If you don't believe, you will soon....

Imagine my surprise when my alarm goes off at 6:00am this morning and the first thing I hear is the "exclusive world premier" of "When You Believe." I've been tuning in to radio stations all over the world these past few weeks through Real Audio trying to hear the song, but gotten nothing. I'd stopped listening to local stations because Entertainment Tonight said that it woould be 2 weeks before it goes to radio. This was the best wake up call I could have hoped for...

First and foremost, let me say that I've been waiting for a duet between these 2 ever since Mariah came onto the scene 8 years ago. I've never tried to review a song bfore, so I don't know exactly what I'm supposed to say, but I'll do my best because I just have to tell someone. That said, let me get to my review...

This is a beautiful song and that fact is clearly represented by the vocals that Whitney and Mariah display in the verses. The first verse is Whitney's and she displays the mid and lower portions of her range giving the song a very soulful reading. She sings with measured restraint, and I'd have to say that it's comparable to the way she sounded in the fisrt verse of "Count On Me."

Her chorus is very straight forward, as you would expect from the first chorus of a Whitney song. Still measured and deliberately restrained, she weaves her way through the chorus ending it with a dramatically low note on the word "believe."

Mariah's verse (vocally) is much the same as Whitney's, though higher. If I had to find a song where she sounded similar, it would be the verses of "When I Saw You" on the "Daydream" album.

Mariah's chorus is, like the second chorus of most songs, more lively. Though it's the same melody, She displays a bit more freedom in the chorus than Whitney did in the first. She accompanied by Whitney on certain on parts of the chorus as Whitney echos her in harmony on the phrases "...when you believe..." and "...you can achieve..."

While the song is beautiful, it's also powerful and the bridge is it's highlight. The bridge is Whitney's shining moment as I feel she steals it from Mariah displaying the power (that "mid belt" as Mariah called it) that we know (and expect) from her. There times in this verse where you can't hear Mariah, though Babyface does a pretty good job of blending their voices for the harmony of the verse.

The final verse is Mariah's highlight. It's almost as if Babyface was making up for Whitney's dominance in the bridge, Mariah pretty much sings the entire chrous with the occassional line of inflection and ad lib from Whitney. The choir isn't very prominant, and I'm not sure if it's because they are strictly background decoration, or because Mariah's acrobatics are so dominant. The song ends with a high note from Mariah decorating the background and she sings the final line of the song "...when you believe..."

The production itself is not typical Babyface, in fact I've noticed that Babyface has gotten less and less typical over the years. People didn't think Whitney and Mariah would ever be more than rivals, but this song proves that it is possible. If you didn't believe that before you her the song, you will after you hear it. The song is a beautiful and powerful reminder that anything is possible when you believe...