Sharleen Spiteri - Xanadu

[MsDolo08]

i love her!

[Zoltan875]

During the performance Sharleen does not hot the right note on the word "in" when she sings "in Xanadu ooooo". Spiteri is a major third interval too low....And then she is also off on Olivia's spectacular finish. If you are going to do a cover, do it right....You can sing the whole song in a lower key, but please maintain the CORRECT Intervals!!!

[allisong6]

what a way to bring a classic to light !

[Sordidlives1973]

A very good cover version of the most difficult song to cover. I mean Olivia's vocals from 1980 are untouchable and are arguably the best female pop performance by anyone in the XX century so kudos for Sharleen for making such a bold attempt and a really cool cover!

[36hcupsizeandgrowing]

@Sordidlives1973 OLIVIA IS THE GREATEST, and yes this is a most amazing tribute, seems to be straight from heart

[Idrilhelyanwe]

hmmm I'm a singer..am Maltese....and my surname is also spiteri...also hehe both my father and sharleen's father come from the same village..who knows may be we're relatives ^^..that would be really really cool

[dondd01]

didn't elo do that song



[tukchop]

nothing compared to ELO and Olivia - in fact just a pale imitation

[avocate201]

@tukchop It's not bad for a cover, though. Sharleen's voice is totally different from Olivia's and much lower than hers, but somehow, it works on this song.

[mhady555]

very nice

[dnafragment]

I wish I lived in Xanadu.. with Sharleen

[pincher62]

she is just brill. her voice is fantastic.

[pincher62]

she is just brill.

[TheKiwieileen]

Wow ... where did she come from ... she's awesome!

[FrostbiteUK]

@TheKiwieileen : She's a UK talent that's been around for some time now.

[raplyon]

gorgeous

[thedoctorwho07]

This being Xanadu, and me being a straight teenage male, I feel I shouldn't like this and yet I can't stop listening! :D

[MrJbose1]

Every song she pertains to have written was ripped off by her, but Ican't deny she has a good voice...

[unholyimage]

Lovely cover.

[jackyboy69me]

Love her, she's amazin!!!!!!!!! x

[eauhomme]

I am a long-time Texas fan, and when I heard Sharleen was covering "Xanadu", I thought "You can't be serious..." But she nailed it! Awesome!

[FrostbiteUK]

@eauhomme : Exactly the same for me, I like Sharleen a lot. I was listening to the original and clicked on this video from the related link, thinking "nah, this won't be anywhere near as good". I'm proved very wrong though, I'm very impressed and will be buying her Movie Songbook album. Brilliant!

[bigsteve69691]

superdooperfantasmagoricalexce­llentlyperformed version of a fantastic song

[shrinkpachyderm]

amazing

[Ms666Brandon]

RAMMSTEIN

[MonkeyBoyDrinksVat69]

Gorgeous voice, gorgeous girl.

[bigsteve69691]

more you listen the better it gets never thought any one could be as good as o n j but shes pretty close with this

[bigsteve69691]

fantastic version of xanadu  nearly as good as the numero uno olivia newton john

[DolphinInTheSunset]

I thought the monochrome was very cool. Loved it !

[JamesRadioReplay]

Did her budget not stretch beyond monochrome? ;-) Great song though, love it!

[MrSorinMb]

where i can get all this clips? I like all music with Sharleen Spiteri or/with Texas band

[dentistdentist123]

uplifting song , well sung

[d542ae2]

horrible

[dededunn4319165]

I love, love, love this woman. She in incredible.

[sandrajobradovic]

omg this was my favorite all time song from Olivia Newton-John and now my favorite Female vocalist is singing it ... LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT ....

[ssarmientoP]

HAY QUE BONITO!!! YA SALEN LAS FOTOS CHIQUITAS

[strubinator]

I like this cover. The thing I didn't like is that she breaks up the final ascending notes. I do like Olivia's unbroken style. Otherwise, it's a fairly straight cover, although there are much richer harmonies toward the end of the song. It also sounds like a much cleaner recording. Nice job!

[endrizo]

music and lyrics by the great Jeff Lynne originally performed by Electric light orchestra

[cristinawend]

I saw her perform this on the Graham Norton show. I love this as a "smokier" sounding version of the song and love it as equally to ONJ, my love, but I do like the different arrangement as well. No way is it Vanilla, but vanilla isn't half bad anyway.

[yallingupbeach]

sadly a pretty 'vanilla' effort here. sarah blasko's version is more worthy of ONJ

[smallcyril]

The other good thing is that FINALLY we can work out what words the backing singers are saying!

[smallcyril]

I like this, my only criticism is that she doesn't do anything different to ONJ! The Jeff Lynne version (the bloke who wrote the song) is still the best for me - still good though, but with a song as catchy as this, a rottweiller could bark the tune and it would still sound good.

[Theturk63]

What a voice and what a woman absolutely stunning,

[jeffecko1]

i love this song,its on a par with onj :)

[loganoneil1]

People this is a TRIBUTE, not the ORIGINAL. She doesn't sound like Olivia Newton John because she's NOT Olivia, she's Sharleen Spiteri (with her OWN sound)! Got a problem with that? Then go listen to the original and leave the snide commenting out! And for all you 'music ciritics' busting her chops, I don't see YOUR videos/albumns out there, so until one of you can do better, please keep the snobby critiques to yourself...

[Indie5018]

Brillant cover version better than the orginial Sharleen is brillant singer

[ynt28]

@Indie5018

agree...i love this cover version

[Velocity9s]

I enjoyed this but it sounded like a knock-off. Still prefer Jeff Lynn's vesion followed by elements of the ONJ version(ironically, I found the backing vocals by Lynn in THAT version an annoyance. But thats my opinion...)

[Papasik]

mygod! mygod! is it olivia i hear and see again? are you back with us?

[davelesterappliances]

seen sarleen @ manchester apollo, my past girlfriend treated me for my birthday, lordy wot a concert & shar is so hot, we all ended up dancing,top show,i make a good cheese on toast shar ,even give u my last rolo?.. leave da chef.. hee hee.. you are brill,,luv ya 4eva,,,xx

[lene73]

Olivia newton John is so much better...her voice is stronger and she got those end notes while keeping the power in her voice.

[bagabooga]

Message to: rocker4577, please elaborate....Tell me you don't notice that minor third interval.....

[bagabooga]

Sharleen needs to raise the last three notes of her version by a minor third up in the climactic finale. Check out the Olivia Newton John (at age 57) from her 2005 video at the Hans Christian Anderson theater, and you'll hear what I mean.

[Sordidlives1973]

@bagabooga Yes, it's amazing that Olivia still nails every note live 30 years later at the age of 63!

[yellowshirt444]

Wow, Love the voice pitch perfect and in the groove Baby and the backup vocals are superb too. Nice!

[bagabooga]

The guitar is superfluous....Can't hear it anyway. A little stage choreography would have worked better.

[bagabooga]

Sharleen is down a third interval each time she sings the the word "In" on the the phrase "in Xanadu". Also, she down a third interval at the "OOO" in the end of the song. Sharleen just does not have the range of Olivia. Maybe Sharleen thought we wouldn't notice...but I sure did. Otherwise, a very good cover....

[Koekie0812]

@bagabooga Who are you....Yoda?

[rocker4577]

@bagaboooga You've blown the case wide open!

[weff4]

this is a really good version of this song

[yuna0890]

You cannot compare to Olivia- and ELO - Honestly I cant see the reason for this.Sorry :) Nice voice thou

[joebua]

Saw this woman on Graham Norton last week. Love her voice. I think Craig Ferguson needs to invite her to the US and his show. Craig?

[Hannsfeld]

She needs ELO backing her on this! Nothing beats a little ELO!

[kleber9707d]

Amei..este video. Ela estara aqui no Brasil dia 22 de Janeiro, em Sao Paulo fazendo um show, a Olivia tambem vira, para dar uma participaçao aspecial, sera o show do ano. Valeu!!

[TalesOfKrypton]

I'd like to hear/see Sharleen remake "I Am Woman". Thoughts please?

[chaoslord316]

@TalesOfKrypton I couldn't agree more with you. She would do terrific.

[christophpile]

she is good, abow not better like Olivia with ELO

[MrBillyBricks]

yes she can sing,and she is sooo cute.nice version,maybe the best ever

[scott6701]

It is great voice ! Great woman !

[sidlovestina]

sad to see peope making covers these days.... she has a great voice and made some great music, but this just doesn't do it for me. She can perform live though....

[THECLARENCES]

I am glad that an old song can be done right nowadays. "Xanadu" is a classic and this is a great cover!

xoxo

The Clarences

[Tresfres]

she did not add anything to it. It's just a a karaoke version of Olivia's version!

[Tresfres]

she did not add anything to it. It's justa a karaoke version of Olivia's version!

[blackmagic51000]

Sexy voice..

[confranman]

I met her on Wednesday, had to find a celeb to have pic taken with as part of an inituation ceromoy....she is gorgeous, that face will melt your heart and she's so lovely to talk to aswell....im in love

[TheGil1946]

tres belle reprise

[Boltfiger]

not available in iTunes. That's a little inconvenient.

[mallardvasey]

@Boltfiger Not on iTunes? All the Apple users are already in Xanadu, they have no use for this song. ;-)

[ivanrusty2]

this is the best cover version ive ever heard.keep up the good work.i like this version asmuch as the orginal

[gaell123]

this is the best version check it and tellme  /watch?v=ooQqyiJm8II

[TheAussieincalgary]

A very rich voice with lots of history, pretty reasonably backing, brilliant song (Of course, just because Jeff wrote it), but the "generic" plastic sounding "string" section makes it sound like a song bashed out in a pub with a backing track, kinda leaves the song with no feeling.

[MargeSimpson20]

13 people have never been to Xanadu.......

[Bluestone365]

Great song....Crap version!

[chaoslord316]

her duet with rammstein is totally awesome!!

[occultpriestess]

Great song to revive, really touching- Shangri-la! Greatly sung! Cheers!

[frankiebaby007]

Muumm............The backing music is from the original by Oliver Newton John. (ELO) She has just overdubbed the words. She can do much better

[Heartwing7]

Thank you for posting this! I wish she'd perform in America!

[mrdturpin]

crap

[385181]

sounds like a crappy australian soap

[385181]

this is shit

[shybakuretsu]

@385181

and you, are an idiot who has no taste

[loumiss1964]

Sharleen was the best choice for a cover of this classic tune. Fantastic !!!!!

[jaceyray]

Jeff Lynne's version will always be my fave, but still a great cover :)

[msymsed]

I can't believe it but I LIKE this remake...she is not Olivia but this is not bad at all.

[BradMD69]

Then again, the Heart FM ads with Emma Bunton jumping around like a numpty dressed as Buttons from Cinderlla really puts me off this version.

[BradMD69]

No, no, no, no, Sharleen. This song should have been left well alone.

[perfecto81]

Wow... this cover made my day, just GREAT!!!

[jkoff76]

Well.... I mean, maybe I'm just so used to perfection for Sharleen; This record was probably a pet project for her. We are talking about a woman who could sing the phone book and make it into opera.

[freefallmiami]

A great version, tan buena como la original.

[emotionbig]

love her......

[jkoff76]

Love Sharleen, but this was a rare miss. And what's worse it was the first track on the album. But considering, 99 percent of everything else she's done is great.... who cares!!

[wordgrrl71]

@jkoff76 Why do you think it's a miss?

[y2jon2007]

she is so beautiful is an understatement

[justin1985bitch]

shes half maltese

[octoruss]

what the heck? this is an exact replica, note for note, of the olivia newton john version. I mean, good job for accuracy, but if I wanted to buy this song I would get the original.

[bradsvideos]

Awesome! :-)

[dirkvl666]

There can be only 1

Sharleen Spiteri You are 'THE BEST'

[deccyg1]

A place where nobody dares to go. My cock, unfortunately..

[sparhawk1975]

@deccyg1 LOL!!!!!!!

[100smev]

brilliant true raw talent  from a true glasgow fan

[getchasumm]

Is that Randy Jackson on backing vocals, from Idol ????

[katstwinkle]

i don't often rate covers-but this is a good one,fo sure

[airking787]

I like the black backing singer the best

[yoshitoshinyc]

bravo!

[SANNAFABICH]

She's singing about the island in "LOST", you know.

[dynamothomar]

i always knew she is a good singer but she is so sexy too!!!!

[postcardterry]

Scottish chicks are cool but their banks suck!Never trust a Scottish bank!

[140388cynthia]

@postcardterry  haha! that's funny!

[wils1689]

@postcardterry never trust ANY bank....

[StevieWasp]

Some of the world's best talent comes from our great little country.

Scotland Forever!

[TheMrANNA]

she looks exactly like elliot from scrubs XD

[postcardterry]

excellent -this girl can sing!

[kenuraking]

Never understood the precious attitude that some people have about covering their favourite songs, IMO great songs should be covered as often as possible by as many singers as possible, no higher tribute to the original than that.

Also its not carved in stone that the original cannot be surpassed , there are a number of examples where by popular concensus a cover version of a song has become the diffinitive one.

[sobrinatiti]

grin

[mille684]

gal shes awsome i wish i could sing like her shes got a bloddy good gift

[mille684]

srry i love is verson better than the propper 1 vote if u agree!!!!!!!!!!!! zanadoooo!!!!!1

[stevalianarbone]

In a word fabulous!!!

[gongzee]

Does anyone else think she looks like Sarah Chalke from scrubs with short dark hair?

[TheMrANNA]

@gongzee oommgg u are right :D hahhaa i was actually thinking when u said this this ISS ELLIOTT =O

[cipelic24]

She is soooo beautiful!! I love her voice and eyes....amazing woman ;)

[Miyuki4president]

back to short hair *____________*

[gongzee]

@Miyuki4president short hair rules

[daniewcz]

Excellent!  Where are my "sneaker skates"?

[TereBelieve]

wow

[bigvoicebigsong]

great great version of the old elo/onj version made it work.

[stewiemax]

love, love, love this but can't help picturing Roger in American Dad when he performs it!

[tanner87]

great cover, not too many changes from the awesome ELO

[MajicTV]

Majic, better than the original so it is...

[maxismax100]

@MajicTV HER VOICE IS WEAK TO MUCH HIGH PICH

[TomTheEntertainer]

i love sharleen!

[tepporocks]

The original is a masterpiece, I don't care what anybody says, and it's nice to hear it sung in a MUCH lower key.

Perhaps if a man sang this, eyebrows would be raised.

But Sharleen is the closest thing, I suppose.

Nice.

[katekate121]

@tepporocks, Lightspeed Champion did a cover of it, search for it, it's great

[tepporocks]

@katekate121 Thanks Kate, I will!

[tepporocks]

@katekate121 All right, I've done it! That was a very nice version, and sung by

a man. Would you believe it. And he pulled it off.

Compared with all the other versions of the song I've heard, this is SO laid-back.

And it's got some wonderful sound effects and harmonies.

It's just a pity that they didn't do the end of the song. It just sort of fades out.

[tpqadw]

@tepporocks Well Jeff Lynne wrote it and there's a version on YouTube of him singing it solo from about 10 years ago...

[tepporocks]

@tpqadw All right, I'll check that one out as well.

However, Jeff Lynne is one hell of a songwriter, but in my book, he doesn't

really cut it as a singer. He's not bad, but I only really like him when he rocks out,

as he does on "Don't let me down" and "Ma ma belle", etc.

Thanks for the tip, though.

[ChunchiYau]

It's a nice song but it does get very annoying after a while. I just thought it'd be fun for a drinking game, drink every time she says Xanadu. =P

[ccrider83]

Sharleen ah don't know wit yer tryin tae dae bit you rock at this lassie ;)

[Staffyno1]

Sharleen is stunning. And has a very underated voice. Plus she is Scottish ....... Woop ah

[jontycampbell]

Listen to the original Jeff Lynne and Olivia-Newton-John version and this one leaves you rather unmoved. It's anaemic and flatter compared to it - lifeless even.

[mspacmangriffin]

I like it.

[rafael65es]

Que recuerdos

[pandaeyes42]

Before I say anything else, always loved Sharleen Spiteri.

Having said that, this is truly awful!!!

[ScrittiSparkle]

loved this song first time round,and love it again,but im a big sharleen fan anyway,so im biased so what its fantastic,you go girl,im on your side,what a wonderful voice shes been blessed with,alls good.

[smokeymunroe]

Awful, just bloody awful. Why ELO agreed to ths I do not know!

[drebatista]

I guess is fine, soulless but fine, keep this song alive..

[Macboesen]

She looks great ! And a great song to start of this new album ! very Nice

[rklrkl64]

Sharleen's cover here is OK - the arrangement is barely changed from the original (a mistake, because the ELO arrangement is better) and her voice isn't as strong as Olivia's, so she loses out a bit there too.

If you're going to have a British female solo artist cover Xanadu, I'd have gone with Sam Brown, whose vocals might have actually beaten Olivia's. I personally think it's lazy to cover classics in only your second solo album - Annie Lennox did the same thing and it also failed to work.

[Pulsatron1985]

Embarrassing!!

[lezmitchell]

Great song.....made even better by the amazing Ms Spiteri......Great to see her back!

[RickyDanielMerrick]

Sharleen's awesome voice turns a corny song into a great cover... Brilliant!

[fcmp22041983]

@RickyDanielMerrick

XANADU isn't all that corny... :P

[DMVawter]

Absoutely horrifying. What ever will she do next? Tackle the greatest TV advert jingles of the 80s? Can't wait.

[sawneymcd]

GUID.

[nismosonic]

ELO/ Olivia version is better in my opinon.

[sussexking]

I like that we can all admit we like this edition, as opposed to the original which i suppose was great too, but we didnt dare admit it! LOL