They both had their own laugh-out-loud impressions of Houston’s particular vocal tics and nuances. Here’s the thing: If you want a funny Whitney Houston impression, go to either SNL‘s Maya Rudolph or MadTV‘s Deborah Wilson. ShakiraĪ perfectly serviceable and zany impression of everyone’s favorite throaty Colombian singer. Who knew Grande was such a Coolidge fan? This was sort of surreal coming out of her mouth. Out of all the impressions Grande debuted on last night’s romp with Fallon, it was the one that didn’t involve singing that impressed us the most. On the Tonight Show, while singing the Weeknd’s “Can’t Feel My Face” à la Dion, Grande mastered not only her singing voice, but the Celine-ian ad libs she offers on stage as well. Not only is Dion’s voice one of the most powerful of the ’90s, it’s also very particular and very French-Canadian. ( SNL‘s “Tidal” Sketch and 2015 The Tonight Show Appearance) Lawrence herself once even told Vogue that it was “spot-f–king-on.” 3. You would think that would lend itself to plenty of impressions in pop culture, but actually, Google “Jennifer Lawrence impression” and pretty much the only thing to come up is Grande’s rendition. In her relatively brief eight years in the spotlight, Jennifer Lawrence certainly has formed an indelible public persona. Whether she was singing “Mary Had a Little Lamb” on Tonight, or Britney’s own songs elsewhere, if you had your eyes closed you might assume it was Britney herself at first. Lots of people have tried to ape it, but few have nailed it quite like Grande. Her raspy pitch, much like the iMessage alert or the “chung chung” of Law & Order, is one of the defining sonic tones of our time. No one has ever credited Britney with having “the range,” but diva-level vocal ability is why she’s an icon. ( SNL‘s “Tidal” Sketch, 2015 The Tonight Show Appearance, and Numerous Youthful YouTube Videos) Here, a short history and ranking of each and every one of Grande’s impressions. Last night, while guest-hosting with Jimmy Fallon, she added to her already impressive impression stable by debuting a pretty uncanny vocal approximation of the Evanescence singer Amy Lee (while singing Kendrick Lamar’s “Humble,” of course). Sometimes she doesn’t even need to sing to get the point across. Like, say, Saturday Night Live or The Tonight Show. She’ll still dust off her secret talent for a special occasion. Of course, that doesn’t mean Grande has completely sworn off being a one woman Snatch Game.
When you’re trying to establish your own voice, why risk its health to imitate others? “Using my voice in a way that’s not natural, and sort of, like, mimicking sounds that aren’t, like, natural to how my voice usually comes out…your voice can sometimes get a little swollen or irritated,” she explained. “I can’t! You want to know why? I was doing them all the time, and it’s actually really bad for your voice,” she said. When an Australian interviewer confessed that she still watched compilations of Grande’s impressions all the time and asked her to do just a little bit of Britney, Grande demurred. When she launched her bid in 2013 to place her own voice among those of iconic divas, with a serious stab at solo stardom beginning with her debut album, Yours Truly, she swore off her hidden talent. The videos delighted fans, who knew her from the teen show Victorious (even if some of those fans didn’t quite know who Judy Garland was), and gained a bit of a YouTube cult status. Perched on a couch or bed, sometimes alone, sometimes next to friends or her brother, Frankie, she’d record herself cooing a little bit of Britney in the Louisiana siren’s signature style one minute and then belting out some spot-on Judy Garland the next. Back before Ariana Grande was making actual music videos all the time, when she was just a burgeoning Nickelodeon starlet still making webcam clips in her Florida bedroom, she started developing a unique talent: near-perfect vocal imitations of some of the biggest divas of all time.
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