Sure, Shania's great to look at and she sings purty, too, but she seems more pop than country, even though her videos are shown on CMT. And she hasn't been in the public eye long enough to tell if she has real staying power.In terms of record/CD sales, it's not really fair to compare today's artists with those of earlier decades. Is country music "in" in the last 20 years or so because of Shania, Faith, Dixie Chicks, Lucinda, The Judds, etc., or do those artists sell more CD's ("albums" and singles) than Loretta, Brenda, The Carter Family, and Dale Evans, etc., did because country music is currently "in?" Also, how can you compare artists' worth by measuring sales when the publicity and marketing has been changed so drastically by technological advances?
And, Hugh, you hit on a a very interesting point when you mentioned Shania's looks. If you put together a list of the greatest opera singers, rock singers, jazz singers, pop singers -- most any genre, it seems, except c/w -- I'd wager there would be a few women high up on those lists who were far from svelte and a few even downright homely. With the exception of Minnie Pearl (a comic performer) and maybe the Carters (I don't know what Maybelle looked like), it seems all these women are at least slender and above average in physical attractiveness. Maybe that's a requirement for "making it" in country music; if so, that's sad.