Here is what I have to write about Yolanda Adams’s tribute to Anita Baker during the 2018 BET Awards show :

Yolanda practiced; she rehearsed. I’m not talking about the week before scheduled rehearsals for the show–no. I refer to practice and rehearsal the day after she accepted the invitation to give the tribute. I’m talking about listening to the song over and over until it becomes a kind of muscle memory; writing the lyrics on paper with pencil to engrave them on the mind; parsing out the meaning; and, then, practicing bit by bit and piece by piece until the song made friends with her vocal chords as well as her personality. “You Bring Me Joy” became Yolanda Adams’s song as only she could deliver it. That’s downright Holy!

She honored the voice/performance process to such an extent that she could let it go and allow the song to breathe. As a vocalist who has been a student of voice off and on since I was 14 years old (and currently under the coaching talents of Alicia Opoku), I saw, felt, and heard every single technique she used to make this performance flawless (i.e., posture, resonance, breath control, diaphragm support; voice and note placement [head, chest]; mouth, and jaw placement; tonality, diction, et al). She was grounded and she stood tall so as to allow her breath to easily travel throughout her body. She and her vocals were as one; in sync. She did not try to show up Anita Baker but she made it possible for her own talent to soar. She gave “You Bring Me Joy” its own due. As a result, the cosmic forces anointed her performance. This anointing is the answered prayer of every vocalist but it only comes to those who are serious about his/her work. Believe me: It is a spiritual experience.

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