Diva
Divas are celebrated female singers. The Italian term is used to describe a woman of rare, outstanding talent in the world of opera (Maria Callas, Montserrat Caballé) and by extension in theatre, cinema and popular music. The meaning of diva is closely related to that of "prima donna".
Some notable musicians with the "diva" title includes: Aretha Franklin, Madonna[1], Patti LaBelle, Beyonce[2], Britney Spears, Mariah Carey[3], Whitney Houston[4], Janet Jackson[5], Kylie Minogue, Diana Ross[6], Tina Turner, Donna Summer[7], Shirley Bassey, Cher[8], Celine Dion[9], Barbra Streisand[10], Annie Lennox.
The basic sense of the term is "goddess",[11][12] the feminine of the Latin word divus, "god".[13]
Admiration of divas is a common element of camp culture.[14]
Beyonce made a song from her "I am... Sasha Fierce" album claiming that Diva is the female equivalent of a hustler.
Further Reading
Padva, Gilad (2007). A Yiddish Diva! Requiem for a Fabulous Woman in Avraham Heffner’s Film Laura Adler’s Last Love. Women & Language 30(1), 30-31.
References
- ^ http://top40.about.com/od/artists/tp/popdiva.htm
- ^ http://top40.about.com/od/artists/tp/popdiva.htm
- ^ http://top40.about.com/od/artists/tp/popdiva.htm
- ^ http://top40.about.com/od/artists/tp/popdiva.htm
- ^ http://top40.about.com/od/artists/tp/popdiva.htm
- ^ http://top40.about.com/od/artists/tp/popdiva.htm
- ^ http://top40.about.com/od/artists/tp/popdiva.htm
- ^ http://top40.about.com/od/artists/tp/popdiva.htm
- ^ http://top40.about.com/od/artists/tp/popdiva.htm
- ^ http://top40.about.com/od/artists/tp/popdiva.htm
- ^ Online Etymology Dictionary
- ^ TIME magazine observed in its October 21, 2002 issue: "By definition, a diva was originally used for great female opera singers, almost always sopranos."
- ^ Warrack, John and West, Ewan (1992), The Oxford Dictionary of Opera, 782 pages, ISBN
- ^ http://www.arts.usyd.edu.au/publications/wordisout/archive/04milnes.htm
External links
- Diva Opera
- Divas Spanish Operatic pop Divas website (Spanish)
- DivasTheSite.com Opera Divas Page
- Guardian.co.uk John Crace: Who'd be an Opera diva? February 4 2006, accessed 17 August 2008
- Laughing Bodies, Eccentric Gestures; Retrospective on female comics and Divas in the films of the 1910s at the Austrian Film Museum
- The New-Diva Disease; TIME Magazine article