"Subject: RE: Help! Open Stage and C**p performers
From: John P - PM
Date: 01 Jul 02 - 08:39 AM

Guest Quandary, you said:
"Why, oh why, is it in the 'folkish' world we inhabit - is it okay to sing and perform appallingly...Would any other profession put up with dismal or nonexistent standards?"

Of course! In fact, a person thirty years old has heard very little good singing unless her family took her to church or to classical performances. Wretched singing has become standard. When I shop or eat out I am forced to listen to some of the ugliest sounds I have ever heard - singing out of tune, singing through the nose, the gurgling of phlegm, shrieking, wailing. Many people today think that's what singing is.

As for open mic, I can stand anything if they are only going to sing one song.