Diction - Judges Missing in Action

[Pinkline Jones]

Why are the judges failing to pick up on some of the atrocious diction from the contestants?

Lauren keeps singing about her friend BURT

"Burt I'm not the only one"
She pronounced DREAMER as "DREAMA" - that is simply appalling.

So Mark, Marcia and Dicko can you all explain why bad diction is a acceptable on this show?

Please reserve me a chair - I think you need a fourth judge i.e. Pinkline Jones.

Also - why is it that no judge has asked the question "Why does every Aussie wanna be singer sing with an American accent?"

About the only Aussies who don't would be Johnny Farnham, Judith Durham and Slim Dusty.


So OI!

PINKLINE

[trinity]

who really gives a f*** how they pronounce words its what is in inside that counts and proberly the only reason why the talk in an american accent is cause australia is f*****

[Pinkline Jones]

LOL - Well in the olden days when there were more people who could actually SING - diction was a most important element. If some of these people think DREAMER is pronounced DREAMA and BUT is pronounced BURT then it doesn't say much for our education system. I am talking about speaking ENGLISH and sadly a lot of younger people are not very good at it. The lyricist didn't write the song to be mispronounced. Its a disgrace. You can blame this on the Education System and ultimately the Government who appear to be more concerned about keeping innocent people in gaol than improving the standards and prospects of its citizens. You say noone gives a f* about diction but I DO! I will never buy a record featuring someone who fails to respect the lyricist.

LOL - you're spot on with your last comment - Australia is beyond saturation point with American influence.

[Pinkline Jones]

....look....perhaps if the vocalist in question was startlingly out of this world then you might let it go by but this chick is anything but. She's not bad but superstar - um who mentioned reality check?

[Fiona]

But the thing is it's tradition to sing pop music in an American accent, because that's where pop music, in the form of rock'n'roll, started. When Elvis Presley came along, all rock'n'roll wannabes in the UK and Australia tried to be like him and sound like him, so they put on the American accent and it stuck.

Even the Beatles started out by singing in American accents, though I think as they got more creative in their later years they stopped doing that. But later when Paul McCartney formed Wings went back to singing with an American accent.

I think there are physiological theories as to why certain vowels sound better when they're sung Americanised than not (eg compare the word dance and dahnce).

I don't mind it personally; for me a song sung in an American accent makes it sound more professional than a song sung in an Australian accent. For me it makes a singer sound like they really know what they're doing. That's sad I know, but it's true.

On the other hand, it was refreshing to hear Sophie Ellis Bextor's Murder on the Dance Floor, the way she sang that in her very London accent and it still sounded cool.

[trinity]

its not how they pronounce there lyrics its how they sound that matters c'mon a singer could be really intelligant but sound crap and rap stars like 50 cent what sorta language is dat nuffin its just a lazy way of sayin them words like there-der whats up-sup you kno

and one more thing how OLD r u cause i havnt even heard half em words dat u talkin bout god r u like 80 or sumthing!!!!

[Pinkline Jones]

The Seekers - Australia's first group to have an international number one record NEVER sang with American accents.

Please tell me of a Wings tune where McCartney sings with an American accent. I'd be most interested.

I've got no problems with the word dance. Pronounced DARNCE is very English and toffee-nosed - that's not the right way.

I know where you're coming from but I just find it sad that Aussies can't sing with an Aussie accent - I don't mean with an appalling John Williamson version - but take Slim Dusty - he's been doing country music for donkey's years and is one of the few Aussie icons that sing with an Aussie accent. Most of the Aussie country crooners do the fake American thing and it is truly bowel-filling. Lee Kernaghan you'd be forgiven for thinking he was from Nashville.

You can sing a song well with a neutral Aussie accent and it can sound great if well sung. Judy Durham's a great singer and she's always sung with an Aussie accent. Need no more proof than that.

But aside from that Lauren couldn't pronounce the word DREAMER - that's not because of her opting for another accent it was just plain bad diction.

PINKLINE

[trinity]

i really dont understand what you are trying to get out cause if you really think about it is it important at all....NO its not ...answer me this do you talk like an australian is supposed to sound like well if you do your accent is really really bad singers want to sell there music these days and by doing that they have to sound GOOD and when you sing with an american accent its sounds good but aussie accents just sound BAD

[Fiona]

I'm not sure The Seekers are a good example for this argument, as their musical genre was very specific and more folk than pop, even though they were massively successful in their day. If the Australian Idol contestants were to sing a folk tune like the Seekers songs then they would probably do it with an Australian/British accent, as it is more traditional for folk music to be sung in this way. But they're not, they're singing pop-rock or jazz or country which The Seekers didn't do.

I agree Judith Durham is a good singer, for her type of music (and no I don't really go for that type of music), but most pop singers now would not try to emulate her. Her style was good for its genre and for its time but is not appropriate for today's pop music scene. Likewise Slim Dusty.

Anyway John Farnham does sing with an American accent. He sings laf-ter instead of lahf-ter and can't instead of cahn't in Every Time You Cry.

But yeah Pinkline I agree it is sad that people don't sing with Aussie accents more (and yes I agree if they did it would have to be neutral, not as ocker as John Williamson). It's sad that the Aussie accent doesn't sound as cool in pop songs as the American accent does, though maybe I think that because I really haven't heard pop-rock songs sung well with Aussie accents yet.

And Trinity if you were talking to me, no I'm nowhere near 80, nowhere near even half of 80, but by the looks of your vocabulary I'm probably at least twice your age. Despite that, I agree with what you said.

[trinity]

And so yea wat r u 34 cause dats twice my age…man I guess u girls are both just really dum dis is da last time im gonna say dis WHO CARES WHAT IF THEY DON’T USE THERE ACCENT AS LONG AS DEY SOUND GOOD dats all dat matters ok ok ok

[Pinkline Jones]

Just one correction - Judith Durham for your info had a significant Jazz career after the Seekers broke up - singing for years in America. If you listen to her Jazz recordings she doesn't sing with an American accent.

This thing about having to sing with an American accent is a fallacy - people can sing with a neutral Aussie accent and sound very good and ultimately that would be much more impressive than representing Australia but sounding like a Yank.

PINK

[trinity]

well why should any one have to represent a fuked up country like dis

[Pinkline Jones]

Trinity - seriously - you're totally appalling capacity to NOT be able to write proper written English is quite remarkable - well done.

[Pinkline Jones]

lol - yes and I meant "your"

[nicki]

Trinity if you hate 'dis' country sooooo much, why the hell are you here???