Penny S, I seem to be just the other way around from you.   I find it a lot easier to 'do' accents when singing than when talking.
Of course, maybe that's mostly because when I sing I have a set 'script', as opposed to just speaking spontaneously with a consistent accent other than my own.   (I tend to naturally "pick up" accents of those around me whenever I spend any time in another country or region, without either trying to or realizing that it's happening.)

I hear some folks decrying the attempts of people who are not from their country/region to imitate their accents when doing their songs, because it's not "authentic."   I can sort of relate to that, I guess, in that when I hear a "bad" German or French accent, e.g., on TV or in a movie, I kind of cringe, chuckle, or groan.   But, being a Yank from, mostly, the US midwest and west coast (areas without easily identified strong regional accents), I must say it doesn't bother me in the least when singers from other parts of the world sing "American" songs and do a credible job of losing their own accents while doing so.   The Beatles, for instance, seldom sounded anywhere near as "Liverpudlian" when they sang as when they talked, and it gave their music a much wider appeal, I think. On some songs I don't think they even sounded especially "British."   I never thought of it as their "trying to imitate" someone else's accent, but I suppose in a way they were -- and it worked.
They are far from the only example.   

I think there are many singers who adapt their pronunciations and sound patterns to fit particular songs and do it well, even if the resulting "accents" are not fully believable (to someone from the region in question).