I do agree with what's being said here -- and of course I have learned songs from hearing others many times over. This is essential when you're first learning a style -- and since the style I'm thinking of is the Irish Gaelic sean-nós, you better believe that I listened to an awful lot of good singers (and learned a lot of their songs quirk-for-quirk) before I "got it". Because I've now been singing in that style for over half my life and am fluent in Irish, I am now able to jot down the bare bones of a melody and then sing it in the appropriate style, without being distracted by the original singer's voice in my ears as I sing. Seemingly others of you aren't troubled with this "doppelganger" syndrome -- it's one of those good news-bad news things.

In any case, I was just offering a personal perspective -- not expecting anybody to feel that I was criticising their method. Sorry!

Virginia