Stephanie Beatriz, best-known as a husky-voiced no-nonsense detective on Brooklyn Nine Nine, plays Mirabel Madrigal, the gift-deprived lead character of Disney’s Encanto. She turns in a delightful, charming voice performance.
Her singing chops, on the other hand, are a bit shakier. That’s most evident in today’s SOTD, ‘Waiting On a Miracle,’ the classic “I want” song you find in every Disney animated film. Think The Little Mermaid‘s ‘Part of Your World,’ Mulan‘s ‘Reflection,’ or Moana‘s ‘How Far I’ll Go.’
‘Waiting On a Miracle’ doesn’t have the impact of those tracks, and I think it’s because of the vocals.
An argument can be made that Beatriz’s earnest, unremarkable singing voice is in keeping with her character’s ordinariness as compared to her magically gifted family. That would be an interesting choice.
But I suspect the filmmakers were sold on Beatriz’s charm in the speaking parts and decided against bringing in another singer (as they did for Ming-Na Wen in Mulan). That practice seems to have fallen out of favor in both animated and live-action musicals.
Or maybe I’m alone in this opinion and everybody else thinks she nailed it. What do you think?
Don’t be upset or mad at all
Don’t feel regret, or sad at all
Hey, I’m still a part of the family Madrigal
And I’m fine, I am totally fine
I will stand on the side as you shine
I’m not fine, I’m not fine
[Chorus: Mirabel]
I can’t move the mountains
I can’t make flowers bloom
I can’t take another night up in my room
Waiting on a miracle
I can’t heal what’s broken
Can’t control the morning rain or a hurricane
Can’t keep down the unspoken invisible pain
Always waiting on a miracle, a miracle
[Verse 2: Mirabel]
Always walking alone
Always wanting for more
Like I’m still at that door
Longing to shine like all of you shine
All I need is a change
All I need is a chance
All I know is I can’t
Stay on the side
Open your eyes
Opеn your eyes
Open your еyes
[Chorus: Mirabel]
I would move the mountains
Make new trees and flowers grow
Someone please just let me know where do I go
I am waiting on a miracle, a miracle
I would heal what’s broken
Show this family something new
Who I am inside, so what can I do?
I’m sick of waiting on a miracle, so here I go
[Outro: Mirabel]
I am ready!
Come on, I’m ready!
I’ve been patient and steadfast and steady!
Bless me now as you blessed us all those years ago
When you gave us a miracle
Am I too late for a miracle?
Meet Me In Montauk 
I don’t know if you are alone in your opinion, but I for one don’t share it. I think her singing in this movie was very good. I think they wanted her personality to come through in the songs, so the vocals are not the generic, classic (and I would argue less interesting or memorable)singing found in those other movies you mentioned.
I can’t help but agree with this hot take. As much as I love Stephanie Beatriz and was eager to sit in awe at her vocal talents as well, I couldn’t help but be slightly underwhelmed on this first song. It’s possible that this song was in an unfavorable key and that the vocals didn’t show off the best part of her range. I definitely was happily surprised when later tracks showed her off better. However, I do agree that this song which is supposed to be THE song in a Disney movie to show off the lead’s ambitions in a power ballad of sorts fell a little short of the mark!
I sort of fall in between these opinions. I don’t think her voice is the strongest, her rapping is the real star of the show (not unlike Encanto’s composer), but I also think this song is just a little bit weaker than the rest from a writing perspective. She sounds fine on it, but even if Idina Menzel took a stab at it, I don’t think we’d be calling it a highlight of the movie. There’s just too many other good ones and Mirabel doesn’t even really know what she wants at this point in the movie.
I agree with Dana and Maddie; it’s not the best song in the film, but her vocal performance feels true to the character, and, yes, more interesting than if some Broadway diva suddenly belted it out.