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David, Sir. You still  have one spot for Celtic Woman, they are magnificently marvelous especially when there's five of them. Will you consider Helen Kelly as your 5th Celtic Woman?

Can I second this? :)

can i 3rd this?  ;D ;D

Can I fourth this?  :)

And possibly...  a Ms. Sarah Burke?

I fifth this :)

I will definitely eternally infinite this!.. Sarah shall be the 6th Celtic Woman.

I would probably agree...if I heard them (which I haven't :()

I know that to a lot of fans, this would be wonderful, but I love it just the way it is. The girls are really tight, and they love what they're doing, and as of yet, don't seem to want to do something else. So I'm happy with just the four, beautiful, talented girls that we have. They're all special to us, and yes, it would be nice to have someone else to take a little bit of the load off, but the girls seem to love the shows the way they are, despite a little bit more that they may have to do!!! And David has always made the right decision for the group, and I stand by him in whatever he does.

I kinda have to agree after being at the concert I relize that they seem pretty happy right now so yea I agree with you ;D

Not only are the girl's pretty happy the way things are right now, but the show is absolutely fantastic as it is!  not only that, but by having three singers instead of four, it means everyone gets more time on stage, more time to share what they are doing with us, the audience!  Yes, I loved the show with five performers, but I really do think it is even better with four.

Bottom line is that David will do what he believes is best, but since there has been no sign at all that he is even considering adding another singer, I'd say it's time for us to accept his decision and enjoy it!  Remember that he is not under any obligation to change anything just because we say so!

either that or he is planning to give us a big surprise  :D

I think it's better with just four girls. Each girl then gets more time on stage and I think the group seems closer and tighter with just four. I really prefer it.

Oh I totally agree... I love it with just 4 girls!  I haven't seen them with Lisa Lambe yet, but I did see them when it was just Chloe, Lisa, Lynn and Mairead.  And I saw them with Alex, Chloe, Lisa, Lynn and Mairead.  I love that the girls get more time on stage, and they do seem to love it the way it is.  I completely trust David, and he has never led us wrong before.  I'm glad the girls are happy, and to me it doesn't matter how many soloists there are, as long as they love what they're doing... It's kinda nice to dream that Sarah will come back though... although that's just me, and I'm perfectly happy with the way things are. :)

There's my 2 cents...

I'll give an opinion about it after my first concert in Germany. I love and enjoy all the girls, but no line-up did beat for me the original group.. yet.

IMHO The 5-girls lineup was better. I can speak only having watched the dvds and the videos on Youtube, since I live in Italy and I never had the opportunity to see the group live. Without a doubt they're still great with four, but five was the original concept and there were more harmonies in the songs (I think of Danny Boy, for example, that arrangement was specific for 4 singers and not 3). And I personally don't think it's necessary to reduce the singers to give more space to the others. In 'A New Journey" DVD there were five singers and everyone of them had two solos, actually Lisa had 3. In the first DVD there were four singers and the average solos number was three. My 2 cents :)

I love it when there are four singers and one fiddler, that makes 5.. Mathematically, it's an odd number but meaningfully it's pretty 'even' number. It's like on stage a couple of singers on each side and a wide space between the two sets, and there's perfect spot for the fiddler. She'd be in the middle but farther down behind the quartet. As the four sing beautifully, she'd be wonderfully playing her lovely violin.

I really miss the 4 part harmonies.  It made their group numbers that much more powerful in my opinion.  They still do sound lovely though.  Only time will tell what happens next.

I'd probably love them the way they are (I wouldn't know since they aren't coming back to WA this tour :'(), but I know I'll miss the four part harmonies! And I agree with Dasher...5 is a good balanced number. :)

As with any new member of Celtic Woman, they will be awesome regardless of who they are. In fact, we might have never heard of them and they'd be great. Just thought that I'd say that.

Totally true! David hasn't disapointed us yet!!! at least he hasn't disapointed me yet...

I agree, 5 Celtic women has always been even more heavenly than 4!

Honestly, I do prefer 5, just for the harmonies, but I was still blown away by just Chloe, Lisa, Lynn and Mairead... although the harmonies in GMA with just Chloe and Lisa weren't as good as they were with the 3 girls... don't get me wrong, I still absolutely loved it... it is different with just 3 voices... although I do love Danny Boy with 3 voices and Mairead. :)

MARY N so glad to hear you will be at a concert in JUNE in Germany...I hope to be at one or two also...you have been such a loyal fan and conniseur of their music from the beginning...When I became acquainted with the group..Meav had already left !! so I was a little late in becoming a die-hard fan that I am today.

shankdee

Thank you for your sweet words Carla. But I acually didn't know CW from the beginning. I discovered them also short after Méav left. Miss the lady..  :( but Sandy and Marie-France have let know that there are waiting new suprises from her, WOOP!  ;D

For some songs I can hardly imagen that they sound just as good with 3 singers, but I want to avoid complaining (have done that too much :-[) It wouldn't be fair to judge the line-up without having seen a concert. Well.... 59 days left, WOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!  ;D

During the month of April, I have been blessed to attend four shows. I love the show exactly how it is. I think David has done a wonderful job selecting the cast members. I hope they keep the same line up for years to come. On a personal note, I had two M&Gs recently and was very surprised and happy to see all four girls. I love the show just the way it is.

 :D

I've been waiting to respond to this thread until I saw CW with 4 girls for myself. I have to say that I absolutely love it the way it is! It's just an incredible line up!

David did a very good job at finding the new singer and reworking the songs to fit the 3 person and Mairead Line up

Actually, David did the re-working before Lisa Lambe was brought into the group.  He had to have made the changes for a three singer/fiddler show before the Australian tour, which had the same configuration.  The difference then was Lynn instead of Lisa Lambe in the lineup.  Now, yes, I'm sure there was a little bit of reworking done on LL's own solos, but I think we all need to remember that David had already made the changes in the show itself.

And that, my friends, brings us back to the original question of this thread, that of a fifth member of Celtic Woman.  I believe it is a pretty safe assumption that the current format, that of three singers and our Fiddlin' Fairy, is what is planned for the future.  I think it only makes sense that, if David had any plans to return to the five performer arrangement, he would have done so before the current tour began.  Think about it ... he was already going to be making changes for one new girl, why wouldn't he have done it for two if he had any intentions at all to bring in another girl.

As I've said before, it is my belief that David probably intends to keep Celtic Woman in the current configuration.  The performances are just as vibrang and exciting with four as they were with five.  The smaller group also means that each of those performers gets MORE time on stage, more interaction with, and performance for, the crowd ... the fans.  It really is a win-win arrangement, and David has proven himself to be extremely smart when creating winning shows.  I think he realized that this is a winning one, and he really does not have any reason to change it now.

I know the whole idea of Celtic Woman started from David but I was wondering at this point in the life of Celtic Woman, is it up to David how many soloists there are? Any one know?

Well, it is David who selects the performers, it is David who creates the musical arrangements for them to perform and David is the musical director for Celtic Woman.  Yes, that pretty much means that he has the final say on how many performers are involved in the show.

He is "The Man"

I totally agree with Wareagle... Extended shows on tour not to mention the grueling travel and hundreds of shows almost every night. It can really take its toll and separation of the family would all add up to the burden. Lynn and Alex quit for reasons attributed to being away from home and family. A 5th Celtic woman would not be a panacea but it would ease up the pressure on the three singers. What better reason could I agree more, should there would be a 5th Celtic Woman - it's gotta be HELEN!

Okay, logically, there is a flaw in this theory though!  It really does not matter if there are three singers, four singers or if there were a dozen singers ... the tour schedule is not going to change.  Each and every one of the girls will still be away from home for the exact same amount of time, they will be on the road for the exact same amount of time, they will all be missing people for the exact same amount of time! 

Each of these women love to be on stage, they love to perform, they love to be sharing their gifts and interacting with the audience!  They have all said it!  By having more singers, it REDUCES the amount of time each of these wonderful ladies has on stage to do what they love so much!  Basically, they would still be away from home just as long, but they would get to perform LESS!

Seriously, why would they want this?  Why would we want this for them?  I understand that some of us would really like to see specific performers on that stage, would be thrilled to have a favorite be part of the leading lineup, and maybe somedoay one or two of them will be there, but I guess I have to ask myself why David has not included them already?  I'm sure he has reasons.  Maybe the person is too busy with something else and is not able to commit to a tour like this as a lead performer.  Maybe it's simply a matter of how he puts the voices together.  Ultimately, we don't know ... we just have to accept that David is doing an amazging job with this group, and we have to trust him instead of second guessing him.

Celtic Woman is amazing just as it is ... we need to accept that and continue to enjoy it!  Personally, I would not want to wonder what might happen if David or the girls would be checking out these boards and find that we are all saying they are doing it wrong ... would you?

Nobody said that 3 singers is wrong or not good. Someone just said that 4 would be better and more true to David's original idea of Celtic Woman.

And I wonder, if 4 is so perfect, why did they choose to have 5 singers for the ANJ dvd? And why did they replace Méav and Orla with Lynn and Alex?

There were 5 singers for ANJ because Hayley was invited as a special guest to perform with them.  And as far as I know (meaning, from what the ladies told us), Meav and Orla left on their own to spend more time with their families and to get back into their solo careers--both of which are proving to be very successful.  I don't like to think of Lynn and Alex as "replacements;" they both added their own unique sound and beauty to the group--I was devastated when they left. :(  

I've mentioned this before earlier on the thread; I love and miss the 4-part harmonies, but I have nothing to judge this by considering I haven't heard the new line up yet.  However, I do agree that David has yet to let us down.  If anything new comes up, he'll let us know.

I think we aren't getting any far with this discussion. Because we all have our own personal experience of a celtic woman show.

I'll speak carefully, as I realize I haven't attended any CW-concerts.

What I like about the four girls line-up that it seems more close. Just comparing the pics, informal and formal to the five girls line-up. And I've really started to love Lisa Lambe more and more. So much spark, such a sweet voice and so much personality!  I can imagen however, that the fact that there are three singers instead of four might have weakened the group's musical harmony a bit. At least, that's based on a few music videos for example of their performance at the José Garras Gala. And several online reviews where people mentioned that they loved the show, but noticed that some big group songs didn't sound as powerfully for them as before. But again, I don't have really a right to speak since I haven't attended a CW concert yet. And something as a group's music harmony is personal preference.

Celtic Woman has always been a variated show. For everyone means it something different and everyone sees something different in it. How could we have otherwise all have our favorite celtic woman, favorite solo and group songs? Some people prefer 3 singers for their personal experience, others 4. Is it really so odd to want 4 singers?

You can still be supporting a group. Although you'd like to see several things different. That's no offence to David or the girls. All I can say is I'm really looking foreward to my first CW-concert this June, to finally experience what must be so special about Celtic Woman concert.

To quote David (Greenfire): Long live Celtic Woman!  :D

I agree. This is similar to the old "More taste! - Less Filling!" commercials. I guess this topic is just providing a place for individuals to express their own opinions. And that's fine, so long as nobody suggests that someone else's opinion is wrong or invalid.

My own slant on it? I've never yet been disappointed in any lineup, or any of David's choices of soloists, and I've been to quite a few shows. And anyone who has seen SftH and their rendition of Amazing Grace can tell you that the power - and the harmonies - are alive and well.

Of course I didn't intend the word "replace" in that sense. Lynn and Alex have been incredible addictions to the group and I miss them exactly as much as I miss Méav and Orla (and Deirdre and Hayley, sigh). What I was trying to say is that, as long as it was possibile, David wanted to keep 5 girls. My question (with myself, since probably there will never be a clear answer) is: why three singers after Alex left and not before? :)

now there r only Lisa K, Lisa L, Chole ,and Mairead

Ah, I see.  Thanks for clearing that up. :)  Unfortunately, I have no answer for that, but I'm sure David has his reasons. It's probably best not to dwell on it though.  :-\

Right Excalibur, nobody said 3 singing ladies of Celtic was bad it's just that others feel better on a 'balanced'  on quartet voices. Be it three or four it's the same prestine Celtic Woman we are all united to be enchanted.

OldFatGuy and MaryN, very nice objective opinion, their music is not just a personal experience but a personal phenomenon, it's a prayer!

Excalibur, ... maybe they are waiting for Helen to make herself available of audition!

THAT WOULD MAKE MY LIFE!!!!  :o ;D  :)

That would be really interesting :)

My theory is a little bit different. I honestly think that Lynn leaving the group really caught them off-guard and that the three girl line-up was, originally, just temporary until Lisa Lambe could make herself available to join full-time. I could've sworn I read a review of a play or something that she was doing in Ireland in summer/fall of 2010 (during which CW was Lisa, Chloe, Mairead, and Lynn). Also, they have Lisa Lambe fitted in Alex's dresses. My thought is that she was originally to take over for Alex. But then when Lynn unexpectedly left the group, it made much more sense to have her simply take over Lynn's parts seeing as MHWHA had become a duet and YBIMH was already dropped from the set list, as well as having already made adjustments in the arrangements for 3 singers.

But the thing of it is, the three singers worked! And that's one thing we all have to keep in mind. The quartet line-up worked for the first tours in Australia, for the promos in Japan, for the German and Austrian tour, and, let's not forget, for the magnificent Princess Toyotomi theme that CW recorded as well as for the Lullaby album (love it or disappointed with it, the harmonies on Stay Awake were one of the highlights of that album).

I think that David just decided to sit back and let the girls do what they do best (which is what he has said many times in his "thanks" part of the cds and dvds): breathing life into the music.

I also suspect that a 5th member, if they decide to bring a new member in, won't be introduced except for one of two occurences. One of these is obviously a new concert special. The other, more probable way, in my opinion, is doing another "in-between" tour, if you will. Sort of like the Isle of Hope tour. That tour fully introduced the two newest members by giving them original CW solos (Carolina Rua, YBIMH, True Colors), having new group numbers that were never done by previous members (Isle of Hope Isle of Tears, Have I Told You Lately, The Call), and also bridged the gap between ANJ and SFTH by giving the founding members new material to work with (Fields of Gold, Coast of Galicia, When You Believe) in addition to songs from the previous tours (The Voice, Granuaile's Dance, Nella Fantasia, Orinoco Flow, etc.).

If Lisa comes back, lets keep Susan!

   Ditto.....   :)

I agree :D

Me three.  I always preferred four vocalists.

Add me to that too, please.  Three vocalists are nice, but I definitely prefer four.   

Agreed! I think their sound is even more beautiful with an additional vocalist or two.

Agreed! CW always sounds more beautiful when there are more vocalists.

I will add myself to that list!