Yo Glueman.

With you mate.

My better half has a CD of Andreas Scholl singing English folk songs, many credited as Vaughan Williams compositions. His voice is precise, somewhere between RP and his German gutteral accent and of course pitch perfect.

Fully stripped of any soul, meaning or echo of entertainment. A pity because have him singing an aria in German or Italian and it seems so natural.

Verdict? Horse for courses.

Of course, Ewan McColl used to encourage people to sing in their own voice and then sing in a strange accent somewhere between Salford and the Highlands. Second only to Russ Abbot in false Scottish... Mind you, he was a hero of mine, even if he did once have a pop at me after listening to my set, saying a song I sung wasn't indigenous to me. Perhaps I shouldn't have sung it in my own voice after all?

Brian Peters says above that this was because McColl was in character, an actor of sorts. yes, I could go with that if he didn't preach all the time to others about singing about your own heritage.   

So, sing in your own voice? Sing in some bugger else's voice? Do what the hell you want. If they clap, you got it right. If they boo, revise your stance.