None of those singers in post #1 have what I'd describe as a 'bad accent'. When you say 'bad accent' I imagine you're referring to their pronunciation anyway, not their accents. All four of them have very good pronunciation.
I also love Karen Peris' voice, by the way. She doesn't use that accent in her normal spoken voice—it's put on for the songs. I guess that she's trying to sound slightly Irish, to add to the folky, Celtic sound of the music. I don't know.
I've met Amish people who speak English with a distinct German accent because their first language is Pennsylvania Dutch, a German dialect. I don't think non-Amish people around Lancaster do that.
I am not a teacher.
Not really- it's singing, not conversation.
So it seems that English-speaking persons don’t mind a foreign accent in singing so much. (Maybe Mr. PeterCW has a different feeling, but, alas, he doesn’t answer.)
https://youtu.be/0rmOg4_8wD0?t=73
This is a tribute band from Moscow that covers songs of ‘Chicago’. And I’ve read the following comment on their Facebook page from their American fan:
«I have been following them for at least a year and am continually amazed at how they reproduce these songs note for note. Every nuance is there and they always sound incredible.
The only criticism I have is that some of their vocalists sound like they are singing phonetically and that their English is limited or non existent but they are Russians so not a real big deal! Glad that you enjoy them!»
That fan expressed a criticism very similar to what PeterCW wrote regarding the singers in the post #1.
Last edited by Bernard; 04-Dec-2020 at 19:52.
I have a very acute ear for detecting accents but I wouldn't have identified that the singer of Biting Elbows was a non-native speaker.
No. It adds to it. Unless of course the accent is distracting in itself in some way.If you do, does it distract you to some degree from a song itself?
No. I don't really know what you mean. Does it to you? Could you explain how that is?Doesn't a singer with an accent of a foreigner appear as some obstacle between a message and a listener?
Opera (which, by the way I detest) has a long tradition of singers mouthing syllables with no understanding of what they mean. It doesn't seem to be a problem.