Beverley Knight sings I Am What I Am (Accompanied by Caroline Parker & Lizzie Emeh) Live in the closing segment of the Paralympics Opening Ceremony, London 2012 Visit: paralympics.channel4.com/
So they save the best Vocalist from Great Britain for the Paralympics.......AWESOME!! I love this woman and her amazing voice.......ABSOLUTELY POWERFUL PERFORMANCE!!!
I was a marshall at the Opening and Closing Ceremoney of the Paralympics. This was an amazing end to the opening ceremony. The atmosphere was amazing and this video brings me back each time I watch it.
There is no one I would rather hear sing the closing song of the ceremony - they could have given her an advertising jingle and she would deliver it with incredible passion and her amazing vocal. And she looked hot too! Go girl!!
YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!! Absolutely breath taking and emotional!! WOW!! I'm so glad its on RU-vid so I share it and hear it over & over!! Great arrangement!! Choir! Beverly Knight.....You has climbed higher and higher!!! Work it!!
OMG! Beverley Knight at her scintillating BEST!! I was totally transported on those strong, clean notes and my spirit soared on those powerful sentiments... Kinda reminiscent of Whitney Houston's "One Moment In Time." My 'soul sistah' throwing it down! She needs to go to studio and record that one now so we can all own her version of that anthem. I am ready to pre-order!!
Whenever I am feeling down about the things I am dealing with and how I feel this is the song that picks me up and puts me back on track... absolutely brilliant and brings a tear to my eye every time I hear it
Beverley Knight: Such a captivating performance and I tell you what SHE is the VOICE of the UK. So man truely stunning vocal moments 1:50 OH MY DAYS, what a resonant & amazingly sustained D5 2:40 - 3:20 !!! 3:40 Shes in another league her stamina and power. What an F#5/G#5 5:58 STUNNING
Some twat on Channel Four's "Last Leg" (whose name I still don't know... nor care to know) attempted to berate Beverley's sterling permance. He clearly has a hearing impairment. I've added this song to my music library - thanks to it being on iTunes... Pure joy!
Beverely. You are an amazing, talented woman. The song was beautiful, touched my soul. So apt. it is ashame that you were on at the end. You need to perform that song again at the beginning of the closing ceremony. Well done. Your in a league of your own.
BK knocked spots of all the so called leg-ends that performed in the olympic and paralympic ceremonies. Quite simply just about the best soul vocalist alive today.
This has always been my all time anthem since I was a child. Its followed through my life and has inspired me to be myself, absolutely the classic for Diversity, Inclusion and yes, the Anthem for the Paralympic Games
Thanks, Bev - you said it for all of us last night. It's a song that's equally applicable to all marginalised groups. And they should've followed it up with Twisted Sister's "I Am, I'm Me".
Just absolutly bloody amazing. Ha i was watching this on my own last night and as soon as i knew who it was and what she was singing i was like arrrrrrrrrrr yeessssssss. x and then she sang it soooo beautifully x
Who else thinks she has the perfect voice for one of those 1990s style Disney movie soundtracks, like Beauty and the Beast or Pocahontas? Plus her dress last night was gorgeous :)
As nice as Emeli Sande is... watch and learn how it is DONE. Cannot think of a singer I would have wanted to close the ceremony more than Bev! Amazing!!! :o)
My comment was in response to an earlier post praising Beverley Knight's amazing performance but saying it was better than McCartney's. Both gave superb contributions to a glorious event but in different ways, and at different stages in their careers!
What are you on Stephen? I suspect you're just enamoured with the version you know. This was a fantastic vocal performance by any standard ... and live too.
Came here to hear Lizzie Emeh perform but all I hear (and see 99% of the time is Beverly Knight). Lizzie is supposed to be performing with her; did they turn her mic off???
Actually, the roots of this song being a gay anthem go further back than that. The lyrics from the original song in "La Cage Aux Folles" refer to a drag queen who was also gay, and the story of the show was about acceptance, from every angle, which is how it came to be a gay anthem. However, if you actually take a second and bother to listen to the lyrics, the song has a much deeper message -- about being accepted for who you are. I'd say it was completely appropriate for the Paralympics.
Please give Paul McCartney a break. He's 70, his voice isn't what it was when he changed rock music forever. His appearance at the Opening Ceremony, and John Lennon's film sequence in the Closing Ceremony, were there surely to represent the contribution that British music has made to the world, music that continues to be loved generation after generation.
I have to deal with disability and prejudice every day of my life... trust me this was in no way patronising or overblown... if anything empowering for many people across the world including myself!!!
All hail.. What an amazing performance, certainly much more "on," than some of the disaster areas which littered the otherwise brilliant opening and closing ceremonies a few weeks back, Paul McCarteny, The Who, The Pet Shop Boys and The Spice Girls in particular.. As for the lyrics and the gay thing, it's pretty well established regarding the roots of the song, that's not a reason for saying that it applies to all human beings?
Beverley Knight, in front of a statue of a woman with no arms singing "I am somebody", well thanks Beverley, thanks for validating that for the disabled population, but it seems that if you have a learning disability, next to Beverley you are nobody, because they turn your bloomin mic off! There are just no swear words to express how I feel about this. awful.
SchwarzWeißDenken Shirley is in her 80s, they already used her up... This black vocalist that you only give few opportunities to and use them even when they about to hit the grave. Expecting some 80 years old woman to still be performing when her Counterparts won't even entertain it. No way
I'm sorry but this is awful. What an absolute circus. As someone who works with disabled people (including one named as accompanying Beverly on this but who cannot be heard at all) and has a disabled son I have to say i am most offended by this. This is patronising, overblown rubbish that says almost nothing about disability and to turn down the microphones of the disabled singers to the point that they can't be heard shows just how much we truly value the contribution the disabled could make.
