Sing the Damn Note!

I don't watch Idol because I can't stand the type of singing that everyone seems to do nowadays. Instead of singing the note as the composer wrote it, today's performers hit about five notes per syllable near the correct one, eventually (one hopes) lingering on right one long enough to demonstrate that they are familiar with the tune. I know Streisand did that (in moderation) years ago. Karen Carpenter used to scoop a note here or there, and Petula Clark would put a grace note in occasionally.

But now the instruction to "Make the song your own" means that the tune gets destroyed. I am especially irked when this happens to Christmas carols. When "ger" in "Away In The Manger" is awarded six notes, I feel like yelling "Sing the damn note".

That's one of the reasons I like show tunes. I realize I'm showing my age here, but when Shirley Jones sung a song, she hit the notes and put on the consonants. Same with the quality performs in "Cats", or "Phantom" or "Les Mis".

Of course, we have to give the singers who perform the national anthem permission to butcher the song. That's expected.