Miku does Miley

Now that Miku English has been out for a few weeks, all sorts of songs are being given the Miku treatment. Although there are clearly some issues with aspects of the English voicebank's pronunciation of some sounds, by and large it is proving to be a success.

One interesting effect is that people who have no history with Vocaloid fandom are commenting on these new productions or 'covers' as they are called, often saying that they dislike (or worse) the original performer, the original version of the song, or even the video that went with it, but now "have a reason to like it", or similar commentary. Thus it is with this (originally by Miley Cyrus) number Wrecking Ball.

It's an old truism in the music business, that no-one can spoil or even ruin a good song like an over-hyped and overly self-aware performer. It is the removal of such elements from the long path from composition to public release that the Vocaloid technology addresses; and here I think we can witness a good example of the benefits of this approach.

Although it's just a still image (with the lyrics subtitled) it's a lot better than the original, with Miley (who seems to have modelled her look on Marie Fredriksson of Roxette) swinging on what seems to be a real wrecking ball...