Gosh Fran, it's hard to criticize someone for losing excess weight; what difference does it make what it was used for. Also, I don't think many people would deny that she has incredible pipes. I think Dave can fairly say that he doesn't like the way she did this particular song (and he was very specific about why), but to say she doesn't live up to the hype??? After a Grammy, an Oscar, command performances for presidents, numerous musical awards, and millions of records sold, what 'hype' does she have to live up to (for you)? I'm sure YOU'VE done some things that YOU thought were 'smokin' but that left others uh, cold. Sure, (rating) music is subjective BUT there are still some standards for 'good' and 'bad'. NOBODY is ever going to say that William Hung is 'good', not even his momma smile.

In this particular case, I mostly agree with Dave, but that has a lot to do with the song, which I consider kind of 'sacred'...IOW, not to be tinkered with too much, sorta' like The Star Spangled Banner. I'll give her a pass this time because I am so aware of her enormous talent and because I think real emotion played a huge part in her performance.

chas
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"Faith means not wanting to know what is true." [Nietzsche]