Help Jillian Aversa (pixietricks) sing for Assassin's Creed: Revelations! Make it happen!

[Mirby]

Ah, it was nothing.

No, seriously. All I had to do was click a link and click a button. It was nothing.

[Chernabogue]

All my hopes go for you to win! Good luck and congrats!

[Brandon Strader]

Madeline Bell won the contest...

I speak for everyone when i say http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yc1GIWaeBpE

Congrats to all you who made the top 20, especially Jill

[Rexy]

Guys, please, before this starts as a troll thread against Zimmer and Madeline, remember that there have been a lot of people who have wanted to have their dreams come true by getting to sing in a videogame as popular as this - nearly 300 of them.

Jill is already greatful enough for the huge amount of support she gained throughout this whole process, and her latest post in this thread is proof that she feels happy enough that she has so many people backing her up. So well played with the whole campaign, Mrs. Aversa!

At the same time, we should also feel gracious for Madeline's victory. It may not have been what you guys would have wanted, but please remember to keep yourselves as good sports at the same time. It's her moment to bask, so be sure to congratulate her and everyone else who took part

[Liontamer]

Guys, please, before this starts as a troll thread against Zimmer and Madeline, remember that there have been a lot of people who have wanted to have their dreams come true by getting to sing in a videogame as popular as this - nearly 300 of them.

Jill is already greatful enough for the huge amount of support she gained throughout this whole process, and her latest post in this thread is proof that she feels happy enough that she has so many people backing her up. So well played with the whole campaign, Mrs. Aversa!

At the same time, we should also feel gracious for Madeline's victory. It may not have been what you guys would have wanted, but please remember to keep yourselves as good sports at the same time. It's her moment to bask, so be sure to congratulate her and everyone else who took part

Hahaha! Love the pre-emptive "Don't be mad, stop flaming!" Nothing even happened yet.

My lady actually called Madeline potentially winning it when we listened to all the entries, since she thought Madeline's had a good lullaby vibe to it. I thought her vocal control wasn't as strong as Jill or Laura, but no hate on her winning. Really interested to hear how a polished version of the vocals from Madeline ends up sounding.

[Brandon Strader]

Methinks a mega-collab of OCR entrants remixing the AC Theme is needed. Large choir.

[Esperado]

Guys, please, before this starts as a troll thread against Zimmer and Madeline, remember that there have been a lot of people who have wanted to have their dreams come true by getting to sing in a videogame as popular as this - nearly 300 of them.

Jill is already greatful enough for the huge amount of support she gained throughout this whole process, and her latest post in this thread is proof that she feels happy enough that she has so many people backing her up. So well played with the whole campaign, Mrs. Aversa!

At the same time, we should also feel gracious for Madeline's victory. It may not have been what you guys would have wanted, but please remember to keep yourselves as good sports at the same time. It's her moment to bask, so be sure to congratulate her and everyone else who took part

either way, im excited to hear what they will come up with. I loved the previous assassins creed themes, and im sure with this being the supposed finale of the series, theyll make something fantastic to end things.The trailer music sure was good, even though they didnt actually produce it specifically for the game. Im glad jillian got in the finals though, thats gotta be exciting to even get that far.

[DarkeSword]

Guys, please, before this starts as a troll thread against Zimmer and Madeline, remember that there have been a lot of people who have wanted to have their dreams come true by getting to sing in a videogame as popular as this - nearly 300 of them.

Jill is already greatful enough for the huge amount of support she gained throughout this whole process, and her latest post in this thread is proof that she feels happy enough that she has so many people backing her up. So well played with the whole campaign, Mrs. Aversa!

At the same time, we should also feel gracious for Madeline's victory. It may not have been what you guys would have wanted, but please remember to keep yourselves as good sports at the same time. It's her moment to bask, so be sure to congratulate her and everyone else who took part

Nothing is true; everything is permitted.

[Hyperion5182]

*insert kefka hate rant*

*end kefka hate rant*

Meh. This is what i dont get. Jillian already had a HUGE musical credit in Civ 5. Zimmer if he's any good at his job KNOWS this. I'd love to hear from his words why he made this choice.

[big giant circles]

Guys, please, before this starts as a troll thread against Zimmer and Madeline, remember that there have been a lot of people who have wanted to have their dreams come true by getting to sing in a videogame as popular as this - nearly 300 of them.

Jill is already greatful enough for the huge amount of support she gained throughout this whole process, and her latest post in this thread is proof that she feels happy enough that she has so many people backing her up. So well played with the whole campaign, Mrs. Aversa!

At the same time, we should also feel gracious for Madeline's victory. It may not have been what you guys would have wanted, but please remember to keep yourselves as good sports at the same time. It's her moment to bask, so be sure to congratulate her and everyone else who took part

Hahaha! Love the pre-emptive "Don't be mad, stop flaming!" Nothing even happened yet.

My lady actually called Madeline potentially winning it when we listened to all the entries, since she thought Madeline's had a good lullaby vibe to it. I thought her vocal control wasn't as strong as Jill or Laura, but no hate on her winning. Really interested to hear how a polished version of the vocals from Madeline ends up sounding.

I'm 100% on board with no hate for the winner. I am however in pretty solid disgust with Zimmer and the guys in charge of this contest. And here's why.

Before reading this, know that this is an opinion contrived and shared more on the professional side of the industry, and MAY NOT represent the opinions of the more amateur/hobbyist side.

Simply put, while it may be exciting for some people to think "Oh, I can get on a video game AND win $1000? Best opportunity EVAR!" quite simply put, that's an insultingly low wage for any professional musician/performer, PARTICULARLY for a project that Hans Zimmer is on. Why? Well, first of all, even if Zimmer weren't on board, Assassin's creed is a major, big-budget AAA game release. Which means that the budget for the music is equally large. Now we tack on Zimmer, and I guarantee that the music budget probably increased by several hundred (yes hundred) percent. Considering they're looking for a vocalist to be prominently featured on the main theme song for a game (and possibly more), $1000 is a joke. I guarantee that Zimmer is going to be collecting upwards of $2000 per MINUTE of whatever music he writes, and it's my guess that on top of that he probably has a simply outrageous creative fee.

Every one of the professionals who I highly respect and whose insight and experience I value greatly that I have spoken to on this subject have all so far been unanimous in their disdain of the terms for this contest. It's a publicity stunt, and it's very unprofessionally contrived.

Okay. So now that I've ranted about that, let me follow up by saying that in NO WAY does this reflect any of my feelings for the contestants or the winner. I'm happy for anyone and everyone who felt compelled to submit an entry, and I congratulate those who made it to the finals wholeheartedly. And I'm not downplaying the fact that the winner has a neat opportunity and this will make a nice little addition to her resume/portfolio, and that $1000 is better than nothing sure. But again, try to understand that my gripe is that the services rendered should be worth much much more than that which is being offered.

I just felt compelled to say why I have no problem expressing that while this seems like a neat idea, it's ultimately showing how some people basically has the industry by the balls and are getting rich off of other people's heavily undervalued merits.

Also, I was rooting for Jill because out of the 15 or so entries I heard, I legitimately thought hers sounded the best overall (pitch, control, emotion), but congrats to Madeline as well.

[Moomba]

Just out of curiosity and perhaps slightly off topic, does Zimmer himself actually have any role in Revelation's music? Or is it just one of his underlings from Remote Control?

I have to be honest (at the risk of being flamed); I don't really see why Remote Control Productions was brought into the franchise in the first place. In my opinion the themes Jesper Kyd wrote for the earlier games far surpassed the new theme. On the plus side, at least he's still doing the majority of the score.

[big giant circles]

Just out of curiosity and perhaps slightly off topic, does Zimmer himself actually have any role in Revelation's music? Or is it just one of his underlings from Remote Control?

No idea.

I have to be honest (at the risk of being flamed); I don't really see why Remote Control Productions was brought into the franchise in the first place. In my opinion the themes Jesper Kyd wrote for the earlier games far surpassed the new theme. On the plus side, at least he's still doing the majority of the score.

They brought him in because they wanted his name on their project. I agree, Jesper is MORE than capable of writing music that is just as good as anything Zimmer will write. But Zimmer's name sells apparently, so it's worth the giant budget increase I guess.

[WillRock]

Ok, so I just listened to the top ten, and honestly, I think that while Jill did very very well to get the most votes, I do think that the competition was exceptional and shouldn't have been underestimated. I do think that Laura Intravias (2) and Rudigers (5) were particularly enjoyable as well, out of those not mentioned so far. As for the winner, I think that its well deserved, she should have placed higher in the voting than 10, at least top 5 if not top 3 imo. While Jill is just as good and would have been a just a worthy choice imo, I don't blame the judges for picking madeline.

That said, I do think that the fact that Jill got the "peoples vote" certainly tells you something. I'm not 100% sure exactly how well OCR Promoted her in this compo, but getting the top spot can't have been OCRs work alone right?

[RoeTaKa]

I agree with BGC's view on the competition setup, it is pretty unfair whilst knowing that Zimmer would most probably pay far more than the reward for a singer with equal or greater talent based on his opinion. I'm not biased here for many reasons, I believe Madeline was very much a top contender and though Jill is a great singer she didn't come across as memorable as this community boasts in this competition. There were a couple of entries outside the top 20 that were very good also. Bad luck Jill, there's always more opportunities.

[Brandon Strader]

This is a message to you personally from Hans Zimmer, Lorne Balfe and Simon Landry.

We, the jury, have cast our vote, and selected Madeline Bell as the winner of the Assassin's Creed contest. With so many great submissions, it was a difficult decision to make – yet there could be only one winner and yy voice had a particular quality that we all felt fitted the theme song perfectly.

We are thrilled that so many people had the courage to compete and support us in our quest, and thank you for being one of them, and congratulations on making it to the Top 20. You all have great voices, your songs have had thousands of plays and you have hundreds of fans out there, including ourselves.

We would also like to take the opportunity of encouraging you to keep trying: we're hearing that the UJAM folks have a great selection of contests coming up on a regular basis and you will be among the first to know. So, why not write and publish a few of your own songs on UJAM to make the most of your talent and build your fan base?

We wish you the best of luck and success in your endeavours!

Sincerely yours,

Hans Zimmer

Lorne Balfe

Simon Landry

(I expected Jill to win too because she has the skill and the experience to do it, but I also think the involvement of a judge's panel makes this all the more ironic)

[Gollgagh]

That said, I do think that the fact that Jill got the "peoples vote" certainly tells you something. I'm not 100% sure exactly how well OCR Promoted her in this compo, but getting the top spot can't have been OCRs work alone right?

the great majority of it was

I mean she was in 60th place with less than a hundred votes when this thread was made and then rocketed up to #1 in ~12 hours

[zircon]

Actually, I posted this thread at the same time that I also posted on my Facebook (2200+ fans), Twitter, YouTube channel, Imageline forums, Jill's YouTube channel, her Facebook, etc. So, all of this promo basically came in at the same time. We also emailed friends & family. So, it's not 100% OCR though obviously we're extremely grateful for everyone pitching in - we did extensively promote elsewhere too. My guess is maybe 60-70% OCR and the rest through other channels? Anyway, I'm not sure that's here nor there..

I believe Madeline was very much a top contender and though Jill is a great singer she didn't come across as memorable as this community boasts in this competition

Who was 'boasting'? Why be snarky? If Jill herself didn't have any negative words at all for the winner, why would you be negative toward Jill? I'd like to think we were all pretty gracious and civil here.

[RoeTaKa]

Who was 'boasting'? Why be snarky? If Jill herself didn't have any negative words at all for the winner, why would you be negative toward Jill? I'd like to think we were all pretty gracious and civil here.

I'm sorry I must not have come across correctly. Jill is a great singer like I said. My personal opinion is that I reckon she could have done a better take with that voice. I'm not belittling her performance as a former judge you must understand, this isn't a stab at her honestly founded talents. I'm wishing her luck in her future. Also she hasn't posted in this thread since the winner was announced so I have no idea what words she has for the winner.

[Gollgagh]

oh

well I stand corrected

[DaMonz]

I listened to both Madeline's and Jill's versions. Honestly, I think Jill's interpretation is much more professional and appropriate for AC.

I guess I'm in no position to disagree with someone like Zimmer about objective stuff. But damn, I disagree xD

Oh well, grats to the winner and to everyone else. This was fun and made me even more proud to be an OCR fan than I already was Go, Jill! You rock!

[SuperiorX]

Every one of the professionals who I highly respect and whose insight and experience I value greatly that I have spoken to on this subject have all so far been unanimous in their disdain of the terms for this contest. It's a publicity stunt, and it's very unprofessionally contrived.

I hadn't thought of it that way until you pointed it out. Their rationale is probably something along the lines of "well, we're giving you publicity on a major game title, which is priceless in furthering your career in an industry that is very difficult to get started in". Doesn't make it right, but that's probably how they see it.

[big giant circles]

Their rationale is probably something along the lines of "well, we're giving you publicity on a major game title, which is priceless in furthering your career in an industry that is very difficult to get started in". Doesn't make it right, but that's probably how they see it.

Almost every successful professional in the industry, especially somebody like Hans Zimmer knows that the whole "Oh we'll give you exposure in exchange for you working for nothing (or an insultingly below-normal wage)" is a giant load of crap. That's just the way it is. Exposure by its lonesome, in a case such as this is really not worth anything at all.

Harlan Ellison is a very abrasive character, and definitely strikes many people as kind of a douche, but he does make a good point concerning people being properly paid for their work. "There are so many amateurs out there who don't realize they should be paid every time they do something." If you flip the rolls around and think "Would Hans Zimmer agree to perform for $1000 for a key role in a AAA multi-million-dollar-budget video game?" I guarantee the answer is abso-friggin-lutely not. He would not ever ever ever agree to work for so low. And yet this contest is paying just that to the winner. And if anyone says "Yes, but he's Hans Zimmer, he's the best of the best, so he has the right to be paid more", you surely have to realize that once you start paying for a name by itself instead of paying for the quality of the final product, that there's some major flaw in perception going on. My point is that the winner is going to go on and sing for $1000 and some cool, but ultimately fickle exposure, whereas if Hans Zimmer were a vocalist with the same fame as he has composing, he would probably be paid $20k or more for the exact same kind of work.

Anyway, I could rant for a while on the subject, and I really don't mean to derail the thread into my Zimmer/contest-gripes, but I did feel it was fair enough to point out this perspective to those who might not have considered that side of it.

Congrats again to the winner, and especially to Jill for (justifiably) being the obvious public favorite.

Carry on.

[Brandon Strader]

As someone who doesn't regularly make $1,000 on musical projects, I would have loved to do this. I would have done it for minimum wage. It would have been great to have that money whether I'm working with people who charge more or not. The money and the exposure is an added plus to being part of something amazing, and doing what you love.

[big giant circles]

As someone who doesn't regularly make $1,000 on musical projects, I would have loved to do this. I would have done it for minimum wage. It would have been great to have that money whether I'm working with people who charge more or not. The money and the exposure is an added plus to being part of something amazing, and doing what you love.

I'm not sure you read all of my posts. But if you ever work on a multi-million dollar title like Assassin's Creed for minimum wage or less, I would personally kick you in the balls next time I saw you. (Ok, probably not, but I will be thoroughly disgusted with you as well as the people who put you up to it for that.)

There's nothing wrong with doing what you love for free if it's a labor of love type project (see: not commercial). When you start providing top-notch quality work for top-tier commercial projects where other people are making sackfuls of money off it, you have to realize that you're devaluing something to everyone else that wants to (and should) make a living off those talents. And even if you don't "regularly make $1000 on musical projects" that doesn't change the fact that if you were chosen as the vocalist, you should still be paid higher than that. "Being a part of something amazing" should never compromise the value of your part in it. If that's a thing someone isn't willing to learn then they are probably going to fail in a career in music (or writing, or any other career that requires you to place enough value on your services to make a living on.) That's just how it is.

Like I said, my perspective is probably not readily recognized from the amateur/hobbyist's immediate perspective. Maybe it's just something that someone can't comprehend until they've had the right experiences or been in a situation where the point suddenly becomes a little more valid to them. I dunno.

Maybe to simplify, I'll use an example. There comes a point when people that I find really talented need to make a certain amount of money so that they can continue to provide me with the product of their talents. I want them to make lots of money (or at least comfortable amounts anyway) because I don't want them to just stop being able to make music just because there are too many other people doing it for cheap, so that they fall into the (increasingly large) category of people who have to put music aside because they have to get a dayjob so they don't you know, starve. The same line of thinking goes to artists, writers, programmers, electricians, carpenters, engineers, pilots, teachers, policemen, etc etc etc. I'm not sure if that makes apparent sense, but I hope it does. Pay people what they're worth so that they can keep doing it. If they're not worth it, then that will be clear enough, but for the specific topic at hand, the competition winner will easily be worth more than they offered.

I'm going to try to end my thread-derailing/rant there and let people get back to what they were doing. Once again, congrats to everyone who did well in this competition. I hope life proves me wrong, and will present worthy opportunities for those of who you who placed in the finals to further your careers based on your fine performances/auditions.

[Jillian Aversa]

Hey! I'm in Sydney now, so I haven't had the chance to comment since reading the news. I think Madeline's entry was strong. Although it wasn't my favorite of the ones I heard, it can be hard to pinpoint just what the judges were looking for. She'll definitely do a great job on the recording!

I actually agree with RoeTaKa that my own entry wasn't the best it could have been. The problem was that I was in Japan at the time with no recording setup, so I had to borrow a mic and I had no compressor. Whenever I tried to record (and you had to do it all in one take!), my high notes would clip like CRAZY, so I had to really hold back in the upper register. I would have liked to give the performance more dynamic range, but I literally couldn't because of my setup. Oh well. ^_~

Anyway, I think it's justifiable that they chose someone who is completely new to the scene. It seems like they really wanted to find "undiscovered talent," so I'm happy for the winner and I wish her success. I've got enough going on myself right now to be very, very happy - just wish I had gotten the chance to work with Hans Zimmer! Maybe someday... *wistful glance*