This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/mar/25/why-singing-nuns-comic-italian-voice

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Why we find the idea of a singing nun so comic - and so appealing Why we find the idea of a singing nun so comic – and so appealing
(about 1 hour later)
What is it about singing nuns? Julie Andrews is usually held to blame for the phenomenon, climbing every mountain and following every dream (including marrying Captain von Trapp) as the fictional Maria with her guitar in The Sound of Music. Then there was the real nun, Jeanine Deckers, from Belgium, who became a sensation in America after her gentle records were played on US radio stations to soothe the nation after the death of John F Kennedy. She was invited onto The Ed Sullivan Show and had her life made into a movie starring Debbie Reynolds.What is it about singing nuns? Julie Andrews is usually held to blame for the phenomenon, climbing every mountain and following every dream (including marrying Captain von Trapp) as the fictional Maria with her guitar in The Sound of Music. Then there was the real nun, Jeanine Deckers, from Belgium, who became a sensation in America after her gentle records were played on US radio stations to soothe the nation after the death of John F Kennedy. She was invited onto The Ed Sullivan Show and had her life made into a movie starring Debbie Reynolds.
Now a nun performing an Alicia Keys song in The Voice of Italy has, understandably – because when you read that as a headline you want to see the video – gone viral. Italian TV producers must have been salivating when the smiling Sister Cristina Scuccia, dressed in unflattering black habit and full veil, not only auditioned for the show but performed a very unholy version of Keys' No One, complete with Alicia-style warbling and some un-nun-like dance moves in her fabulously unfashionable laced black shoes.Now a nun performing an Alicia Keys song in The Voice of Italy has, understandably – because when you read that as a headline you want to see the video – gone viral. Italian TV producers must have been salivating when the smiling Sister Cristina Scuccia, dressed in unflattering black habit and full veil, not only auditioned for the show but performed a very unholy version of Keys' No One, complete with Alicia-style warbling and some un-nun-like dance moves in her fabulously unfashionable laced black shoes.
Sister Cristina's moment of metamorphosis from singing nun into global internet sensation involves four judges listening to her with their backs turned, as the Voice format demands, then spinning around when the cheering of the audience becomes hysterical and they've heard enough to know they want this mystery singer on their team. Was Sister Cristina that astonishing? I don't think Alicia Keys needs to worry too much, frankly, although it was a convincing enough performance. Far more important, though, the narrative was perfect.Sister Cristina's moment of metamorphosis from singing nun into global internet sensation involves four judges listening to her with their backs turned, as the Voice format demands, then spinning around when the cheering of the audience becomes hysterical and they've heard enough to know they want this mystery singer on their team. Was Sister Cristina that astonishing? I don't think Alicia Keys needs to worry too much, frankly, although it was a convincing enough performance. Far more important, though, the narrative was perfect.
There is, of course, something inherently comic about a Catholic nun, whom we imagine lives a strict and penitential life, observing a vow of poverty and perhaps even silence, sleeping in a cell with only a crucifix for adornment and only ever using her singing voice for the Ave Maria, suddenly carrying on like a sexy R'n'B star from Manhattan. It is almost in reverse the story of Whoopi Goldberg's character as a New York nightclub singer who dresses up as a nun in Sister Act.There is, of course, something inherently comic about a Catholic nun, whom we imagine lives a strict and penitential life, observing a vow of poverty and perhaps even silence, sleeping in a cell with only a crucifix for adornment and only ever using her singing voice for the Ave Maria, suddenly carrying on like a sexy R'n'B star from Manhattan. It is almost in reverse the story of Whoopi Goldberg's character as a New York nightclub singer who dresses up as a nun in Sister Act.
And who knows if the whole thing wasn't a set-up and that the judges knew in advance. All that matters for the story to delight us is that the gutsy voice belonged to the diminutive 25-year-old Sicilian bride of Christ and that rapper J-Ax was moved almost to tears at her achievement.And who knows if the whole thing wasn't a set-up and that the judges knew in advance. All that matters for the story to delight us is that the gutsy voice belonged to the diminutive 25-year-old Sicilian bride of Christ and that rapper J-Ax was moved almost to tears at her achievement.
What we have too in Sister Cristina is the singing nun as a cultural idea: the pious, virginal creature emerging from behind strict convent walls to charm the world with the power of her voice.What we have too in Sister Cristina is the singing nun as a cultural idea: the pious, virginal creature emerging from behind strict convent walls to charm the world with the power of her voice.
Susan Boyle, the British equivalent of Sister Cristina, was not of course a nun, but the story has undeniable parallels – a frumpy, fortysomething woman singing I Dreamed a Dream in the shower all her life, suddenly melting the hearts of the X Factor svengalis.Susan Boyle, the British equivalent of Sister Cristina, was not of course a nun, but the story has undeniable parallels – a frumpy, fortysomething woman singing I Dreamed a Dream in the shower all her life, suddenly melting the hearts of the X Factor svengalis.
There is a long tradition of performing rebellious, or non-conformist, nuns in our cultural landscape and Sister Cristina shows that our fascination with them has not yet worn thin.There is a long tradition of performing rebellious, or non-conformist, nuns in our cultural landscape and Sister Cristina shows that our fascination with them has not yet worn thin.
There was Sister Wendy Beckett in her wimple becoming an unlikely TV star in Britain as an art critic. The American nun Sister Helen Prejean was played by Susan Sarandon in the Oscar-winning Hollywood film Dead Man Walking, after Prejean campaigned to end the US death penalty.There was Sister Wendy Beckett in her wimple becoming an unlikely TV star in Britain as an art critic. The American nun Sister Helen Prejean was played by Susan Sarandon in the Oscar-winning Hollywood film Dead Man Walking, after Prejean campaigned to end the US death penalty.
Mary O'Hara, the Irish nun, left her convent after 12 years as a Benedictine to become a famous harpist making records and appearing to packed audiences on sell-out tours across Europe and America. It is the incongruity of a nun acting out a secular role that is so irresistible.Mary O'Hara, the Irish nun, left her convent after 12 years as a Benedictine to become a famous harpist making records and appearing to packed audiences on sell-out tours across Europe and America. It is the incongruity of a nun acting out a secular role that is so irresistible.
I suspect Sister Cristina is partly a showbiz construct. I am not suggesting for a moment that she is not a real nun, but I am not sure that young Italian nuns are even still compelled to wear full veils and old-fashioned habits. I was educated by Ursuline nuns, the same order as Sister Cristina, and I know that many long ago consigned their veils to the back of the cell wardrobe in keeping with the Vatican's more relaxed rules.I suspect Sister Cristina is partly a showbiz construct. I am not suggesting for a moment that she is not a real nun, but I am not sure that young Italian nuns are even still compelled to wear full veils and old-fashioned habits. I was educated by Ursuline nuns, the same order as Sister Cristina, and I know that many long ago consigned their veils to the back of the cell wardrobe in keeping with the Vatican's more relaxed rules.
The lives that the dwindling numbers of modern nuns lead are also a far cry from that described in Karen Armstrong's account of convent life in the 1960s when prostrating yourself on the floor for some minor transgression was the only break in a harsh, almost brutally contemplative routine. Most live in ordinary houses rather than forbidding fortresses, and in the US many have even given up living under the same roof, working in communities from their own flats.The lives that the dwindling numbers of modern nuns lead are also a far cry from that described in Karen Armstrong's account of convent life in the 1960s when prostrating yourself on the floor for some minor transgression was the only break in a harsh, almost brutally contemplative routine. Most live in ordinary houses rather than forbidding fortresses, and in the US many have even given up living under the same roof, working in communities from their own flats.
But even without the trappings, I think we would go on finding the idea of the singing nun seductive.But even without the trappings, I think we would go on finding the idea of the singing nun seductive.
Maybe it is because we suspect that, given half a chance, this other-worldly creature too would be as tempted as the rest of us by a chance at fame, riches and celebrity. Paradoxically, it is the life of self-denial and devotion to others which is now so extraordinary and the taking part in a televised singing contest before judges and a screaming audience which has become banal. It's still a great story, though. Stand by for Sister Cristina, rock goddess, the movie.Maybe it is because we suspect that, given half a chance, this other-worldly creature too would be as tempted as the rest of us by a chance at fame, riches and celebrity. Paradoxically, it is the life of self-denial and devotion to others which is now so extraordinary and the taking part in a televised singing contest before judges and a screaming audience which has become banal. It's still a great story, though. Stand by for Sister Cristina, rock goddess, the movie.