The first thing that will turn me off to a vocalist is intonation. The style can be great, the arrangement can be great, but if the singing is out of tune, then it grates on the ears. The voice can be great, but if the accompaniment is not so good, (wrong chords, wrong bass notes), the result is the same. I'm a pianist with many years of experience in all types of music and have accompanied many vocalists. The first thing I tell a singer is to work on intonation. Out of tune singing ruins any performance. Even constructive criticism can bruise some egos, but it's necessary to correct any problems one may have. I have listened to a few songs in this forum that had problems, yet the song was praised with no discussion of what may have been wrong. I agree with most of you in this thread that criticism should not be sugared coated. Many years ago when I learning to play jazz, I would go to jam sessions and being young and just learning, I would make many mistakes. Most of the older musicians would take me aside and tell me what I did wrong and how to fix it. That was greatly appreciated by me. An easily bruised ego has to be put aside in order to learn. Later, Ray