I'm sorry now that I chimed in on this thread. It was just my opinion based upon what I heard with my aging ears. When so many folks claimed she had a phenomenal voice, I went upstairs, put in my hearing aid and listened again. It sounded the same. My heroes in the world of music begin with Mel Torme, whom I considered one of the best singers ever. For me, this was closely followed by the mellow tones of Elvis, Sinatra, Judy Garland, Streisand, Whitney Houston, Marty Robbins, Dean Martin, Mario Lanza, and a host of other greats that told wonderful stories with their songs. And, as stated above, you could easily understand every word they sang. Ironically, many of them took a diction course from a very famous lady in Nashville, TN. I read a story about her in a Nashville magazine, and was really impressed at the number of very famous singers that she coached.

I listened to that song Donny posted at least four times. Each time it sounded, at least to me, exactly the same. The lady, as I stated above, has an incredibly powerful voice, her range is fantastic, but her diction is, IMO, not up to par. To me, it's not about the way she sings as much as it is that the beautiful story within the song seems to be lost to what I consider nonsensical vocal inflections. If someone were to sing Over The Rainbow like that I would turn off the song. When I was six years old I fell in love with Dorothy from The Wizard Of Oz because of the way she sang that song. That song still brings tears to my eyes today, but for another reason. When I saw my daughter lying in the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Unit, her head in a halo to support her broken neck, her left leg and arm both in casts with stainless steel pins protruding through the cast, an endotrachael tube in her throat, an NG tube in her nose, and bandages everywhere you looked, Over The Rainbow played in my mind. I instantly recalled every word of that song, and still hear the voice of Judy Garland singing it, regardless of who is actually singing it.

Now, I believe I AM a damned good judge of singers. After all, I'm been a singer for more than six decades, and I've been a professional singer, one that gets paid to sing and play, since 1958. My voice has been heard on both radio and TV as voice overs for car commercials, and as a newscaster. I'll probably never be a judge on American Idol, America's Got Talent, etc..., but I sincerely believe that I'm a pretty damned good judge of vocal quality.

Yeah, maybe I'm old and cantankerous, but ya know, I'm proud of it,

Gary