“Little Girl Voice”: Skip Bayless Explains Why Sabrina Carpenter Can Never Be Madonna

Skip Bayless has spent a lot of time defending former athletes who played in “tougher eras” and has often slammed today’s sports stars, usually with emotional and baseless claims. This time around, though, the longtime sports personality and his wife, Ernestine, shared their thoughts on the state of the music industry, specifically the meteoric rise of Sabrina Carpenter. The 26-year-old pop sensation was a main topic of discussion during a recent Q&A on Skip’s Instagram.

The pair was first asked about their thoughts on Carpenter’s cover for her upcoming album, ‘Man’s Best Friend’. The artwork notably features the music star kneeling and looking directly at the camera, while a man standing above her pulls at her hair. Ernestine was the first to respond, revealing that the singer-songwriter’s work doesn’t exactly suit her tastes.

Ernestine got straight to the point, admitting she’s not the biggest fan of Carpenter’s voice. She didn’t have much else to say about her, simply describing her as “okay.” However, she had a much stronger opinion about the album cover and didn’t hesitate to express her disapproval of the artwork.

“But I think the album cover is ridiculous,” Ernestine shared. “I don’t know why in today’s environment and world, why you would have to put that picture on the cover, which sets women back a little bit … I don’t care what you do in your private world. If you like that and you’re with the person you like behind closed doors, that’s fine … I don’t know why you’d wanna do that, of course for shock value, right?”

Skip didn’t have as strong of an opinion as his wife, but he did share what he does know about the former Disney star. “I don’t know all that much about her music. I know ‘Manchild’ and I know the video. And I know her M.O. And I know her voice, because she has a little girl voice. She is a small woman,” Bayless said before comparing Carpenter to a former pop legend.

“She is the new-age Madonna to me because she sings in a little girl voice as did Madonna,” Skip continued. “And what did Madonna thrive on? Overt sexuality, sort of in-your-face sexuality, shocking sexuality.” Ernestine wasn’t having it, though, and believes Carpenter’s attempted emulation is disrespectful to the 80s star. “There’s only one Madonna,” she closed her claim.

 

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The couple continued their back-and-forth, with Ernestine expressing the view that no one today can match the fanfare Madonna commanded in her prime. They both agreed that Carpenter’s album cover is more of a gimmick, prompting Skip to suggest that she doesn’t “trust in her voice to carry her.”

They then shifted to discussing Madonna’s long list of hits over the years, which quickly made Skip realize just how far Carpenter still has to go to reach that level of superstardom. While Carpenter has already compiled a handful of hits early in her career, both Skip and Ernestine remain confident that Madonna exists in a league of her own.