GUEST,raymond greenoaken

Agreed that singing from a text is ubiquitous nowadays

Enough already!

I agree nothing of the sort. Where does this happen? I know of one couple, in their seventies, who have an unobtrusive notebook that they hold at waist level and glance at occasionally to jog their memory. It is barely noticeable to the audience. I know of another couple (shall we say, late middle age) who do set up a music stand with words and music. I wish they didn't but they are clearly driven by a desire to get it right, not because they can't be arsed to learn it. Sometimes, when playing in an instrumental harmony group, I have the score on a music stand at low level as a safety net.

That's it. "Singing from a text" may be prevalent in some areas, but ubiquitous it ain't.