What did you all think of the UNCF Tribute to Chaka Khan that aired this weekend on PBS, BET, WGN?

She was feted by Fantasia, Ledesi, El DeBarge, Stevie Wonder, Betty Lavette, Melanie Fiona, Estelle, Faith Evans and more.

At the end Ms. Stevens (Chaka Khan) sang a few songs.

I stay surprised at that incredible vocal talents of Khan and her propensity to go sharp so often when she wails (ditto for Patti LaBelle).

All in all, Chaka Khan still remains one of my Top 5 female singers (a list that does not include Miss LaBelle).

Most of those performances were kind of difficult for me to get thru. Just proves if you are going to cover a Chaka song, you need to be on top of your game. Unfortunately, most of the performers on the show were not.

As much as I adore El Debarge, he clearly should have chosen something other than "Hollywood" to sing. It's not an easy song to deliver and he failed to bring it home.

Fantasia's reading of "Tell Me Something Good" was just a bloody mess! Way over the top and sloppy. I think she was confused. She kicked her shoes off when she came out on stage. She probably thought she was performing a tribute to Patti Labelle.

Angie Stone bored me to tears with her rendition of "Please Pardon Me".

Although I was happy to see that Ginuwine deciding not to be predictable by choosing "Superlife" to honor Khan, his performance was also sloppy. The song was too big for him.

Faith Evans reading of "What Cha Gonna Do For Me" was passable. So was Ledesi's "Sweet Thing".

The best performances of the night were Chaka's daughter, Indira Khan and Chaka's brother Mark Stevens singing "Do You Love What You Feel".

Betty Lavette and Herbie Hancock did a fine job with "Love Me Still".

kitbradley said:

Most of those performances were kind of difficult for me to get thru. Just proves if you are going to cover a Chaka song, you need to be on top of your game. Unfortunately, most of the performers on the show were not.

As much as I adore El Debarge, he clearly should have chosen something other than "Hollywood" to sing. It's not an easy song to deliver and he failed to bring it home.

Fantasia's reading of "Tell Me Something Good" was just a bloody mess! Way over the top and sloppy. I think she was confused. She kicked her shoes off when she came out on stage. She probably thought she was performing a tribute to Patti Labelle.

Angie Stone bored me to tears with her rendition of "Please Pardon Me".

Although I was happy to see that Ginuwine deciding not to be predictable by choosing "Superlife" to honor Khan, his performance was also sloppy. The song was too big for him.

Faith Evans reading of "What Cha Gonna Do For Me" was passable. So was Ledesi's "Sweet Thing".

The best performances of the night were Chaka's daughter, Indira Khan and Chaka's brother Mark Stevens singing "Do You Love What You Feel".

Betty Lavette and Herbie Hancock did a fine job with "Love Me Still".

Nailed the evening with this recap. Indira was the highlight for me. Liked Faith and Ledesi as well. But yeah, that was about it.

Fantasia just came out screaming. Someone needs to school her on that shit and tell her to just sing the damn song. And the kicking off of the shoes is just not cute. She looked and sounded nasty.

I have a new love for El Debarge but that song was not a good match for his voice.

Angie Stone and ledisi were both good. Stevie should have song more. the rest of the show pretty much sucked.

kitbradley said:

Betty Lavette and Herbie Hancock did a fine job with "Love Me Still".

That was the only performance I enjoyed. The rest were devoid of sincerity.

Stevie Wonder looked like Jabba the Hut! OMG! He's has gained so much weight! He was trying to cover it up with the black outfit but it didn't work.

The show was "weird"... I couldn't shake the feeling that noone last nite could perform her songs and give it justice.....

Another obsy...Where the hell was Prince?

I actually DIDN'T wanna watch it for fear it may suck because, honestly, how many people can SANG like Chaka?!

I heard Bettye did a great job though so I may try to catch her's only.

I saw bits and pieces. I wished i would have caught Ledisi. I did see

Melanie Fiona's part and she was good but i thought the band did

a weak version of You Got The Love. Of course Chaka herself was

the highlight of the evening. Hell I even started listening to the Rufusized

album after the show last night.

kitbradley said:

Stevie Wonder looked like Jabba the Hut! OMG! He's has gained so much weight! He was trying to cover it up with the black outfit but it didn't work.

Hes gotta be 300 lbs!

Chaka Khan disses fan. LMAO

I still love Chaka anyway.

dreamfactory313 said:

Chaka Khan disses fan. LMAO

I still love Chaka anyway.

@ Hell naw!

She's SO,,,, un-hollywood

Harlepolis said:

dreamfactory313 said:

Chaka Khan disses fan. LMAO

I still love Chaka anyway.

@ Hell naw!

She's SO,,,, un-hollywood

Straight up.

I think El did great on that song. I also know he has been touring non stop, so his voice can sound a bit strained, but hell, I am just happy that he has those gorgeous pipes and that he is alive after all he has done.

I saw Chaka perform live a couple of weeks ago and she looked and sounded fantastic--even better than the UNCF show! She lost weight since the UNCF show and has vocal energy to spare... No one can sing Chaka better than Chaka!

dreamfactory313 said:

kitbradley said:

Stevie Wonder looked like Jabba the Hut! OMG! He's has gained so much weight! He was trying to cover it up with the black outfit but it didn't work.

Hes gotta be 300 lbs!

You know... we've gone on and on about Aretha but I'm actually worried that Stevie is piling on like he has. I noticed his growth last year. Frightening. You mean his wife can't control his diet?

kitbradley said:

Most of those performances were kind of difficult for me to get thru. Just proves if you are going to cover a Chaka song, you need to be on top of your game. Unfortunately, most of the performers on the show were not.

As much as I adore El Debarge, he clearly should have chosen something other than "Hollywood" to sing. It's not an easy song to deliver and he failed to bring it home.

Fantasia's reading of "Tell Me Something Good" was just a bloody mess! Way over the top and sloppy. I think she was confused. She kicked her shoes off when she came out on stage. She probably thought she was performing a tribute to Patti Labelle.

Angie Stone bored me to tears with her rendition of "Please Pardon Me".

Although I was happy to see that Ginuwine deciding not to be predictable by choosing "Superlife" to honor Khan, his performance was also sloppy. The song was too big for him.

Faith Evans reading of "What Cha Gonna Do For Me" was passable. So was Ledesi's "Sweet Thing".

The best performances of the night were Chaka's daughter, Indira Khan and Chaka's brother Mark Stevens singing "Do You Love What You Feel".

Betty Lavette and Herbie Hancock did a fine job with "Love Me Still".

I agree with your assessment of the performances last night I thought at best just an average tribute. I wish they were able to get Mary J. Blige on the show. At least she recorded the song 'Sweet Thing' and certainly has stage presenc e, something Ledesi is lacking.

Indira Khan outfit got my attention. My God she was spilling over in that corset it was too low cut. No offense but it was too distracting. to me. I thought her brother could've removed his glasses. I thought their performance couldve passed for karaoke night.

I did enjoy Estelle's performance too.

i caught the last hour but i enjoyed what i saw, especialy chaka's daughter who sounds so much like her, and her brother. the lady who sang with herbie hancock was great. glad i missed el debarge , im a big debarge fan but i cant see him singing a chaka song in that falsetto, he has no real range. did chaka's daughter change her name?

lowkey said:

i caught the last hour but i enjoyed what i saw, especialy chaka's daughter who sounds so much like her, and her brother. the lady who sang with herbie hancock was great. glad i missed el debarge , im a big debarge fan but i cant see him singing a chaka song in that falsetto, he has no real range. did chaka's daughter change her name?

Her name is Bettye LaVette lol

Chaka's daughter's real name IS Indira Khan. She used her middle name Milini for years.

Timmy84 said:

lowkey said:

i caught the last hour but i enjoyed what i saw, especialy chaka's daughter who sounds so much like her, and her brother. the lady who sang with herbie hancock was great. glad i missed el debarge , im a big debarge fan but i cant see him singing a chaka song in that falsetto, he has no real range. did chaka's daughter change her name?

Her name is Bettye LaVette lol

Chaka's daughter's real name IS Indira Khan. She used her middle name Milini for years.

Yep. Milini was Pretty in Pink for a minute in 1991.

[Edited 1/31/11 21:31pm]

I was going to go see her perform last year but didn't get a chance

I wanted to start a topic on her to ask how to get into her. I have loved Feel For You since the mid 80's as a little kid, and I love Aint Nobody. Through the Fire is nice, and I looooooooove her vocals in Higher Love and was happy when I found out it's her.

What are some good recommendations?

This, you all are creaming over this?

I usually love Levette's interpretations but she stripped this song too raw and ignored the beauty that is this song's melody.

this tribute coulda been so much more

but I won't complain to much as I've

wished for Chaka to be honored for YEEEEARS

Melanie Fiona had the "young Chaka" look DOWN

but her stage antics were "Beyonce"

Chaka was more stand at the mic/hip action

I thought Faye & Angie did "okay"

the highlight was Milini (I thought something

was up with the latest introduction as "Idira" LOL)

and Mark

and of course, loved it when Chaka got up there

and showed everybody the blueprint!

3 lil nit picks...

NO ERYKAH

NO RAHSAAN

and MARY showing up via satellite

other than that, I really had a fun time watching

People make mention of how much weight Stevie Wonder has gaine, and he has, but Chaka Khan has also ballooned up - whew!

On another note: somewhat surprised her ex-carpetmunching buddy during tehir drug crazed days wasn'tthere to fete her, but maybe they have issues from their past situation.

BTW I am referring to the she who mounted a challenge to Aretha Franklin as the new Queen of Soul in 1975 - Miss 'Sophisticated Lady', LOL.

RnBAmbassador said:

People make mention of how much weight Stevie Wonder has gaine, and he has, but Chaka Khan has also ballooned up - whew!

On another note: somewhat surprised her ex-carpetmunching buddy during tehir drug crazed days wasn'tthere to fete her, but maybe they have issues from their past situation.

BTW I am referring to the she who mounted a challenge to Aretha Franklin as the new Queen of Soul in 1975 - Miss 'Sophisticated Lady', LOL.

True, Chaka has gained weight over the years but for some reason its not as bothersome as Stevie's weight gain. I dunno why.

I was very underwhelmed by it all. I donated my $10, and was happy to see all the good that Chaka is doing with her foundation. However, those performances were not good. At first I couldn't put my finger on why so many artists that I respect gave such lackluster performances. Then, I realized that the band was lame. They were very uninspired, and the singers didn't seem to connect with the band either. I wonder how much they praticed together? Wasn't that Rickey Minor leading the band? Wow, I expected more.

The 15-minute or so Chaka tribute with Prince, Stevie, India Arie and Yolanda Adams a few years ago completely blew this entire show out of the water.

They should've got this girl to perform... Remember back in 2008 when she slayed this on American Idol? Not nearly as close to Chaka's own version, but still great.

[Edited 2/1/11 21:24pm]

bellanoche said:

The 15-minute or so Chaka tribute with Prince, Stevie, India Arie and Yolanda Adams a few years ago completely blew this entire show out of the water.

Mmhmm

RnBAmbassador said:

People make mention of how much weight Stevie Wonder has gaine, and he has, but Chaka Khan has also ballooned up - whew!

On another note: somewhat surprised her ex-carpetmunching buddy during tehir drug crazed days wasn'tthere to fete her, but maybe they have issues from their past situation.

BTW I am referring to the she who mounted a challenge to Aretha Franklin as the new Queen of Soul in 1975 - Miss 'Sophisticated Lady', LOL.

It wasn't as alarming because we knew WHY she ballooned up, she's dropped some weight though. With Stevie, I think he's being spoiled with some sweets. I mean he did earn the right but...yeah.

Harlepolis said:

bellanoche said:

The 15-minute or so Chaka tribute with Prince, Stevie, India Arie and Yolanda Adams a few years ago completely blew this entire show out of the water.

Mmhmm

Co-