Actually Greg that would make a good subject for a thread - Pub singers that you rate - Far better than the recent best singer that you know, where loads of posters named singers that might be known to them, i.e. they've listened to but that none of them actually "know".

As to the MOR crap being spouted here by some - I would have thought it self evident that if you enter a "Talent" contest where you will be required to perform through progressive rounds for that first song you have to pick what material you perform for the "Judges" who decide whether or not you carry on with great care. Ideally the song should be known so that the audience can react to you if you sing the song well (as was the case with Susan Boyle), that first song must also demonstrate your range to show the "Judges" what you are capable of and what the power of your voice is, lastly if at all possible the song should have a degree of difficulty that the "Judges" can acknowledge ("Big Song" was mentioned by one of the "Judges" on the show when it was announced).

On Diane's criteria on what makes a song or music worthwhile listening to, I'd condemn about 95% of the navel gazing contributions of modern "singer-songwriters" to the trash-can as meaningless tripe, best dscribed as being full of 15 year-old angst poured out and written in a bedroom where it should have remained unnoticed. I like songs that tell stories which is the reason I like "traditional" Folk, possibly because the passage of time has sorted the wheat from the chaff.