Why do British people sing with American accents?
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Does it just happen?
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[Deleted User]
Posts: 2,427 [Deleted User]
Posts: 2,427 [Deleted User]
Posts: 2,427 [Deleted User]
Posts: 2,427
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Some UK accents lend themselves easier to US accents, in the way certain words are pronounced. But, when you see southern folk, particularly Londoners, whether or not it's a genuine London accent or the put-on 'urban youth' nonsense, people pronounce the word 'laugh' like "laaarf" and 'last' like "laaarst". The amount of times I cringe when At Last is covered, by Etta James. Awful. Too many of these kids attempt to sound like they've been in Gospel choirs, yet if you sat 'em down with a Bible and stuck a doolally preacher infront of them, they'd run a mile.
It's just tarted-up Karaoke. The producers don't want these kids to sound TOO unique, if unique at all. They want a marker they can link the acts to, to market similarly, to appeal to existing fans of the alleged influence.
I just watch it and laugh/cringe/despair.
It sounds truly dreadful when people sing in English accents as it is too harsh on the words....and sounds fake!:)
No, puppet. With no originality as they've just decided to copy.
Adele and Emile Sande sound silly? Yeah.. ok.
That about covers it for me. There's something bloodless and detached when anyone sings in an accent that isn't the one with which they live their lives. In a word, fake. Downright laughable when Carolynne, for instance, switches from speaking to singing, but there's a palpable hollowness to the singing voice whether or not I've any foreknowledge of where someone's from or how they sound when they speak.
Plainly, though, it doesn't affect everyone that way.
i think it does...!!
most people are bombarded with american pop culture from a young age it's close to being second nature as their own speaking accents...
so when they get into the zone when singing, strange as it may sound, it might just be as natural for them... coz that's how their "musical heroes and influences" sounded like...;)
If all you're doing is trying to imitate something you've heard, yes. So long as it's American
My issue is when the affectation sounds far to self-conscious and forced. Like Janet Devlin for example. With other people I just take it that they've been singing the way they do for years so it's second nature to them, but with Janet and others it sounded like every syllable was calculated.
When people sing with an American accent it sounds like one of those horrible UK pop punk bands.
You're just referring to people not singing with a fake over-exaggerated British accent arent you? Lucy Spraggan fan on the offence.
Newsflash: that's not singing it's talking.
Singing involved drawing out your words in a melodic fashion.
I don't think this is strictly true. Think of Sophie Ellis Bexter, The Cure, White Lies (relatively new band you might not know) that kind of 80's english sound... quite soft and lovely... but I understand it would be impossible to sing At Last with an english accent, then again that's because it was written with an american singer in mind
"ehhhhhhht lehhhhhst" is quite a good example.
In Jahmene's case, he probably has been in Gospel choirs.
Yes, something like that. No one can just sing like that without regular practice. I'm not saying that I don't believe he really is nervous and shy but I can't imagine that he is just some supermarket worker who sings around the house and has never performed before.
Carolynn does, she sounds like an American country singer.
I tend to think it's pronounciation related too .The British pronounctation seems to seperate words more quickly, whereas the American accent seems to hang on more (I know am explaining this horribly I know).
I think the holding on of words in the American accent translates more easily to singing because singing itself, unless rappining which is talking, tends to be a string of word holds (again explainingg this horribly I know).
I have standard English accent (not posh, not noteably regional) but find it much easier to sing in an Americaan accent because then I don't have to pronoucne the individual words properly (like when speaking in normal accent). I don't think the English accent flows well with music on the whole so can see why singing in the slurred way (that prob isn't the right description I know) is easier.
I understand there is an element of imitation too, especially when Europeans in the Eurovision song contest can sound weirdly American even when their language is as staccato as something Danish or Swedish.
Maybe there is the scientific argument that the tongue and mouth work more simiilalry in general shared experience when singing than when speaking, hence maybe why speaking accents are more different becuase the tongue and mouth are more different but singing accents more similar (maybe by coincidence American sounding even if not being american in definite). This could be so off though, it's just pointless speculation, lol.
It's terrible isn't it. He's got such a punchable face too.
I doubt there's any song that's unsingable without adopting an accent not one's own.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XgPgEurtoo