Monday, November 09, 2009

Happy Anniversary - And Today's Blind Items - MV Revisited With New Clues

Today is the 3rd Anniversary of the site. That means three years ago I was sitting at work one day, bored out of my mind and decided to start a blog. Fast forward to today and there have been almost 9,000 posts and approximately 250,000 comments. That is a lot of writing from you and from me. A couple of weeks after I started the site I wrote a blind item which has simply been known as MV. What I thought I would do today and for the rest of the week is to give you a few clues to help you along the way to see if you can guess it.

Here is what the post looked like almost three years ago, and at the bottom is your clue for today.

***

Let me preface this post, by saying that if this story ever comes out, it would blow the music world up and shake it to its core..This would put the Milli Vanilli scandal and Ashlee Simpson SNL situation so far down the ladder it would be crazy..

Towards the end of last year I had a woman come into my office and she began to explain what she had done and had been doing for several years and it was one of the very few times that I just could not believe what I was hearing..I know the music industry inside and out, and I had never heard of something so extensive and pervasive as this..

This woman (S) came into my office because the payments she had been receiving had stopped and she wanted to either get the money that was owed to her, or expose what she had been doing to the light of day..

S is a sessions/studio/backup singer and is very good..Prior to her involvement in what I am going to describe, she made a very good living singing on commercials and being a backup singer for groups and other solo acts, etc..Like I said she is very good, but she does not really have that "look" which would make her a star, so record companies did not put her out front, but just used her talents..

In late 2000, a man came to her one day and said he needed someone to record some demos because he had written a lot of songs, but wanted a demo to shop the songs to singers and record labels..This is not unusual at all and she had done this type of work before and it paid pretty well so she agreed. What was unusual about her recording of the demos was how much work was put into the actual recordings..It was extensive..Generally there is not much time put into the recordings because you never really know if the song will even sell, and the money spent on recording could be put to better uses..These demos she was recording were actually being treated as if they were going to be released on a CD or to radio..They even did some mixing which was REALLY unusual..

After a few weeks she had recorded about over a dozen songs and she went on her way and was really oblivious to anything else pertaining to it, UNTIL several months later she was in her car and heard her voice coming from the radio, only it was another singer being given credit..(We will call this other singer MV for Milli Vanilli) She could not believe what she was hearing and did not know whether to be excited to hear herself on the radio, confused about the credit given to another singer or just pissed off for the same reasons..

What she did do, was to call the man who had originally come to her and had her record the songs..The man agreed to meet her and gave her a substantial sum of money and promised to keep giving her money every month as long as she kept her mouth shut. MV was taking off..(MV has/had several Top 40 songs and CD's. They could have gone to #1 or languished in the 30's..I really cannot go into much more detail or else it would be too easy to discover) MV was everywhere..on television, radio, awards shows, commercials..EVERYWHERE..meanwhile, S continued to get money every month and kept her little secret to herself..The guy who picked S was VERY lucky..Most singers would have caused a fuss, but S has always been in the background and was resigned to the fact she always would be, and was very happy just taking the $$, and did not want that to stop..

About 9 months go by and S is called by the guy because MV is going on tour and they want S to record some extra mixes and such for the tour..She agrees and does not really do much, but money is money..

Fast forward another year or so and S stops receiving money and after a few months of missed payments, calls the guy who explains that they need S to do another CD and then the payments can continue, but there is no more money unless she does more recordings..

S agrees and records another CD worth of songs which is released several months later and does even better than the first CD. This same process is repeated (I am not going to tell you the number of CD's because again you may be able to deduce and so I will just say the process repeated itself several times)

Well everything goes well for the most part for all these years and then no more payments, and no more calls and she cannot even locate our mystery man..S has not received a payment in six months when she came into my office and related this story..She did not even know the guy's name, but when she described him, I knew who he was and was even more floored than I had been previously..This was just something I had really not heard before..

I had heard of really altering voices in the recording studios and bringing in hired hands for one song or a large portion of a song, but never CD after CD and even doing extra work so a live performance would not sound staged..I told her I needed some time to check into her story and then we could proceed..It took two calls before I got the guy on the phone and he was pissed, scared, angry, threatening, remorseful..everything..It turns out the reason he had stopped making payments was he had been playing some shell games with the money between the record company, MV's earnings and MV's investments and just did not have any additional money..In addition, MV was not sure she wanted to continue on with what had been happening and so our mystery guy might be completely out of the picture..

I actually think the record company to this day has no idea what went on as the Guy was very good at what he does/did and knew how to make sure the record company was always happy..He stayed under budget, toured, made MV available, and made the record company money..

So a meeting was arranged in my office and S and MV finally met face to face..they had never done so, even though it was S who made MV a star..MV was rude to say the least when she saw what S looked like and it really upset me although S being her normal classy self could have cared less..

What we agreed to do that day was to provide S with one lump sum rather than a monthly income which was easier for Guy to pull off and S also agreed to never disclose her role in this drama and MV was on her own for future recordings and tours..

This involved literally millions of CD's and hundreds of concerts all over the world..The one thing I did get out of this beside my fee of course is a Gold Record autographed by S and by MV..I know it is the only one in the world..

***
MV has been or is currently married.


295 comments:

  1. Beyonce...she married Jay Z since you posted this blind so the clue would make sense!
    Plus we know Enty hates her.

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  2. Ooooooh, back to this one, eh?!

    I and I believe others of y'all had thought JLo, Paula Abdul and/or Britney at the time, IIRC...

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  3. Anonymous3:02 PM

    This is going to be an awesome week - MV has always been my favorite blind and was what got me hooked on this site. Happy Anniversary, Ent!

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  4. Oh yeah...and Beyonce... Wonder if her "Basement Baby" (MK's moniker) sister did any of her singing?

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  5. This rules out Ashanti & Alicia Keys ... I didn't think it was Beyonce but I'm now a convert. Interesting!

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  6. I thought Britney at first, but she does not have any money problems (I think). But, who besides Britney cannot sing especially live with the implication being she has to use the cds to sing, tour etc?

    Maybe Cristina Aguilera, she has not been out for a while and I can see her being totally rude to her "savior".

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  7. i LOVE the beyonce guess... but i'm going on a limb and saying mariah carey. the guy being tommy motola. that would turn the music industry upside down!

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  8. Can't be Paula Abdul - she's been around since the 80's - sounds like this person blew up in 2000?

    Also, Beyonce has sounded the same all along - whether with Destiny's Child (would be hard to pull this off in a group) or solo, so don't think it's her.

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  9. Though I came across it a year-and-a-half later, the MV post is what brought me to the site and I've been hooked ever since. Happy Anniversary Ent, and thank you for bringing an entertaining escape to my weekdays!

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  10. if this is Beyonce, wouldn't it have come out during her Destiny's Child days? I'm not arguing that it might be her; just wondering what y'all think.

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  11. Happy anniversary Enty!
    Thank you for giving us CDaN.

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  12. Happy Anniversary Enty!!
    Thanks for 3 great years and here's to a million more!

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  13. Also, I think another huge clue is Ent's sentence of:

    "MV was rude to say the least when she saw what S looked like and it really upset me although S being her normal classy self could have cared less.."

    Are we talking about a black woman who can sing and a white woman who cannot or visa versa????

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  14. I doubt it's anyone from the Mickey Mouse Club. They've been in the starlight for years.

    Beyonce seems like a good guess.

    HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, ENTY! I'm sad I haven't been here from the beginning, but I'm glad to be here now.

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  15. Sis - Who knows. It might just be that S is not very attractive, since Enty said that she didn't have the "look", and that MV is a huge bitch.

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  16. how about Avril Lavigne? she blew up, then disappeared as an artist just as quickly after her second album.

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  17. I'm going with the Mariah guess.

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  18. Happy Anniversary, Enty! That's a long time to be snarking!!!!

    For some reason I was obsessed with blind items three years ago, which is what brought me to this site in the first place, and to the MV blind.

    Love your site, Enty!

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  19. Enty, thanks for making my work day bearable. Without you, I might have to start drinking at work.

    I have no idea who this is, but thought the Mariah Carey guess was a good one.

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  20. Happy Anniversary Enty!

    Hmm. S doesn't do anymore recordings. Are there any singers who have quit recording that were huge? Or who now sound different?

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  21. yay (((enty)))!!!

    today is also the 20th anniversary of the fall of the berlin wall. conicidence? i think not.

    we love you long time!

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  22. I like the Avril guess!

    Beyonce has done so many awards shows and special events, Oscars/Presidential Inauguration/Etc., I don't think it could be her.

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  23. Alas, this is one we will never hear about because Enty values his law license more than this site (I hope). Disclosing an identity like this agter representing teh client and (probably) signing NDA's would be such a big conflict of interest - breach of trust that his ticket would almost certainly get yanked and his partners would be sued into oblivion.

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  24. Happy anniversary, Enty! You've given me so much pleasure these last three years...here's to many more years of a successful blog and touching so many of us!

    For this blind, I think MV has to be a solo singer. This would be much harder to pull off in a group. It also has to be someone who had already released several CDs as of 2006, so it's someone who became big in the early 2000s or earlier. Someone with a producer/manager that mentored them early in their "singing" career. And has been or is currently married.

    My guesses:
    - Madonna (babyface, wasn't it?)
    - Mariah (tommy motola)
    - Christina Aguilera (?)
    - Britney (?)
    - JLo (Diddy)

    I'm voting for Madonna or Britney or JLo. Mariah seemed to do an awesome job coaching last season on Idol, and I think we saw her sing impromptu on there. Madonna's voice has changed a lot over the course of her career. And we know that Britney cannot sing well at all. JLo may be the best bet of them all...she would have ditched the producer (Diddy) after she ditched that relationship.

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  25. Jessica Simpson or Jennifer Lopez

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  26. Happy Anniversary Enty! :)

    I immediately thought of Avril but I think JLo fits it better.

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  27. I wonder with all the press about Britney in Australia lip synching is why he's bringing this up again.

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  28. Aguilera has been singing on television since she was a child. That's her.

    My original thought was Shania. Mutt Lang (Sp?) was her producer/husband back then. He had been a super-famous rock producer who 'discovered' his wife 'Shania', and produced her 'country' album just in time to make a shit load of dough!

    Mutt was notoriously good at producing hits. And in her beauty pageant work, she looks sounds completely different than she did when she hit big (youtube it).

    Plus everything about Shania was manufactured to appeal to the country music crowd. Fake down to her body, her face, and her name.

    I'm sure most of you remember that for a few years, Shania was literally everywhere. Albums, videos, print and t.v. interviews, advertising, award shows. Everywhere.

    Somebody debunk the Shania guess, please. I love this blind.

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  29. Janet Jackson. although she was biggest in the 90s. just a thought.

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  30. I think it's JLo. She sounds like a bag or wet cats when she sings live.

    Christina and Mariah can actually sing (though Mariah doesn't sound so good these days)

    I would love to say Beyonce, but she does sing live. I don't think she does it very well, but she does it. There was a fuss about her using a backing track, but many singers do.

    Madonna's voice has changed with vocal lessons over the years, but she never had to sing well to do what she does.

    Totally JLo who has been married and is currently married.

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  31. I'm on the Mariah train. Happy Happy Anniversary Enty : )Love this site.

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  32. Happy anniversary, Enty. Wow, I didn't realize I've been here since practically the beginning.

    I remember this blind very well and we're getting a lot of the same guesses.

    Mariah sings great live.

    Same with Christina, so I think those two are out.

    Madonna and J.Lo are definite maybe's and I'm leaning towards J.Lo.

    I thought Madonna had tried to sing live as much as possible during one of her tours even though she was dancing a lot? Her voice isn't great, but I think back then she could hang in there better than J.Lo.

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  33. I just discovered CDaN last year and wondered what was the story behind the site. Enty, thank you for sharing, for keeping this site alive (so many sites have come and gone in three years) and thanks for creating a community that is one of the smartest, most authentic, compassionate and intolerant of Hollywood snark.

    RE: MV... While there are many good guesses, other than Avril L, I can make a case against each one of them. Especially anyone who sings in movies as that would involve another level of people knowing. Come on amazing CDaN team, who else?

    Happy Anniversary!

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  34. The only reason it can't be JLo is that she doesn't sound good on her recordings. The actual singer has talent.

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  35. I'm on the Jennifer Lopez bus

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  36. Libby - that is a great guess. I'm on the Shania train.

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  37. I'm going with Mariah. She was terrible on the MJ tribute. And every time I see her perform, she's straining a la Whitney Houston. But...Whitney can deliver.

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  38. I'm w/ Shania Twain.

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  39. I think Avril is the best guess. Her debut came out in 2002, she was HUGE, and her third album did NOTHING! She could easily get "drowned out" in concert because of the rock nature, and you wouldn't know the backup singers were doing all the work. This is totally Avril.

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  40. I read this on Dlisted about a month ago, if it helps at all:

    "Henry said, “They have the black chick come in and sing, and Britney sings over it, and they mix them together,” said Rollins, who has his own talk show on IFC. (Britney) gets her phrasing basically from this older R&B woman. I found that out talking to an engineer. Britney apparently isn’t actually the worst singer, she just has no feel. So they bring in this older black woman who sings the song, then Britney sings to it, and they kind of make a mix of the two voices, and that’s what you hear on the records.”

    http://www.dlisted.com/node/24780

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  41. Come on people, anyone who was out before 2001 is OUT of the running. The singer made her debut after 2001 if you follow the timeline. It can't be:

    Mariah, Shania, Christina, Madonna or Beyonce. Avril is the best guess at this point...her debut came out in 2002.

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  42. Breaking it down a bit:
    --Has to have had several very big-selling CDs (not downloads) so must be from more than just the three-years-ago when Ent first posted it.
    --If she's still performing, her voice must sound a least a bit different (not bad, necessarily--another S may have been hired to make new 'MV' recordings).
    --Thing is, MV likely does not tour, or she lip-synchs. (But exactly the same, tour after tour?)

    While Brittany fits for my last bullet, would someone really need to hire a singer to produce Brittany's sound? (i.e. her sound is mediocre and does sound like it is her voice). JLo fits this, too--she sucks and why pay someone else to sound that mediocre?

    Anyway, no guesses yet, but those are my thoughts.

    Oh, what would be most interesting is if the gentleman who arranged the deal was Clive Davis. That would a real shocker.

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  44. I don't know when she came out but didn't Toni Braxton have some financial problems?

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  45. oooh, I like the Shania guess. that's interesting. The only problem with it is that Shania hit it big in 1995, second album was 1997. By 2004, when this blind should have been in full swing, she was already on a greatest hits album.

    So for this to be Shania, it would have to be a sort of a voice double, since she had already been out there in a big way.

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  46. Sorry Libby, Shania looked and sounded that way before meeting Mutt. They met after she released her first CD - She's originally from my area and her climb to fame is a widely known story. Shania began singing "professionally" when she was twelve years old, her parents would have her singing in bars after "last call". So no that is her voice, her face and her talent.

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  47. Was JLo ever cranking out the hit records one after another?

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  48. I hate to go with the obvious, but I think I'm back to Brit-Brit.

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  49. JLo or Madonna fit the best of the guesses so far. And, yes, at one time, JLo could do no wrong.

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  50. Enty, thanks for the good times in front of the computer, may you continue for many more to come and please, please, write a book giving up the blind items.

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  51. I'm thinking it's Ashlee's own sister Jessica. She's been famously married before. She had a few pop CDs earlier in the decade that did fairly well. Good voice but not terribly distinctive in any way. Her last CD was quite a departure style-wise - she went country and sounded horrible (maybe this time it really was her?). Plus, she can't sing live at all.

    Gotta be Jessica.

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  52. The way I read this it has to be someone who is thought to have talent.

    As much as I love Britney there is no way its her, we all know she lip syncs.

    Mariah would shock the world, was married to Tommy Motola, now married to Nick Cannon.

    What about Celine Dion?

    I also love beyonce guess. It definetly still could be her, she was doing a solo around that time.

    It has to be an A list person to rock the music industy

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  53. Happy Anniversary, Enty! I love this site and I'm glad to be a part of such a great community!

    I rarely guess the blinds because I don't watch alot of TV or movies, but this screamed Beyonce to me until I read the comments. I'm now on the Avril train!

    Thanks Enty and everyone here for making this such a great place to visit!

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  54. Happy Anniversary Enty and CDAN! What a fantastic community. That's why I come back everyday and post!

    Re: MV
    I really like the Avril guess. It sounds like her right down to the snotty attitude.

    Mariah and Christina are just too talented by themseleves, and as much as I want it to be Beyonce, because I hate her- she sings live, a lot, and sang with DC.

    I also like the Jessica Simpson guess, and would explain both the attitude and the "country" album she tried to do.

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  55. Holy cow, I can't believe you're giving more hints on this! What a great present!

    Happy Anniversary my love!

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  56. I like the Avril guess as well, or maybe JLo. It can't be Beyoncé because she was around already with Destiny's Child.

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  57. And by the way, congratulations Enty! :D You really deserve it :D

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  58. I have been to an Avril Lavigne or however it's spelled, (for my pre-teen daughter) and she sounded OK, not perfect, sang off key here and there but it definitely sounded like her recorded songs. I doubt this is her.

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  59. It can't be Shania, Mariah, Madonna, Brit, they all came out before 2001! This person may have been famous in 2002 by the time it was released!

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  60. Congrats to Enty on three great years---this is my all time favorite blind item.

    On the original posting, I believe he said he may have fudged the years a little bit to make it not too obvious. So we don't need to follow the 2000/2001 time frame too closely.

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  61. Anonymous4:02 PM

    I doubt it's Jessica - enty had all those posts about here forgetting the lyrics this summer. You can't mess up the lyrics when you're faking it.

    Also, not anyone from the last millennium. ie: before the fist songs were recorded in 2000!

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  62. Thanks for this, enty...and happy anniversary!

    My stance has always been that it can't be J-Lo, Jessica Simpson, Madonna or Britney. With the latter, it's a well known fact that "her" voice on the records is a mix of several singers and her own. The former three because they don't sound good on their records. J-Lo is slightly off pitch on most of her songs and has a very amateur vocal style. Madonna is hardly known for being a great singer.
    MV is someone who has been praised for her voice, someone like Mariah, Beyonce, Christina Aguilera...enty says that it would shock the music industry to the core if it came out...and I hardly think anyone would be shocked to find out that Ashlee Simpson didn't sing on her own records, you know what I mean.

    Having said all that, I really don't know. I keep thinking Mariah Carey at this point but at the same time I have a feeling it's someone we haven't even mentioned yet.

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  63. My very first thought was Beyonce, but I always thought she was the blind posted awhile back whose sister really did the singing. The Shania guess is a great guess, except for the timing. I don't think this could possibly be Mariah because she was famous a long time before 2000. Avril is a great guess because she fits the timing, enty doesn't seem too fond of her and didn't she only release a couple albums? My only problem with her as a guess is that she might not be known as a good enough singer to fit this one.

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  64. Enty, thank you so much for three awesome years. You make every day so exciting, your commentaries are great, and I love you, man!

    And I'd love to send a shout-out to the CDAN community. It's so nice to come to a celebrity gossip site that is home to so many intelligent commenters!

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  65. Okay, so really I do believe that this could be a 2002 hit. The singer (S) wasn't even contacted until late 2000. It probably took a while to record and then with promotions and pictures and everything I imagine a year is plausible for release. in Here are some girls that were in the 2002 Billboard top 100. Vanessa Carlton, Michelle Branch, Kelly Clarkson.

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  66. Big clue, people:

    TOURS.

    And it's hinted that they were around the world.

    I do know this -- J. Lo has only done one tour -- the one she coheadlined with Skeletor, and that was long after this blind item was written. I think that's a good enough reason to exclude her.

    And it really can't be someone who was famous before 2000ish.

    Who I'm thinking:
    * Jessica Simpson (I remember thinking that her voice sounded like it had changed so much!)
    * Avril Lavigne
    * Ashlee Simpson (VERY iffy, but more likely than others)

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  67. Okay, I'm changing to Brit from Mariah for this reason: "MV was everywhere..on television, radio, awards shows, commercials..EVERYWHERE.." Brit fits--especially the EVERYWHERE in caps. This makes me think of her kissing Madonna at the awards show. It was also about the time she wanted to give up the Mickey Mouse ears. Probably just didn't have the voice to support it. Ha Ha! Still doesn't...

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  68. Anonymous4:11 PM

    Happy Anniversary, Enty.

    I have no clue who MV is

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  69. My, how time flies. Thanks so much for the all the times I've pondered over clues or openly sceamed OMG at the computer upon reading a reveal!

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  70. Is Shakira married?

    (P.S. Congratulations Enty)

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  71. As much as I like dirt thrown in Shaninny Tw*t's face, it ain't her. Mostly because everyone KNOWS how much Mutt manufactured her voice, even delaying her touring until the live technology caught up with studio masking.

    Besides, I don't think he'd be so bold to say the singer is "S" if her name did actually start with an S.

    Here's a list of top female artists of the year 2000:
    Destiny's Child
    Christina Aguilera (# 1 Female Artist, but her self-titled debut album came out in mid-1999)
    Britney Spears (first charted in 1999)
    Pink (DEBUT ALBUM 2000)
    Macy Gray
    Madonna
    Faith Hill (she can't sing, but her first album was in 1993)
    Jessica Simpson
    Vitamin C
    Mandy Moore (debut released Dec. 1999)
    Toni Braxton (was around long before 2000)
    Aaliyah (pretty sure we can rule her out)
    Mariah Carey (she debuted in 1990, so it ain't her)
    Jennifer Lopez (debut album in June 1999)
    Janet Jackson
    Debelah Morgan
    Mya
    Dido
    Whitney Houston (albums in the 1980s)
    Amber
    Celine Dion (first charted 1991)
    Samantha Mumba
    Kandi
    Goo Goo Dolls
    TLC
    Mary J. Blige (debut early 1990s)
    Lara Fabian (breakthru album in mid-1990s)
    LeAnn Rimes (singing since child)
    Dixie Chicks (Natalie can sing)
    Tina Turner (I think we can rule her out)
    Shania Twain (debut album, without Mutt, in 1993, first album with Mutt was in 1995)

    Avril Lavigne didn't have her album debut until 2002.

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  73. Beyonce is my guess.

    I love the Shania guess, but I don't think the timeline fits very well.

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  74. Happy Anniversary Enty!! I LUV ur blog.

    Have to think some more about this blind before I can give an answer, but it ain't...
    Mariah - she has proven she can sing live although she doesn't have the voice anymore
    Christina - she too has proven she can sing live.
    Madonna - never been considered a good singer, great performer but not singer.
    Beyonce - her solo album came out in 2003 but the first Destiny's Child album came out in 1998. And she also sings live often.
    The time frame does not fit for any of them. Also not Toni Braxton, she has been out since 1993.

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  75. My issue with Jennifer Lopez (otherwise the best pick): her debut album was released in 1999, well before the late 2000's, when the MV debut album was supposedly recorded. It also excludes Britney, Mariah, Christina and many other strong contenders, who started to "record" much earlier. It might be them on the record, it could be other singers. It's hard to tell with stuff like Autotune.

    It could be April Lavigne, whose significant contribution to the record industry was between 2002 and 2007. But she didn't work with the same single producer on her three albums.

    A better fit would be Jessica Simpson with Louis Biancanello or Sam Watters (but she started in 1999): Sam and Louis were linked with all her hits up until 2006 and they're quite used with pre-manufactured female pop stars (Anastacia, Kelly Clarkson, Leona Lewis, Jordin Sparks).

    For the record, one of the biggest European punk hits in the late '70s was "Ça plane pour moi" by one Belgian named Plastic Bertrand. Bands such as Sonic Youth or T.P.O.T.U.S.A. covered the song. Joe Strummer from The Clash revered it.

    It turns out that Bertrand was actually a front for the (regular looking bloke) producer who had recorded the actual song before picking a better looking guy to be a front for the Plastic Bertrand name he had created for his project. The guy sang playback for three or four years of hits. His voice was quite similar but the producer was the better singer and did all the stuff in the studio.

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  76. Can't be Mariah..she's been around since the early 90s...this sham started in 2000 according to Enty's information

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  77. I have worked live with Beyonce during a sound check and a concert, she definitely has her voice enhanced A LOT when performing, but it is actually her singing live not a pre-recorded track. So I think the blind is NOT Beyonce.

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  78. Okay, now looking up statistics:

    Best (worldwide selling) albums of 2002:
    #2: Avril Lavigne, Let Go (FIRST ALBUM)
    #8: Pink, Missundastood (FIRST ALBUM)
    #11: Norah Jones, Come Away with Me (FIRST ALBUM) (Pretty sure she hasn't been married, though.)
    #27: Faith Hill, Cry

    Best worldwide albums of 2003:
    #1: Norah Jones, Come Away with Me
    #4: Dido, Life for Rent (never married)

    Best worldwide albums of 2004:
    #2: Norah Jones, Feels Like Home
    #5: Avril Lavigne, Under My Skin
    #17: Ashlee Simpson, Autobiography
    #35: Jessica Simpson, In This Skin


    Avril is looking better all the time...the touring and rudeness fit, too.

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  79. I guess I should have mentioned that I definitely think the exact date of the first meeting (2000) is fudged to throw off the true identity.
    Because if EL really was involved professionally with these people, he cannot even fart out loud about this.

    As I remember, a lot of people assumed the date was off too, when the blind was originally posted. I'm too sleepy to go back right now, though. There have been clues. Like how until the date of the blind, Ent had never mentioned MV on the blog. It ruled out a bunch of people.
    Go back, check it out.

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  80. Long-time reader, first-time commenter. Pink, Mya, and Shakira all fit the timeline. Beyond that, no guesses.

    Happy anniversary Enty!

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  81. Can't be Spears, she released her debut CD in 1998, three years before MV according to Enty.

    Also can't be Avril--her first CD sold way more than her second and third, and Enty says MV's second CD did better than her first.

    So it has to be someone who fits all the following:

    1) Debut CD release around/after 2001

    2) Second CD did better than first

    3) MV was not married when Enty first posted this blind but is or has been since

    4) MV has appeared in commercials (I don't recall Madonna, J-Lo, Aguilera appearing in any commercials).

    5) Someone a success all over the world

    6) Someone who was not sure she wanted to continue the game and might have dropped a bit out of site around 2006.


    Call me crazy, but there is only one singer I can find who fits any of this: Christina Milian.

    Work with me people!

    1) Milian's first solo CD appeared late 2001.

    2) Her second CD shortly after that outsold the first and was a big hit in Europe and the US.

    3) Milian recently got married, in September 2009.

    4) Milian has appeared in Tommy Hilfiger commercials.

    5) Milian is a bigger star in the UK and Europe and has a huge international following.

    6) In 2006, she split with Def Jam records over "creative differences," right around the time Enty said MV was having second thoughts about continuing the charade.

    Extra juicy: Milian used to date Nick Cannon before he married Mariah Carey, and we all know how much Enty likes those two...so this blind would be extra juicy.

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  82. its not avril , avril was singing live and on other peoples albums before she was discovered , and she was good .
    and even now if you go to youtube and lookup roxy theatre , you will see she can sing live when she wants to

    .http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=avril+roxy+theatre&search_type=&aq=1&oq=avril+ro

    i think j-lo because she can not sing live but she has never done a big tour

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  83. Pink seems to fit. Her second album was a huge success over the first and she was married to Carey Hart. I hope its not Pink, I like her.

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  84. maybe mandy moore? i know milian wrote the song, play for jlo sooo... i think jlo could be the one too.ugh...avril is really good guess! we need more clues!

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  85. I really don't think Enty would even put a date down if he were going to give the wrong date. His blinds have never been misleading like that!

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  86. I've always thought Beyonce for MV. Her Dad is "guy" - compare early Destiny's Child songs with later DC songs then Beyonce solo. She was cute girl from Houston who could sing passably, formed group, and then, in 1999 / 2000, suddenly dropped the old members and got two new members. Having a group makes it a lot easier to hide Beyonce's voice and explains the "extra mixing" that Enty refers to. The other two members of DC are very devoted loyal friends who are kept happy by Bey.

    The blind doesn't say that MV can't sing, or doesn't sing anymore, just for this period of time she got a lot of help. Just fits the Beyonce career track.

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  87. either smelly pink or madonna.

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  88. Coming out of lurking mode to say "Happy Anniversary Enty!" I remember reading this blind item way back when! (I read every day.)

    At the time I thought it was Brit-Brit. But The Beyonce guess sounds pretty good.

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  89. Here's another clue from a while back (has it really been 3 years?) - apparently S had breast cancer, and MV went to visit her after she had been ill for a while.

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  90. I think Craig nailed it. Millian seems to be the right fit. She was selling her clothes on EBay a few years ago. She claimed it was charity, but no where did it say what charity was to benefit.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christina_Millian

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  91. the blind says in 2000 first record recorded .
    then a follow up , then several more , so that is 4 or 5 albums minimum between 2000 and 2006 - that rules out a lot of singers , avril , pink , christina , beyonce

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  92. I like the Avril guess. I don't think it's Pink. Her singing voice resembles her regular voice.

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  93. I like the Avril guess. I don't think it's Pink. Her singing voice resembles her regular voice.

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  94. happy happy anniversary Enty! thank you so much for everything you do! we <3 you!

    Christina Millian does fit, but was she ever a big enough name that it would shake up the music industry so much?

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  95. About the dates:

    Wednesday, November 22, 2006

    "OK..wow..so many comments yesterday and I know everyone is dying for a clue..but a couple things need to be said..This really happened just as I said it did..However, there was also a settlement agreement that was confidential which I cannot violate as well...THEREFORE, I have taken certain precautions such as using the year 2000 as a starting point..In addition, I am very vague when I use times such as several weeks or months....It would not be fair to S or the other parties involved or ethical to be any more specific in this situation..

    In my other stories, there is less blindness and the persons can be guessed with some degree of accuracy.."

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  96. It's NOT 2000. The songs were recorded late 2000 and it was SEVERAL months later she heard herself on the radio. That would be 2001. I don't think any later than June that would be more than several months later. It has to be someone big who would turn the industry on there head. These are my options:

    Possible from 2001:
    J-lo
    Alicia Keys
    Eve

    Based on shock value I'd go with Alicia Keys. I think it's J-lo.

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  97. I don't think you can call Christina Milian a world wide phenom like Ent is suggesting. Was she ever reall everywhere? Maybe I'm just not up on her career, but this blind sounds more household name-ish.

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  98. Brit Brit has been singing since she was a kid. Star Search, Mickey Mouse Club etc. Same with Beyonce, Pink and Christina.

    Advil is a good guess but I'd have to go with JHo.

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  99. Oh the date thing got me. I'm not on the Avril bandwagon. I just don't think that would be shocking. It has to be a big star, not someone who is a star in their own mind. I cannot accept Avril as a star...that would be a sign the end is nigh...nie...nye...whatever you know what I mean.

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  100. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY ENTY!!!

    I always thought this blind was Paula Abdul, but the time doesn't fit. I can't wait to read more clues! Thanks again for being my #1favorite website!!!

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  101. Pink's first album was released in 2000 and while the style of music is radically different from her later work, it's definitely the same voice.

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  102. I love this site and Ent's juicy blinds, but this one seems like urban legend to me.

    I remember reading something similar a few years ago about Paula Abdul secretly having a woman who did all of the singing for her (which would be pretty hilarious since Paula's voice on the records is pretty awful anyway).

    I'll try to be a good girl and go with it. It's fabulously scandalous if it's true.

    I don't think it's Mandy Moore because I've seen clips on tv of her performing as a child, and she's always sounded the same (and you can find a clip of her singing Rihanna's "Umbrella" live on youtube. MM has a nice, if syrupy voice.) Similar 'no' for Pink and Britney. There's evidence of them singing live, starting in early age, and neither sounds so different now.

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  103. shock value would definitely be alicia keys. but i do believe she sings live.

    now clive davis is a man of many faces, and i would not be surprised if it were him, but it sounds as if the 'guy' may have had cash flow probs. i would think clive's money has been long for many years.

    clive's face should be pretty well known to anyone in the biz at any level. so i assume S would know him off the bat. S did not know this person. maybe it's not clive and his circus.

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  104. I like the Alicia Keys guess, too. I wonder if the fact that she's opened her own recording studio might be another clue?

    But what about Ashanti? After a strong debut and several followup hits over the next several years, she was recently dropped by her label, with powerful music figure Irv Gotti saying "The relationship has run its course." Hmmm. Could that be related to the settlement with 'S'?

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  105. robot - are we actually talking about a singer who had her first Cd out this decade ?
    because there are simply no singers who have had that many albums out in the last 10 year ,. not any who are successful at all , it just has not happened .
    if we are talking about the late 90s with singers like britney and jlo then maybe but every other singer has used different producers on different songs on different albums . so this blind as anything that could have happened this decade with a known star singer is an impossibility

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  106. lionsden said there was something about fudging the timeline so I did a cursory look/

    I didn't find where it said the timeline was changed to protect the guilty. Is the 2000 thing right or could it be a different timeline?

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  107. with Clive, the obvious choice would be Whitney (post-Bobby Brown) but 2000 was sort of the start of the slide, no?

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  108. only jlo has had a good number of albums out in anything like the time frame

    "In 1999, Lopez released her debut studio album, On the 6. She followed it up with two number one albums on the Billboard 200, J.Lo (2001) and J to tha L-O!: The Remixes (2002). Her third studio album, This Is Me... Then (2002) peaked at number two on the Billboard 200 as well as her fourth studio album, Rebirth (2005). In 2007,"

    singers like Avril have only put out 3 , with loads of different producers

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  109. Before the updated clue, I would have said Alicia Keys, but I'm leaning towards Beyonce now.

    Happy Anniversary Enty - I'd do a couple of tequila shots in your honour, but the doctor frowns upon that during pregnancy. Maybe I'll have some bacon instead :)

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  110. Im gonna throw this name out there and I want it known I do love her...

    Kelly Clarkson, her debut was big, her second album blew up big time, Clive Davis called her the biggest selling female artist, Third did nothing and Fourth did decently but nothing to brag about.

    Kepp in mind I do love Kelly and would be heartbroken if it was her

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  111. Robert---Robot at 4:42 has the text of Enty's statement on the 2000 timeline (which he provided as a clue in a later post):

    "OK..wow..so many comments yesterday and I know everyone is dying for a clue..but a couple things need to be said..This really happened just as I said it did..However, there was also a settlement agreement that was confidential which I cannot violate as well...THEREFORE, I have taken certain precautions such as using the year 2000 as a starting point..In addition, I am very vague when I use times such as several weeks or months....It would not be fair to S or the other parties involved or ethical to be any more specific in this situation..

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  112. I liked the Norah Jones guess. She put out a few big albums around the world and disappeared for a while with a new album out now. She didn't sound the same on DWTS a few weeks back. But she isn't/never was married.

    Can we just get off the Madonna/Mariah kick?? They've been around forever.

    Shakira/Ashanti/JLo's songs aren't good enough to be shocking. Jessica simpson didn't have big albums.

    NO ONE cares about Mandy Moore or Christina Milian.

    Alicia keys would be shocking, but she sings live a lot. Although she does take A LONG time between albums.

    Beyonce would be the best guess.

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  113. You guys, I'm pretty sure this was revealed to be Paula Abdul. On the AGC Main Blind Items, it was revealed to be Paula Abdul, and then there was a link to the MTV website. Here it is:
    http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/abdul_paula/artist.jhtml

    Just scroll down and you will see in her bio, she was reportedly sued by a backup singer who alleged it was her who sang on Forever Your Girl, not Paula Abdul.

    I know Paula doesn't fit some clues, like "it would shock the Music world," or the dates. but this is what I found out. And I think this is the guess.

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  114. Oh, and here is the link to the AGC Main Blind Items page where Enty's blind came up.

    http://www.agcwebpages.com/BLINDITEMS/2006/NOVDEC.html

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  115. ENTY....Happy Anniversary! I love CDAN, I think you are just a HOOT, and I look forward to your posts everyday. Thanks so much for being bored and starting a blog....where would I be without you?

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  116. BTW...Leann Rimes?

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  117. BTW...Leann Rimes?

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  118. still no guess, but I can't believe it's been 3 years already.

    I still love this blog and hope it's around for a long, long time.

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  119. I've got to do some additional research but as of right now I am leaning towards Nelly Furtado.

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  120. I'm thinking Jessica Simpson. I remember when I heard her first single in 1999, I thought she had such a strong, great voice. Now? She's the butt of jokes for her awful voice. Check out her first single below — that is clearly NOT the same voice we know now.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MA1rDxaq88

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  121. Def not Vanessa Carlton. I know this for a fact. My husband worked sound for her.

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  122. That Paula Abdul lawsuit may not be true. Here is what I found:

    "recoiling from the musical debacle that was milli vanilli, industry critics began to closely scrutinize artists whose vocal acumen was not up to par.

    using artists such as whitney houston and anita baker as yardsticks, lesser singers were accused of stealing vocals from back-up singers and/or singing over tapes of themselves in concert to enhance their own feeble voices.

    the later crime was considered far less severe since artists who committed it generally did so to allow for dance-intensive aerobic performances. the former, however, could destroy careers or, at the very least, generate law suits.

    such was the case with c+c music factory and black box (who were sued by martha wash), and such was the case with paula abdul.

    back-up singer yvette marine sued virgin records, claiming that it was, in fact, her vocals mixed with abduls that produced the lead vocals heard on the songs "i need you" and "opposites attract".

    ****marine's suit, unlike wash's, failed.****"

    http://www.divastation.com/paula_abdul/abdul_bio.html

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  123. Back to Jess..."live" version of her first single. She's clearly lip-synching. When she was on tour earlier this year, she forgot lyrics almost every night — and she's been a pro for a decade. No way she could get through this song in one take so early in her career.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mzzt1eNcSsA

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  124. Beyonce doesnt really sing live and has been called out for not singing live.

    Remember that video Howard Stern had of her actually singing as the track was playing at a concert and she sounded awful. Also Kelly Rowland and her sister Solange sound an awful lot like Beyonce's manufactured voice.

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  125. I don't think that Furtado's album after the one with "I'm Like a Bird" was successful. She had a fairly big comeback two or three years ago in a totally different style, but her voice sounded the same.

    The loss of the timeline really complicates everything. Could it be someone from the 90's or earlier? I can't really think of anyone who fits who's a big enough star that it would "blow the music world up and shake it to its core."

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  126. For everyone guessing Avril...
    This is a clip of her doing a live acoustic song:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64iQNn88d_I

    Sounds real. It can't be her!

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  127. Beyonce's board feed from Stern

    http://blogs.chron.com/intune/2009/04/beyonce.html

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  128. I have seen Pink in concert 5 times, she sings unplugged, forgets lyrics, and is absolutely brilliant. I have also seen Mandy Moore, and she too sang unplugged and had a lovely voice.

    I think it is Beyonce. The other members of the group wouldn't have had to know what was going on, they sing seperately in the recording studio. Also, the singles from her latest album sound terrible compared to her last solo album.

    Happy Anniversary Enty and thanks to all the posters and lurkers for making this the best site.

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  129. beyonce's dad all the way!!

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  130. dude this has to be jessica simpson! it has to be!

    listen to the studio track for come on over and listen to jessica simpson from eariler. her voice is weak even with all of the singing lessons and using the fancy equiptment. i really think it's her.

    oh links to compare the two:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PXewRofEyE&feature=channel

    and then this:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MA1rDxaq88

    it has to be two different people. i can almost bet on it. it makes so much sense. if her voice was that good, then wouldn't she really be out more? wouldn't she not be the but of every joke?!

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  131. Little Man, I totally agree. Two different voices completely. Does anyone put this past Papa Joe? After all, he told Ashlee to lip-synch on SNL because of her "acid reflux."

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  132. I believe the bag of wet cats mentioned upthread by Cheryl is actually used to dub Yoko Ono's voice.

    Happy anniversary Mr. CDAN. Don't forget that I'm waiting patiently to be your eleventy-third wife.

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  134. Here is a link on more about Paula Abdul, and it fits in with the "mixing part" that the blind mentions.

    http://www.nytimes.com/1991/04/10/arts/singer-says-part-of-voice-on-hit-is-hers.html

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  135. I never listened to that kind of music but if she could really sing that well why isn't JS still putting out hits?

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  136. Little Man, I think you hit the nail on the head.

    The reason the later albums did better than the first is because of Newlyweds. Makes total sense. And she was EVERYWHERE at that time.

    Enty, Happy Anniversary!! Thanks for everything.

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  137. How would MV being Jessica Simpson "rock the music world?"

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  138. Does no one remember the Oscars where Beyonce was VERY CLEARLY lipsynching?!?!? Even that chick from Mama Mia was singing live, but B just couldn't get it up.

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  139. I'm kinda late commenting on this, but I think it's Beyonce. Here's why: I have three daughters who (unfortunately) love Bratz dolls. There are several Bratz movies out there and they love renting them on Netflix. The songs on these soundtracks have a female singer who sounds *exactly* like Beyonce. Having one of those damn CDs in my car at all times, I am forced to listen to it constantly and every time I hear these songs I always wonder if Beyonce did some soundtrack/studio work on the side. Well perhaps it's not Beyonce who sings on the Bratz soundtracks but "MV" instead??

    Here are some songs, let me know what you think. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBvUOKckiXg

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiKPABfUt0c

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8qu0wodq8I

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ye4HpoqMTXs

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  140. Enty,
    Congratulations on three years.

    The art in this post is great.

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  141. Janet Jackson - her voice sounds completely different on later albums than her earlier successful ones. Her voice sounds like a whisper now, you can't even hear her. I think he used later dates to throw us off.

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  142. if this story is about beyonce who is singing for her now? and doesn't she sound the same as she always has? I thought s quit mv.

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  143. For some reason, when I read "Guy" with a capital letter, I thought of Joe..as in Papa Joe.

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  144. I know everyone is guessing Beyonce but I do NOT think she fits the time line. I know a lot of people don't like her and want it to be her but I don't see how it is possible. And just as there is footage of Christina A., Pink and Britney performing on Star Search as a child, there is also footage of Beyonce performing when she was young too.

    Beyonce albums:

    Destiny's Child 1998 (Destiny's Child 1st cd)
    The Writing on the Wall 1999
    (Destiny's Child 2nd cd)
    Survivor (Destiny's Child 3rd cd) 2001
    Destiny Fulfilled (Destiny Child's 4th and last cd)
    Dangerously in Love 2003 (Beyonce 1st solo cd)
    B'day 2006 (Beyonce 2nd solo cd)
    I Am Sasha Fierce 2008 (Beyonce 3rd solo cd)

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  145. I'm going to congratulate Ent on the third anniversary of this site. Although the site is often quite lame, and Ent is quite often a boor, it does provide entertainment from time to time and so I commend you, Ent. Now stop talking about fucking parasite hilton!

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  146. I agree with Littleman about Jessica Simpson - although it would not "rock the music world" if we found out she had a vocal double. I don't think that many ppl would really care.

    No...this has to be someone that you would be shocked to learn the truth about...someone like--

    MARIAH. She would be the next logical choice with her svengali mentor/hubby Tommy Mottola - he bascially made her.

    Her mom was an opera singer, and had supposedly coached her since she was a child (although that COULD be a manufactured bio - easy enough to do - we know this from another blind Enty had up from Old Hollywood)



    There is a significant difference between her early albums and the ones "post breakdown" (maybe that's when she wasn't sure if she wanted to "do this anymore") in 2001 she grabbed an interviewer's mike and said "I want them to know that this is a freaking, complete clown-fest". hmmm...perhaps because it was all a sham?


    Her pipes are not anywhere near what they used to be - and honestly, she's too young to have such a large difference in range and quality in her voice.

    I'm going with Mariah Carey - she has sort of stayed in the background these past few years, and released a couple albums, but no tours to back them up.

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  147. Sorry, not Beyonce. The two others would have given her up in a heartbeat.

    Biggies in 2002
    Avril
    LeAnn Rimes (always had that voice)
    Christina Aguilera
    Vanessa Carlton
    Jennifer Lopez
    Michelle Branch
    Kylie Minogue
    Missy Elliott

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  148. BTW, Jessica Simpson has always sang beautifully. She tried out for Mouseketeers with Christina and Britt, but didn't make it.

    Shanie would be interesting, but they year would have to change.

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  149. I feel like for this to be SHOCKING it needs to be a Grammy winner and somebody really known for their voice.

    For some reason Faith Hill keeps coming into my brain, but I've seen her perform live on TV and she always sounds legit.

    The Norah Jones guess is very interesting to me. But she's not a brand. I feel like this person is a brand.

    Mariah Carey would totally be shocking. Ditto for Alicia Keys, but Keys has never married.

    I always thought back when this blind came out that it was Jennifer Lopez.

    Beyonce would definitely be shocking.

    I'm confused about the year. Is the year accurate or are we to assume that it is fabricated to protect the identity of MV? Can any of you clarify?

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  151. Jewel, Gretchen Wilson.

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  152. Jennifer Lopez can't sing worth a bean, so this would not be shocking.

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  153. Jennifer Lopez can't sing worth a bean, so this would not be shocking.

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  154. hilary duff does not sing on her albums , but it cant be her because thats not a secret , we know already , and lindsey lohan was another one . some of the producers who produced Avril lavigne have produced both those girls and have said so , anyway they are not exactly know outside the us for music

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  155. What about Celine Dion? Has she been ruled out?

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  156. The more I read this, the more I think it's Beyonce.

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  157. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  158. Happy Anniversary ENT!!! I love this site and I have never posted before, but since it is the anniversary of the site I thought I would add my two cents.


    I have read through almost all of the comments and no one makes any mention of the pictures that accompany the blind. ENT must have chosen them for a reason. They are images of a classy/jazzy lounge or cabaret type of singer. After reading all of the posts, this immediately made me think of Beyonce, Celine Dion, or someone that I could picture dressed like the woman in the pictures.

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  159. Not Avril - as much as it pains me to give her some sort of credit - I've seen videos of her when she was really young - about 12-14, and she was performing. Voice sounds very similar to what she has now, minus the studio 'magic'

    I'm torn about JLo - her voice sounds pretty similar to her speaking voice

    Beyonce - I think the other 2 in Destiny's Child would have sold her out, especially when she got all the limelight.

    Here's a thought - what about Fergie?

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  160. Ah, forgot to mention Shania - she also performed live a LOT in bars when she was younger. I would think that someone would have noticed that.

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  161. What if they other two in Destiny's Child had to sign major confidentiality agreements? I could totally see that happening.

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  162. Susan - you may be onto something. After all, didn't Papa Knowles continue to manage the other two after the split, or am I wrong?

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  163. I think Enty (congrats by the way!) changed the dates by 10 years.

    I'm down to

    Britney
    Beyonce
    Paula Abdul
    maybe Jessica but it wouldn't turn the music world upside down.

    All the other A-listers can truly sing, or they were once able to.

    The reason it would turn the music industry on its head is because of Paula's AI fame (remember she was still on AI when the blind was written).

    early 90's Paula was at the top of her game.

    I still like the Britney and Beyonce guesses though. They've all been A-list and have all been married or are married.

    The torch singer graphic reminds of Alicia or Norah, and maybe Beyonce and I wonder if it's a clue.

    alright I spent too much time on this 2-3 years ago not doing that again!

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  164. Is Whitney Houston possible for this if the years are off?

    My parents saw her perform in AC in the late 90s and she was a hot mess due to her drug issues. She couldn't even get through a song.

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  165. Assuming the timeline has been messed with -- if it was Mary J Blige people might freak out. But she is so great and I can't imagine it would be her, especially because she seems classier than that.

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  166. I originally thought it was J Lo but her debut album came out in 1999. Beyonce's debut solo album came out in 2003 and was one of the most popular albums of the year. I don't know if it fits the timeline or not but Beyonce seems that narcissistic. So does J Lo.
    As for Avril Lavigne, does anyone really care about her anymore? Plus, wasn't she already sued for stealing a couple of songs from other bands? I think Avril has zero credibility and really isn't known as a vocalist.

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  168. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  169. My vote goes to Britney:

    She obviously lipsyncs
    Lou Perlman was her mentor/producer and he certainly did the ponzi scheme thing
    She certainly had a few cds and all of them did well
    Her voice is a little different now than it was when she started
    She has been married
    She's southern and southern girls tend to put a lot of emphasis on looks and tend to be quite rude (I am a southern girl, so I should know, lol)

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  170. Now Enty really has me thinking about this...

    Back in 2000, I won free tickets to a Jessica Simpson/98* concert. Perhaps the extra mixes were for this tour. Then in 2004, I went to see her in concert for the "Reality Tour" and I just remembered that she didn't sing "I Wanna Love You Forever" - she claimed her voice wasn't up to it that night.

    I know JS isn't a huge force in the industry, but I think the mere concept of what happened (bribes, cover-up) could shake the music world up, esp since the singer was producing hits, going on tour, etc.

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  171. I don't think Jessica S sold millions of records, did she?

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  172. Happy Anniversary Enty and everyone :)

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  173. I love you, Enty! Thanks for keeping us guessing for 3 years.

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  174. Happy Anniversary, Enty!

    I've read some great gossip here during the past three years, but I've met some even greater people. :) Thanks for all you do with this site!

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  175. Happy Anniversary Enty!

    After reading all the posts, I think it's Jessica Simpson.

    How would MV being Jessica Simpson "rock the music world?"

    The scandal and the fact that she and her father deliberately pulled the wool over everyone's eyes. It would ruin what's left of her career and probably her sister's, too.

    FWIW, I think I remember Sheryl Crow saying in an interview that in her early days as a backup singer her voice was represented as someone else's, much like S's was and I've always wondered who that deadbeat was.

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  176. In the Paula Abdul lawsuit thing - that woman came out publicly. I remember it on the news and her doing interviews. "S" has not come out.

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  180. Alicia Keys? First album for J Records, 2001, very early big star and success story for Clive Davis' post-Arista label. J Records debut garnered five Grammy awards for Keys, including Best New Artist. Second album in December 2003 debuted at No. 1, quadruple platinum. Anyway, given all the information Enty posted, that's my guess.

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  181. I never comment - but - to really shock the music community. I'm thinking Barbara Streisand.

    Ok, not really...but that's the type of person that I think would turn the industry upside down, not the mini - pop diva's mentioned. I also wonder if it wasn't in the 80's, with more records later (after the voice had started waning)

    I think it could be
    Reba (she's not that great in concert)
    Celine (probably not)
    Mariah
    or Whitney

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  182. Congrats on 3 years Enty!

    Since the first time I read this blind I've had a nagging suspicion that this was Shania Twain for a few reasons: 1) she hasn't put out an album since she split with Mutt Lange; 2) I'm not sure if it's because I'm a singer, but I can usually hear someone's speaking voice in their singing, and there are so many studio effects used on her voice in recordings that I can't be sure; 3) there's been so much fuss about her "creative control" and "hands-on approach" to everything from the recordings to the music videos & it seems like lots of control would be required to make this kind of a scam work; and finally 4) she's been a huge crossover star so I think the scale of a bamboozle like this would rock the industry, if it were her.

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  183. One more thing - Enty said that when S described the producer whose name she didn't know, that Enty knew immediately who it was. And I gotta say that Mutt Lange, with that big head of blondish curls, would be someone I think you'd know by description.

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  184. I am on the shania bandwagon.

    The only thing holding me back from the avril bandwagon too is that i've seen her sing live accoustically (when she did that mall tour back in 2004 or 2005?) and my daughter was all about avril. she sounds like she talks, and was doing some improv as well.

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  185. mariah or britney. i'm leaning more towards mariah. i've been watching lots of youtube live performances and it seems she is lip synching in all of them.

    shania? i can't see her being surprised to the point of rudeness after meeting S.

    we can rule out avril: she actually can sing live. j-lo wouldn't shock the musical world..her voice isn't that great to begin with. and jessica can actually sing. i saw clips of her singing in high school and the girl actually has a strong voice.

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  186. scott storch produced a lot of the guesses here.

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  187. Happy Anniversary Ent! I dont post often but I love my daily gossip from here !
    Im wondering ( and sorry if she has been mentioned already) if this could be Pink. She had big albums, advertised for pepsi, got married to corey and she started out as a different type of singer. In 2006 when she released 'Im not dead' she said this in an interview : "It's about being alive and feisty and not sitting down and shutting up even though people would like you to";[5] she said it came from "the awakening" and how "it felt good to feel again ... I turned twenty-five and I just kind of woke up and realized I have so much to learn, whereas before I thought I knew everything. That's definitely a huge part of that title."

    She had split from Producer Billy Mann for that album and he is reasonably distinctive from description. I noticed as well he worked with stephen tyler who was mentioned today as well so maybe thats a hint?

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  188. Happy Anniversary, Enty.

    My main post seems to have been eaten by Blogger or was deleted. I'm wondering now if I guessed right (this is almost certainly not the case lol).

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  189. k, i don't know anything about them but no one mentioned Erykah Badu or Lauryn Hill.

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  190. "MV" is MYA HARRISON.... MYA HARRISON.... MYA HARRISON.... MYA HARRISON.... MYA HARRISON.... MYA HARRISON!!!!!!

    ... Did I mention that MV is Mya Harrison??

    First: I just refuse to believe that there's NO connection between the fact that: A) MYA is currently one of the Final 5 dancers/couples on DWTS (which happens to air TONIGHT), and that B) Enty wrote about "MV" today for the first time in nearly TWO YEARS. The "Anniversary" tie-in was a nice red herring, but it's not like he posted that BI three years ago today... so why the compelling need to post it now? (Think about it - she's just now re-emerging into the spotlight. ...It's gotta be killing him not to be able to talk about it!)

    More: Mya's Dad, singer-musician SHERMAN HARRISON is the mysterious "man"/Svengali who found/paid "S" and shopped the bogus demo tape around as Mya's. She even talks about him doing that in her bios (sans the "bogus" part, of course!) It makes perfect sense, really... "MV" had to be pretty darned IMPORTANT to this guy. Why else would he be so hell-bent on making (manufacturing) her into a S-T-A-R! Mya has a pretty good voice in real life, but it's just not SPECIAL enough to make her a star, much less an (almost) overnight sensation. Clearly her dad recognized that, so he did what he "had" to do...

    If you listen to her hit songs, her voice was just CRAZY GOOD. ...It's just in a different league than her "real" voice. Also, if you watch clips of her old "live" performances, it's painfully obvious. She is ALL about dancing, back-up singers, revealing outfits and showing off her body. Her voice is NOT the focus of those shows!! Although she does a decent job of lip-syncing/singing along, it's clearly NOT a "live" singing performance.

    OK, I'm done. If you don't believe me, just google her name and her dad's (Sherman Harrison). And remember that Enty already acknowledged that he (intentionally) fudged when he listed the year "2000" as the start date. Try 1998 instead, and the rest matches up BEAUTIFULLY..... Happy hunting!!!

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  191. Mya is a good guess...but what about Courtney Love? hee hee

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  192. Anonymous2:44 AM

    S = Susan Boyle!!

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  193. The "blind" sounds totally fake to me.

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  194. So, if we exclude the following stars...

    P!nk
    Britney Spears
    Beyonce Knowles
    Shania Twain
    LeeAnn Rimes
    Avril Lavigne
    Norah Jones
    Alicia Keys

    (it's easy to find old footage of each of the above singers which proves that they aren't fake, especially for Pink, Avril and Britney, they've been singing since they were little)

    ... we're left with J.Lo. or Jessica Simpson. So which one is the pseudo-singer?

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  195. For the people guessing Shakira, she has been famous in south america at least since 95...and she has always sounded the same...her looks changed a lot though

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  196. Enty - LUV the site! Thank you.

    My guess is Gwen Stefani.

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  197. Michelle Branch?

    Has a song titled "Everywhere"...

    Gave birth in 2005, might have something to do with the after about 9 months comment even though it's usually closer to ten.

    Just throwing out another guess.

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