I've been thinking more on the voice thing..

- Millions of people love and buy the records of Susan Boyle and the X Factor wannabes - does this make their voices objectively the very best in the world?

- Returning to Tom's comment about the Tate modern - as i understand it abstract art is not "simple" because the artist is incapable of anything other, but a conscious choice to work in that way made through the refinement of style and technique and concept.. Same with voices. Some singers have that "breathy" style and they do it brilliantly - but it's not the same thing if it's just because the voice is under-developed.. and it IS possible to tell the difference!
Sam Lee, for example, is a singer's singer - whether or not you like his style, his repertoire, his tights or whatever(!) - it is hard to get away from the fact he's a brilliant singer..and he's worked hard for that.
Sometimes it feels to me like people use totally different ears, and thus judgement systems, for singing and instrumental performance and have much lower expectations about what good singing is.

- Whether or not the posters on this thread are world-class musicians and singers, or not - and as we've already seen, they may be! - should not render them unworthy of passing comment on the performances of others. I know literally nothing about the inner workings of my computer, for example, but i certainly know when it's not working properly!