Diva.

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One of my most memorable scenes of any movie I’ve ever watched is the “Diva” performance from “The Fifth Element”. What begins as a beautiful aria moves into an interesting mid 1990s sounding techno track where the vocalist is used purely as a beautiful instrument. I think it is absolutely amazing when a voice is used solely as an instrument without the distraction of verbalisation.1

Vocalist Inva Mula sang the track for the movie and according to the liner notes from the soundtrack, her voice was NOT digitally altered to achieve the sound that we hear. (There are portions where she is alternated with a wind instrument or synthesizer sounding like a wind instrument). I have always found this track to be enchanting in a strange way and have found few modern vocalisations that challenge it.

I found this video of a vocalist singing her interpretation on the track. She is simply amazing because she appears to be singing it raw, showcasing her incredible vocal range.

1 I am also a huge fan of “Distorted” from Cirque du Soleil’s “La Nouba”. This is another song where the voice is used purely as an instrument, and it is an amazing piece to listen to.