I have never in all my born natural ever seen anyone sing with their finger in their ear, although I have heard one or two people sing as though they've got it firmly stuck somewhere else.

However, I adopted the practice of singing with one hand cupped over my ear when I first started singing. And yup. A lot of people thought it was an affectation I'd picked up from Ewan MacColl!

The reason in fact was that I found it helped me to sing without straining. Gradually, as I learned to adapt to different acoustical environments, and to sing in a key that was somewhat lower than stratospheric, I found I needed it less and less.

But having recently joined a socialist choir, I find I sometimes need to cup one ear, and sometimes both, to hear the harmony I'm supposed to be singing and not what the basses, altos and sopranos are singing.

Anyway, Paul Robeson used to cup his hand over his ear because, tremendous voice and all that, he had a very narrow vocal range. So if he could get away with it, I don't see why anyone should complain about the rest of us.