Photo by Lindsay Soloman, Lilith Fair '98

What good is telling everyone how great Idina's voice is or how terrific her personality is when you don't even have enough evidence? Well FINE, take a good listen. I try to provide you with sounds clips that are unique (aka can't be bought), and hope you enjoy them!

These are fun sound clips of Idina being her candid self. Funny stories, messing up her lyrics, just good ol' recorded blackmail :) Actually, many of these clips still show her talent as a singer. So we get the best of both worlds.

LIVE: Ars Nova 10/7/02

"Knocks Me Off My Feet" / "Minuet" Mess-up

[ Idina was singing a "medley" of Stevie Wonder's "Knocks Me Off My Feet" and "Minuet" to show her love for Taye. Unfortunately, she started singing "Minuet" too early, and gets mad at herself (in that humorous way). ]

knocksminuet.mp3 - "No now I don't want to bore you with it / Oh but baby I love you, I love you, I love you / More and...Iii / *laugh* Oh shit! / *sings* Iiii-- This is my song, fuck it if I don't know the words!"

"Saving All My Love for You" Anecdote

[ Recalling her experiences as a wedding singer on Long Island, Idina tells a hilarious story about one of her biggest requests: Whitney Houston's "Saving All My Love for You". ]

savingallmylove.mp3 - "*sings* There's no other man's gonna do / So I'm saving all my love for-- / *to the audience* Is anybody listening to the words? / Highly requested: song about a woman having an affair with a married man that contends to leave his family for her! Yeah! ...Song you're gonna profess your undying love to your husband with? Oh! And if that didn't get worse: a bar mitzvah; a mom sometimes would request it as a dance with her son!"

Standing Ovation Anecdote

[ After singing the ever-popular "On My Own", Idina would get a little overwhelmed when wedding patrons would give her standing ovations. A very adorable and funny story. And her mom sounds so cute. ]

ovation.mp3 - "So I'd actually have these moments standing up there on the bandstand. I'd just want to cry like, 'Idina you're better than this. You're really talented! People listen to you at a wedding! You get standing ovations-- Nobody gets a standing ovation during dinner! You gotta remember what my mom--my mom would always say to me: Honey, your voice makes peoples' hearts soar on eagles' wings!'"

"Life of the Party" Mess-up

[ It must have been a bit embarrassing for Idina to forget the lyrics of this song while the composer, Andrew Lippa himself, was sitting right in front of her. But it makes for a good moment, with the help of Taye and the audience. ]

wildpartybloop.mp3 - "*sings* All I need is time to play / On-- Oh my god. What's the lyric, Andrew [lippa]? He's sitting right here. [Taye] *yells* I know what I like! / [Idina] *sings* All I need is room to play-- Is that Taye?! / [Taye] Only want the game! / [Idina to audience] I don't know what the lyric is cuz I'm all done!"

LIVE: She Rocks Broadway 2000

Taye and Idina's "Love Song" tape

[ While introing the song "Company" (see Cover Songs), Idina confesses a liiitle too much info to the audience. I love how she snaps back to reality after realizing she's divulged too much. ]

lovesongtape.mp3 - "...and it's on Taye and my love songs-- love making tape or whatever *laughs*. But it's a tape; We a mix tape of all these looove songs *laughs*. But no, forget about that, I'm sorry! [audience laughs] It's about..."

Classic Idina - Improvised Encore Song

[ After her performance was over at Ars Nova, the audience gave her a standing ovation and refused to leave. Idina came back totally flustered because she had nothing prepared for an encore. So she just improvises a song, and it's fantastic and entertaining. ]

improvsong.mp3 - "Yeah, I feel so good / All my friends are here / Sittin here with me / While I can't think of a word / But it's all okay / It's okay / My boyfriend loves me / He's chocoaltely sweet / He's here [...?] / So c'mon let's all give him the beat, c'mon / I love my chocolate boyfriend / Doo da doo / To Taaaye / He's a big movie star / But I'm here in Ars Nova anyway / Singing to all my friends / Singin love to my honey / Singin' ooooh yeah *laughs* / Doo doo dee yeah / Doo doodley dee yeah / Doo doodley-- Don't forget to thank all the people who you forgot / You selfish bitch / But you're self absorbed / That's what your mama told you, yeah / yeah, don't I sound like Erykah Badu?"

"Lean On Me" Mess-up

[ Idina was performing w/other rocking Broadway ladies, and they all sang "Lean On Me" together. Idina sorta kinda messed up the line "If I have things you need to borrow" :) She realizes it as she's singing and just laughs at herself and improvs the end :) Take a listen! ]

leanonme.mp3 - "Please swallow your pride / If you've got things you *starts laughing* need to borrow / For no one can fill all of your needs / If you wanna let them show / If you wanna let them show / Let it show / Let it show!"

LIVE: 11-3-98 Alexandria, VA (The Birchmere):

Idina's "Think Too Much" Blooper

[ Idina is supposed to sing "Do you think about guys in tuxedos, they're kinda deceiving..." Listen to what she says instead. ]

thinkbloop-va.wav - "Do you think about *long pause* uh, guys in tuxedos...it's kinda sed--OH. *sarcastic* Maybe, do you think about actually being able to pronounce the words of your own song? That could be really good... [crowd laughs] *sings* I'm sorry, I am so nerrrrvooooous!"

Idina's "Minuet" Blooper

[ Idina was so into gettin' her groove on and swinging her hair around during the bridge of "Minuet" that she missed her cue to start singing again. Listen to her get pissed at herself and run out of breath :) Warning: She swears a little, so if you're offended by that, don't listen. It's funny though! ]

minuetbloop-va.wav - "*misses her cue* Awww fuck! I MISSED IT! I was all into my hair, and missed it--SHIT! [to the band] Go back to the- the bridge, please. *sings* Everything, everything...[crowd cheers]...everything... *completely out of breath* So if all the things you want are just outta reach / move to the midwest and you start to teach [crowd and Idina laugh] / I'm a woulda-coulda-shoulda / a one hit wonder / I'm pretty sure we'll be ok"

LIVE: 9-19-98 Idina's first tour date at NYC's HMV Records Store:

Idina Doing a Soundcheck

soundcheck-hmv.wav - "[Idina riffing] Can you hear me out there? [crowd cheers] Wow, thank you for showin' up!"

soundcheck2-hmv.wav - "[more goody improv singing] Sound Man, how are we doing there? I kinda get loud. *sings* Wanna give you a chance to control my voice before I blow ya outta here. [more riffing]"