*snort* That's ridiculous. Americans seem to think that the only good actors and singers are the pretty, bubbly ones who always have a smile on their face. Blondes, in particular.

Look at Angela Lansbury, for example; she's far from today's standard of pretty. But have you HEARD her sing (you have, if you've watched Disney's Beauty and the Beast - she was Mrs. Pots)? Rent the filmed-stage version of Sweeney sometime. Neither Angela nor George Hearn could be described as "beautiful". But both of them did a fabulous job presenting the characters; and they both have incredible voices. Heck, nobody - not even Lucy or Johanna - would fit today's standard of beauty; Johanna in particular was a bit too plump. But plump in the way that benefits her art, in that it allows her greater breath support for all those vibratto high A's.

Danny Elfman, too, isn't up to par on today's standard of beauty. He looks kind of nerdy, sure, but look at Nightmare Before Christmas (he sang Jack's part along with writing the score). Look at Oingo Boingo, even, I mean, they were very popular! And I love their music, it's wonderful.

Look at HBC (though I hesitate to use her as an example, I think she's gorgeous, but anyway), I mean she's 41, she has the whole crazy-hair thing going, she's super pale and definitely *not* a model of American idealism; but listen to her sing, say, Worst Pies in London, or By The Sea. Those songs are famously hard to sing (even Angela Lansbury had a hard time with By The Sea, and the entire part of Mrs. Lovett was written with her in mind). And yet Helena did it and did it WELL with three months of musical training. THREE MONTHS!

Hugh Laurie certainly isn't the picture of American beauty (even though his is, IMHO, drool-worthy) by any stretch of the imagination, but have you heard him sing? I mean, even when he was TRYING to sound bad (mostly this happened in A Bit of Fry and Laurie) he pulled it off brilliantly. Plus he plays piano, guitar, drums...

Besides which, Susan Boyle, yeah, she's not some blonde beach baby with a perfect six-pack and huge blue eyes and a carefully engineered nose. But she was nice-looking. She had that cheeky smile on her face, even when everyone was laughing at her, and her hair was... well... I want hair like that when I go grey (which may be kinda soon, if I take after mom's side- my Grandma started going grey when she was in her twenties). Plus she had a sick accent and an awesome voice.

And given the choice between looks and a voice? I'd go with a voice all the way. 'Specially since looks don't matter so much on stage, and that's where I'd go if I decide to act after all. Anyway...

Joel Grey; he's old, wrinkly, but he can sing, like, dang. He was the Wizard in the original cast of Wicked, FYI.

Colm Wilkinson? Yeah, he's got a huge nose and funny eyebrows (haha, watch the 10th anniversary concert of Les Mis, you'll see what I mean), but he was in the original cast of Les Mis as Jean Valjean - and then, ten years later, he was chosen as the best overall Jean Valjean for the concert. And he has a really, really powerful voice. And funny eyebrows.

Randy Graff? Yeah, she's not "pretty" but she's got a good voice too. She was Fantine in the O. C. of Les Mis. Though, personally she's not my favourite for the role.

*pant, pant*

What radio station was it, incidentally?