Scrump I am sorry if i missed the point you were making, though if it had been more clear and to the point then possibly . . . who knows?
I am not one to fall out over points such as . . it is more traditional to sing with one's eyes open or closed! I did not mean to come across as 'hard' as it seemed (when I reread my ha'penny's worth) I'm glad it was water off a duck's back! I didn't mean to offend.
The point I was trying to make was, when someone sings with their eyes closed it is because they feel 'more comfortable' in doing so and they do not think it rude, neither do they wish to be thought of as being rude.
The night I replied to your comment I attended a music session and noticed that three out of the seven people who sang, did so with eyes closed. I made a point of asking each one of them why they did so and did they think it rude. All replied that they felt more comfortable singing with closed eyes as they could concentrate on the song and the words without distraction. One said she would be nervouse if she saw people watching her (understanable) none said they did it to look 'more' traditional or to cause any effect to a performance.
One man who informed me he has contributed to Mudcat in the past, has performed on stage, television and festivals many times and always sings with his eyes closed for the same reasons and never thought it rude or impaired his performance in anyway!
To sum it up, I feel it is up to the individual singer to do what he or she feels makes them more comfortable and adds to the quality of their singing. I can't see how someone who usually sings with their eyes closed should sing with eyes open just because someone 'thinks it would make a better performance' It's the quality that counts NOT the performance! sorry Scrump I do not agree with you I do hope this does not offend you, this reply has been added AFTER I did some open research. Shagger (I wonder how you got that name) I hope this answers your query, maybe you should do some open research also!
Henny penny