Big events, big voices - Summer 2024 Reflections

This season I’ve thought about some of the more challenging voice conditions that come my way in weekly clinics from those affected by papilloma to the complete deterioration of a singer’s voice with severe muscle tension/ spasmodic dysphonia and the shock diagnosis of vocal fold cancer. The close to home effects of vocal loss on people’s lives is often severely underestimated.

I’ve also thought about writing the four remaining conference presentations of the five I’ve been invited to give from late September (and definitely thought about not accepting so many invitations in a four month period next year). Some of that presentation musing meant I actually have written one. Yes, I’m all ready for the Voice and Communication teaching in Lisbon at the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) conference in September.

My up-close clinical life ponderings were set against the backdrop of domestic, European and global huge scale events and spectacles. Big voices came to the fore this summer.

Yes, it’s been a season of big events and big voices.

Early summer brought Glastonbury with Shania Twain filling the legends set. It meant a lot, and has taken a lot for the country-rock chanteuse to be able to return to the stage after her well publicised vocal issues. In large part, her vocal issues became commonly known because she was so open about them. Having experienced such a catastrophic level of voice deterioration, she was confined to a non-performing wilderness grappling with her changed abilities. However, Shania is known as someone who overcomes and succeeds.

There is a certain kind of fighter spirit in survivor individuals who live through challenging early life that makes recovery and comebacks more probable. Food being sometimes scarce at home, she began performing by age 8 to help earn family money. A move to Ontario helped Shania start to get noticed as an artist but the 1987 death of her mother and step-father in a car accident saw her move back home to take care of her orphaned siblings. She supported them by singing in late night bars, only starting to showcase her songs again, when they were able to support themselves. By 1993, she landed a record deal. Shania’s road to superstardom was set; her third album ‘Come on Over’ recognised by Guinness World Records as the best selling album of all time by a solo female performer. More than any artist of the time, she brought country into mainstream pop, adding rock influences.

For performers, vocal load and bodily demands of touring can become wearing. Voice function loss in most cases has a multi-factorial etiology. Maintaining physical and mental health becomes paramount but various physical ailments and emotional pressures are inevitable and often not easily traversed. In Shania’s case, contracting Lyme disease dealt a lengthy, hard to diagnose body blow. The break up of Shania’s marriage in 2008 to her record producer husband Robert Lange, perhaps knocking out a comparable amount of stuffing from her contralto voice. Tired, heavily worked vocal cords and emotional trauma frequently hit the big time.

But Shania found a way. It’s not the same vocal way - vocal range and deliveries are adapted so that her voice can still travel through her songs, both old and new. She devotes more time to voice care and had a gortex implanting laryngoplasty to help reduce vocal cord effort. She remarried in 2011 and the same year began the first of her three Las Vegas residencies. Collaborations with Michael Buble amongst others, new albums and a Glastonbury headliner in June 2024 prove lost voices, with help and a person’s own resilience can find a way through.

Glastonbury draws big sing-along crowds for sure but the European football championships tops it. Around 2.68 million attended the Euros this year. The crowds seem to become more vocal each time. No one tried to muster their team more than the Scots who sang the loudest and most collectively. Their new football anthem ‘It’s been a long time coming’ didn’t ensure success but their consistent singing swelled pride and won the admiration of more than just the Scots. Nothing rouses feelings more than a vast number of proud singing voices in unison.

So in a Summer of big crowd happenings, we’ve moved from domestic to European and more recently Global events. In terms of size and viewing numbers, the Olympics of course runs global rings around all other events. The French used the power of their songs to help showcase their country, from the building emotion of Hymne a’ l'àmour in the opening ceremony to the warm Paris boulevard evocativeness of Sous le ceil de Paris in the closing ceremony.

It was particularly moving to hear Celine Dion singing at the open ceremony. Another superstar who has revealed the extent of her voice decline, most extensively in Prime Video’s documentary ‘I am Celine’.

I remember, just pre the cusp of of Celine Dion exploding into vocal stardom, hearing a song on the car radio whilst driving. I found a place to stop, just to listen to the song. It was ‘Where Does My Heart Beat Now’, sung by Celine Dion. The voice blew me away. I’ve listened to her a lot since then. She’s undoubtedly one of the most accomplished female pop voices of our time. There was an emphatic vocal reliability to her voice ability which she herself took emotional security from - her identity revolving around her love of singing and her ability to sing brilliantly. There were no signs of the intermittent vocal fragility that characterises the careers of so many great female divas. And yet.

An invasion to her vocal security did ensue. It was a total body coup diagnosed as the neurological condition Stiff Person’s Syndrome, characterised by sometimes debilitating spasms. The bigger the voice, the greater the voice loss. Tours and Las Vegas residencies thwarted; Celine was at a loss to find her voice again.

No doubt she will have tried a myriad of things in her counter attack. Seemingly unworn down by the requirements of high level performing, she longed to return to the stage. The fact that this stage would have 21 million viewing it (double the amount for the Tokyo Olympics) and that she would sing again, elevated high, in front of the Eiffel Tower added to the spectacle of surely one of life’s gold medal worthy vocal comebacks.

Vocally biased I may be, but what the French got absolutely right was the theme song choice of the games: Hymne a’ l'àmour. Celine’s emphatically resplendent performance was a fitting tribute to Piaf. Hearing a few bars of the tune at the start of each T.V Olympic broadcast seemed to add a deeper layer of emotion to the sporting events.

Never has a song been so evocative of France than Hymne a’ l'àmour or a voice more evocative of enduring human spirit than that of Edith Piaf who co-wrote and popularised it. Rarely are voices iconic but Edith Piaf’s truly was. She sang mostly about love, loss and sorrow but there was always the feeling of a brighter tomorrow. It ties in with the Paris Olympics beautifully - in the competition there will be many more losers than winners. But for all who take part there is the hope of making it through to the end and winning.

Of all the winning notes, those reached by singer Yesult in her rendition of My Way in the closing ceremony ensured things ended on an impressive and captivating high.

Another thing the French got right was championing equality, diversity and inclusion. Diversity and inclusion involves demonstrable actions. And usually irritating the politically far right. Including Aya Nakamura in the opening ceremony - a French Malian artist and the most listened to French female singer of modern times - should not have caused any negative reaction whatsoever in an evolved modern world. But some parts of modern society remain spectacularly unevolved and frequently irked. The organisers ensured she and her band were securely supported by some of France’s strongest: musically by way of backing from Frances Republican Guard; symbolically and strategically, by performing in front of the Academie Francais, the institute which fiercely guards the French language. Predictably, the French far right were irritated. How ridiculous the far right’s irritation is to this, leaves me, a speech therapist, speechless.

Most likely they were also irritated by the 50% female athletes who made up competitors this time - for the first time. The positive can never be truly quashed however.

Nothing speaks more to egalité, fraterneté and liberté than the paralympics and here again, the French excelled. The need to first overcome challenge and then achieve is personified by the Paralympics. Successful outcomes do not require perfect beginnings. 124 medals for team GB in the 2024 Paralympics seems a fitting hoard of achievement treasure.

The big events of the summer helped bring a sense of collectivity, enthusiasm and entertainment to those lucky enough to live outside a war zone and abject deprivation.

It would be remiss of me to omit the soaring Ms Taylor Swift in this reflection of the summer season. Her Eras tour rolled on through August in the U.K and now beyond. The biggest tour of all time means she’s entered the billionaire list. The Swifties go crazy each time - unerring devotion and endless friendship bracelets seemingly banding fans together forever. At this stage, I predict longevity for her voice - she’s 34 with amazing stamina and phenomenally crafted artistic control over her career. She’s operating out of the era and musical style of huge power ballads which characterised Celine’s career. But her shows and tours are long so a slower pace will need to be built in at some point when she’s older. Importantly, Taylor Swift has a uniting effect - an inclusive stance for all peoples and a savvy use of social media to draw fans in. Importantly though, she demonstrates an ability to stay somewhat grounded (when not swifting around in one of her private jets) by her acknowledgment of performers who came before her. She credits them with the influence they had on her career and musical style, not least her acknowledgement of Shania Twain. Time will tell if Taylor ever needs to draw on the comeback spirit of Shania and Celine. From great influencers, even bigger things can come.

The clinical cases I mentioned at the start of this piece had, or are having vocal comebacks of their own. A man with 3 vocal fold papilloma surgeries behind him, is complying with the exercises and experiencing much less vocal hoarseness. The severe case of MTD/spasmodic dysphonia that halted the singing life of a U.K based country and Western singer I worked with almost three years ago has diminished significantly to allow him to start performing well again. An actor post radiotherapy treatment for vocal fold cancer beamed through the video screen at me elated at how much their voice was returning. These are some of the great moments of being a voice therapist. We get to experience voice recovery in many forms.

So in a fully event loaded Summer, there have been vocal comebacks both near and far. Long may they continue!

Falling into Autumn ??

A hither and thither full conference season starts in late September and continues into Winter. There are some great events and speakers. I’ll do my best to make a valid contribution and honour each invitation extended to me as a presenter at these events.

World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) 24-30 th September, Lisbon, Portugal

British Laryngological Association (BLA) 2-4 th October, The Royal Society of Medicine, London, U.K

Greek Association of Speech & Language Therapists (Greece), Kalamata, Greece, 2-4 th November.

International Association of Trans Voice Surgeons (IATVS), Seoul, South Korea, 9-11 th November

Newcastle Voice Conference, 2-4 th December, Hilton, Newcastle - Gateshead, U.K | Register here: https://forms.office.com/r/frTPw4BkM4

It’s fitting that I’ll be back home for the last one, the renowned Newcastle Voice conference. I’ll be giving a presentation that discusses transgender voice work - some of the common themes it holds with standard voice therapy as well as some of it’s prime distinctions. I’m centring my workshops there on resonance and how to adapt it for different therapies and voice goals. I look forward to bumping into as many colleagues as possible.

I’m blessed to have good admin support and a team of Associates who are all going strong . Modern tech enables me to maintain on going training and supervision with a now expanded team. It’s the key to creating highly able, confident clinicians. This in turn maximises outcomes for our clients - including some great vocal comebacks.

Happy rest of Summer!

Christella