Gabriella Cilmi "Closer (Ne-Yo Cover)"
Before you press play below, just think about what a Garbriella Cilmi cover of Ne-Yo’s current house-hopper of a single might sound like? Are you a little frightened, a little intrigued or some combination of the two? Well, whatever your imagination strummed up, it probably sounds a lot more decent than what actually comes about.
Cilmi’s take on “Closer” doesn’t start out a complete headache-inducer. Her curly vamping on the jazzified verses form an interesting cool and the way that cheap dance beat slowly fades into play is kinda neat (in a teenaged bedroom beat-maker sorta way); but then the hook arrives, and Cilmi starts shrieking like some discount version of Anastacia and Taylor Dayne at a drag queen karaoke contest and what tiny shred of promise the performance initially had is quickly lost.
DL: “Closer (Ne-Yo Cover)” (YFH)
Man, your review was right on. Promise at first, then quickly lost.