hTaylor Swift’s Label Lashes Out at Critics of Grammy Performance

2/4/10, 12:34 pm EST

The CEO of Taylor Swift’s label Big Machine Records, Scott Borchetta, has spoken out in support of his Album of the Year-winning star and defended her Grammy night duet with Stevie Nicks, which has taken a lot of criticism for being off-key. “Maybe she’s not the best technical singer, but she’s probably the best emotional singer because everybody else who gets up there and is technically perfect, people don’t seem to want more of it,” Borchetta told The Tennessean. He added to the AP, “This is not American Idol. This is not a competition of getting up and seeing who can sing the highest note. This is about a true artist and writer and communicator. It’s not about that technically perfect performance.”

While Swift’s performance of her Valentine’s Day single “Today Was a Fairytale,” “Rihannon” and “You Belong With Me” was just a footnote to her four Grammy wins, Borchetta’s comments have returned the less-than-stellar medley to the spotlight — and resulted in an angry response from American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson.

Kelly's response:

Taylor Swift’s label head jumped to her defense today, telling the press Swift’s Grammy-night performance may not have been note-perfect, but it captured why the 20-year-old is the “voice of a generation.” Big Machine CEO Scott Borchetta went on to say, “This is not American Idol. This is not a competition of getting up and seeing who can sing the highest note. This is about a true artist and writer and communicator. It’s not about that technically perfect performance.”

His comments about Idol riled Season One champion Kelly Clarkson, who immediately responded in an open letter on her I Am Kelly blog. “Thank you for that ‘Captain Obvious’ sense of humor because you know what, we not only hit the high notes, you forgot to mention we generally hit the ‘right’ notes as well,” Clarkson wrote. She signed her post “One of those contestants from American Idol who only made it because of her high notes.” Clarkson has two Grammy wins under her belt, and songwriting credits on some of her biggest hits, including “Because of You” and “Already Gone.”

Look back at the 2010 Grammys’ big moments in photos.

Writing that she too has experienced off-nights in the post titled “Scott Borchetta” (just in case there was any confusion who it was addressed to), Clarkson added, “Instead of lashing out at other artists (that in your ‘humble’ opinion lack true artistry), you should simply take a breath and realize that sometimes things won’t go according to plan or work out and that’s okay.” Swift — who recently toured with an American Idol contestant, Kellie Pickler — won four Grammys at Sunday night’s ceremony, but news of her victories has since been overshadowed by criticism that she sang off-key during her three-song performance, which featured cameos with Stevie Nicks and Butch Walker.

“I think [the critics] are missing the whole voice of a generation that is happening right in front of them. Maybe they are jealous or can’t understand that,” Borchetta said, “but obviously the people that she talks to are engaged with her. No one is perfect on any given day. Maybe in that moment we didn’t have the best night, but in the same breath, maybe we did,” referring to Fearless‘ Album of the Year win.

Check out all of Rolling Stone’s Grammy coverage.

While no one is going to confuse Swift’s vocal talents for Celine Dion’s, Borchetta might have a point when he calls Swift the voice of her generation, as the 20-year-old singer is outselling all her peers — and pretty much everyone else in the music industry — and the Album of the Year win for Fearless, with Swift being the youngest ever to win the award, seems to validate Swift’s impact. “The facts say she is the undisputed best communicator that we’ve got,” Borchetta told The Tennessean. “When she says something, when she sings something, when she feels something, it affects more people than anybody else.” from Rolling Stone

Ummm... did he just say... soooooo wuuuuut singers can fukkin sing!!!! Woopty doo!! No one wants more of that! Just somebody standing on that stage singing pitch perfect in tune on key hittin' high low & in between notes, notes with names & progressions & such? notes humans recognize? B1tches please! Technical?!? Pffft!! This ain't American Idol! Taylor's IT *snap wit a bevel* she owns you all!