieZeleneGlades]

She's my inspiration for being in theatre. I don't care if it's not flawless. She sang it with so much feeling you could feel it coming in from the screen.

I LOVE IDINA!!!

[OperaBoy1986]

Why is screaming?

[seane]

this was really bad :/

[rondack17]

@seane It was'ent her best. Obviously her vioce is getting tired again from touring. She is (again) having problems hitting the high notes. She sounds absolutely wonderful sometimes, and hits the high notes flawlessly, other nites are like these. Also, this was a very small room, not sure she wanted to scream to hit the high notes - which is what she would have to do. OK in a concert venue, not in a small setting in front of the President. Not sure this was a good song choice for a small room 

[chenofan7]

ive heard her sing this a thousand times, and it never ever gets old

[ReadyForFame]

It wasn't flawless because they decided to suddenly up the octave after the "unlimited" bridge. Belting THAT high is hard even for the amazing Idina. But I still think she did an excellent job, and she looked gorgeous.

[mophead935]

@ReadyForFame I know.. Like before the octave change she was near perfect!And singing in front of the President has got to be nerve-racking so I dont really blame her.. She still sounded amazing!!

[EstantonB21]

you know she just doesn't do it for me anymore....Not really that enjoyable.

[seane]

when was this on tv?

[veronicamae1]

@seane it hasn't been on tv yet, but it will be on pbs on october 20.

[freeadmission]

Did you happen to snag "What I Did For Love" as well? If so, could you upload it?

[itsjustmylittlevoice]

@freeadmission No sorry, i didn't get that! :(

[wickedbroadwayfan]

AWSOME! I love how she was singing like she was Elphaba again with the arm movements to her expression! She did an awsome job as always!! I so wish I could have seen her in Wicked!! Idina is so fantastic I am such a HUGE fan of hers! Thanks for posting the video I totally missed it tonight!

[greengal23]

she's not flawless but she still sounds pretty good. you have to admit that it's not exactly the easiest song to sing even if you have been singing it for years

[MvyMkr]

She got the spunky fierceness going towards the end there, witchyness forever.

Love her vibrato

[pullmanlover]

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR POSTING! :D

[crazychel]

flawless? are you people serious?

[MvyMkr]

@crazychel I'm a huge Idina fan but I agree it wasn't flawless. Little sketchy around the edges but I still adore her fierceness and attack, and her vibrato is lovely!

[Bremilyfan]

LOVE HER!! GREEN is *so* her colour! ;D

Those lucky people, she is incomparable!!!

[teardropsofhope7]

Idina was wearing a green dress probably for elphaba!! ahhh happiness!!!! Great performance. Flawless as usual. 

[ThisPerfectFinale]

The "bring me down" was shaky at the start but she recorved well...

apart from that it was pretty flawless ;]

[puggiepie97]

by any chance did u get what i did for love

[AlexH2906]

i don't get it....why would anyone not like this version....it's perfect.... and personally, i would have died on that stage in front of the president.....she pulled it off....

[jcwelover]

come back to broadway or west end!!! PLEASE!

[PARAWHORExHERE]

poor idina, poor president.

i love her, but that was painful.

[lou1893]

@PARAWHORExHERE The quality of the sound on this video isn't great, on the real video it was perfect.

[ninskimig123]

Idina i so gorgeous<3 I love her and i will always love her <3 You are truly amazing Didi<3

[freaks4everafter]

Oh God she is amazing <3 I love her so much <3 <3 2:49 when she flips her hair xD I love you Deena <3

[pinkvespa95]

WAS THIS ON TV????!!!!

[pinkvespa95]

i cried when i saw this!!!!!! :)))))

[GloiiLovesHiphuggers]

The piano player freaks me out ;D

idina did sooo well I think it was like the best Defying Gravity ever ! <3

[puppypersonLOTR]

how can I listen to her sing the same song over and over again and still be nearly as intrigued as the first time! Also, she looks awesome in that dress. It's a great shade of green. :)

[vbgirlpinkrox1]

3:23 the pianist looks like he's having an orgasm or something lol... i love IDINA MENZEL!!!!! (: wish i recorded this!

[TheMasmaganda]

im nervous for idina when she starts singing, but she ended it so well and she was really good! Well done!!!...UNCOMPARABLY FADELESS!!!!

[marshmallowfool]

Awwww Dee, looks so cute when she looks just a lil bit nervous

[lou1893]

Amazing, she was the best performer of the night by far!

[veronicamae1]

Yay!

Also, I spy a Wicked poster reflecting in your screen. haha

[itsjustmylittlevoice]

@veronicamae1 Hahaha yeah I was sitting on my bed while I was watching... I noticed that while it was recording lol

[malyak]

@veronicamae1 wow that is very observant! haha

[mullally23]

OMG!!!! thank you so much for posting this!!!! :D

[luvbroadway01]

amazing! (:

[bitterbabe]

THANK YOU FOR POSTING THIS !!!! DAVE WARREN ARE YOU WATCHING THIS ????

[idinafrance]

already uploaded?? That went fast! Green is definitely her color...and blue. And purple. and orange. and all the rest of them!