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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Paedric wrote:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>> Wow! I was expecting some flame for
this:<BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>> Finally, this may be my personal bias as a
non-singer, but</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>> it seems to me that in best piece
or any style competitions,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>> a great singer will usually, if not
always, beat a great</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>> storyteller or poet, all other things
being equal.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><FONT
face=Arial size=2>No flame; I just disagree. My experience is that a great
singer has an easier time getting to the final round, but a power poem or story
is at least as good once you get there. This isn't theory, by the way, but
observation. I have lost Kingdom Eisteddfod in the semi-final round many
times. I have won both final rounds I've been in, and both times against
great singers (HL Kat and HL Desiree). I met HL Kat in the first round of
one Eisteddfod, and her song beat my third best poem decisively. But she
and I met again in the finals, and my "Chaplain's Tale" beat her final round
song. </FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><FONT
face=Arial size=2></FONT></FONT></FONT> </DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=3>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Now here's the theory: I suspect that's
because a beautiful voice is worth listening to even if the words make no
sense. Even songs in foreign languages can score well. Truly
can get applause just singing scales. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Consider this: </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>List of Ansteorran bards from the Houston area
alone you would enjoy listening to singing scales:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Truly</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Kat</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Sieglinde</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Sigmund</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Gerald</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>and probably several more</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>List of people in the *world* you would enjoy
hearing read from the phone book:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>James Earl Jones</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Sean Connery</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>but probably nobody else in the entire
world</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>So, yes, the singer with a great voice has an
advantage with lesser material. But in the final rounds, when we all use
our best, there is no observed advantage for any one style.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Robin of Gilwell / Jay
Rudin</FONT></DIV></FONT></FONT></BODY></HTML>