音樂天才愛莉安娜 冉冉新星升起

So far, this year’s global music market has definitely been dominated by women: Beyonce Knowles, Taylor Swift, and Iggy Azalea are all making waves. And one hot name that adds more conviction to the list is US singer Ariana Grande.

截至目前，今年全球歌壇無疑是女歌手的天下：碧昂斯•諾斯，泰勒•斯威夫特，伊基•阿塞莉婭都大紅大紫。而現在，美國當紅炸子雞愛莉安娜•格蘭德的加入更印證了這一點。

Almost exactly a year ago, Grande released her debut album, Yours Truly. And over the past 12 months, the 21-year-old former Nickelodeon (an American TV channel for kids and adolescents) star has transformed from a pop artist you might recognize to an unapologetic superstar. She now boasts three top 10 singles in the current Billboard Hot 100 chart, an impressive opening performance at this year’s MTV Video Music Awards, and millions of followers on social networking sites.

一年前，格蘭德發佈了首張專輯《摯愛》。短短一年間，這位21歲的尼克國際兒童頻道（美國一檔青少年電視節目）的昔日明星，就從一個只是混了個臉熟的流行歌手成長爲無可辯駁的歌壇巨星。現在的她，3首單曲都曾榮登公告牌百強榜前十位的寶座，在2014MTV頒獎禮上的開場表演更是驚豔衆人，同時，在社交網絡上還擁有數百萬粉絲。

Her sophomore album, My Everything, which was released on Aug 25, is the latest sign of her coming dominance. It debuted at No 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart this week, making her the only other female singer after Scotland’s Susan Boyle to have two consecutive No 1 albums in a single year.

8月25日，格蘭德發行第二張專輯《我的所有》，引領歌壇的氣勢盡顯。該專輯本週榮登公告牌前200專輯榜首位，使格蘭德成爲繼蘇珊大媽之後、第二位在一年中有連續兩張專輯登頂的女歌手。

OK, with all the glitter and glamour aside, let’s talk about Grande’s trump card — her powerful voice and wide vocal range. Unlike her peers Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato, Grande’s star power is rooted in the fact that she can really sing. More importantly, Grande knows how to control her voice, which is at once strong and sensitive, and use it to expand her musical territory.

接下來，我們拋開這些光芒與榮耀，看看格蘭德真正的王牌——強有力的嗓音與寬廣的音域。與同爲90後的賽琳娜•戈麥斯和黛米•洛瓦託不同，格蘭德真的“會”唱歌，而這也是她成爲歌壇巨星的潛力所在。更重要的是，格蘭德知道如何掌控自己有力卻敏感的嗓音並使之幫助自己拓寬音樂之路。

My Everything is the best example. In this album, Grande literally tries her hand at everything: dance music (Break Free), R&B jams (Be My Baby), hip-hop tunes (Problem), power ballads (Why Try) and even ’60s-inflected pop (Bang Bang).

《我的所有》就是最好的例證。在這張專輯中，格蘭德嘗試了各種風格：《掙脫》的舞曲風，《做我的寶貝》的說唱風，《難題》的嘻哈風，《徒勞無功》的強力民謠風，甚至還有《砰砰》中脫胎於60年代的流行音樂風。

While you can clearly sense her ambition as a singer, you will be impressed by how effortlessly she handles these different styles of music, especially if you have listened to Yours Truly, a more cohesive, ’90s R&B-influenced project.

以上這些都能讓你清晰地感受到格蘭德作爲歌手的野心，不過，她能輕鬆駕馭不同風格的音樂也一定讓你印象深刻，尤其與她首張專輯相比更是如此，後者曲風統一，明顯受到90年代說唱風的影響。

Of course, one suggestion for Grande’s future music would be for her to display more personality instead of simply parading around her vocal talent. But not to worry; based on what we’ve heard thus far, it’s safe to say Grande is well on her way to growing into her own.

當然，也有人認爲格蘭德若想在音樂方面有長足發展，需展現出更多個性，而不只是發揮自己的嗓音優勢。不過，無須擔心，就目前來看，格蘭德未來必將形成自己的風格。