While I was watching the NBA on ABC, some other people in the house were watching World Idol. I popped in a couple times and noticed there were people singing from all over. However… none of these people had any sort of accent from their native land or, if they did, I didn’t notice it while they were singing. Is there any particular reason that people don’t sing with an accent from whatever country they happen to come from?
To answer the specific question, perhaps the fact that an American TV company made a show for American viewers, featuring singers who were (presumably) required to sing in * American alright English* might have had some impact on what you actually heard.
I’ve heard the lead singer for Nightwish sing in English with an occasionally noticeable Finnish(?) accent on the words.
I assume you mean when they’re singing in English?
It may be the same reason that people who speak with a stutter (as in a speech impediment, not nervousness. Mel Tillis.) can often sing without stuttering: singing and speaking are controlled by different parts of the brain. I don’t know the scientific details, but there is a comment about it here.
Also, many, if not most singers learn to sing songs by listening to somebody else’s recording of the song. There is a tendency (I know this from my own experience) to imitate the sound of the other singer’s voice, especially while in the process of learning the song. I usually sing with much the same style and tone as the recorded singer, though eventually my own vocal characteristics start to take over once I’ve sung the song many many times. That being the case, it wouldn’t surprise me to hear a British singer singing an American song with an American accent. Early in The Beatles’ career, when they were recording many cover versions of American rock songs, you can’t hear much British accent. This is because they were probably copying the style of the original singers. Their accents were more apparent on their own original songs.
If the singer is not a native English speaker, he or she may have learned the English-language song by listening to a recording and copying and memorizing the sounds he or she heard, rather than actually learning the English words.
Lastly, sung sentences very often do not have the same natural cadence (rhythm and emphasis) as their spoken counterparts. The cadence of speech is a big part of an accent. For example, and Englishman might say Jolly good!" (emphasis on “jolly”), and that instantly distinguishes him from the American who would probably reverse the emphasis: “Jolly good!” (Of course, an American probably isn’t going to say “jolly good” unless he’s trying to fake a British accent… but that’s another thread.) And so, when words are sung, the “natural” cadence is mostly eliminated, and that evens out the difference between an American singer and a British singer.
Nina, for example, sings with an obvious German accent in the song “99 Luftbaloons.”
I would also say that the Ace of Base singer has a non-American sounding accent.
Many British punk bands sing/sang with obvious cockney or other British accents.
But you’re correct that the overall effect of the accent can be diminished during singing.
It was a British show and it went worldwide.
The Cheeky Girls song - the accent is distinctly eastern european. I think…
The Proclaimers.
Broad scottish accent, english language lyrics.
Many people do sing in the same accent in which they speak, however, classically trained singers (of which I’m one) do NOT sing with an accent, because they are taught to sing in what is called “Standard Stage English” (when singing in English, of course). This is the form of spoken Engish that news reporters, public speakers, etc. were expected to use and covers up any trace of “where you’re from.”
Agreed. I have Southern accent, more pronounced when I’m drunk or tired, but the only time you can hear it in my singing is in “Southern accent songs”, and even then if you listen hard enough it’s not my accent, it’s the accent the song “comes in”. For extra credit, try singing “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels”, or “Don’t Come Home a’Drinking (With Lovin’ On Your Mind)” without a twang.
I’ve noticed it’s more common to have accentless English singing from European countries…most Japanese and Korean popular singers put gibberish English sentences with horrible accents in the middle of their songs, which makes one want to stab one’s own eye out with a crab fork.
Pretty much all Jamaican reggae music is sung with a thick Jamaican accent. For example, when Desmond Dekker’s “Israelites” hit #1 on the British charts in 1969, it did so despite being mostly incomprehensible to white audiences, who just improvised their own lyrics.
Not to mention the heavy Scottish accent of Bay City Rollers (“Saturday Night”).
And the Birminghamian accent of Dexys Midnight Runners (“Come On, Eileen”), which had as distinctive accent as the Liverpudlian sound of the Beatles.
Yes, sung English can be very accented. Though, there are a few ‘standard’ accents (e.g., a British one and an American one) which are close enough to each other that most don’t notice. Most music meant to be pop or classical wind up in the standard sung accents. Only folk artists, pop artists determined to sound different, or artists in a specific genre (as in the country or reggae already mentioned) would deviate from the standard accents.
Peace.
often, trained singers pay very close attention to the way they pronounce things. For example, "er"s are usually dropped and dipthongs smoothed out.
Pay particular attention to the way that singers from the British Blues period of Classic Rock (e.g. the Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, and Led Zeppelin) all sang with more or less American Southern accents–this was on purpose: they were emulating their influences, who were blues singers in the American South!
When I sing a karaoke version of I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) you’d better believe I sing it in a Scottish accent! And when I sing You Never Even Called Me By My Name, especially the “Perfect Country Song” bridge, you bet your ass I’ve got a twang.
I am not sure if it would help any one… but Gorky’s Zygotic Myni - Hwiangerdd is in Welsh (nothern… i think…) but has an English accent. How did this happen?
(Hwiangerdd Mair)… sorry!