All these posts sound very healthy to me- good to hear that many singers are not making daft distinctions- it reinforces my view that a good song is a good song & that folk/traditional song is a style (or many different ones) rather than a repertoire.

mind you, I don't think singing a slavish copy of a pop song is a great idea, even with a 'folk style' whatever that is, there has to be a bit of individuality involved here.
There has to be some doubt about famous 'folk' singers who slot a pop song into their performances of 'traditional' songs- maybe it's a gimmick rather than anything else?