Prompted by an interesting discussion* on a private yahoo group, I aired my thoughts on Cr***o**r, which is such an imprecise, ill-defined term which means something different to everybody. I thought long and hard about what to contribute, and, despite it being long,rambling and full of examples, it does encapsulate my thoughts fairly comprehensively. So I thought I would reproduce it here: I think there's a big difference between Bryn-does-crossover and Katherine Jenkins. Okay, I won't talk about Bryn, I'll talk about Plácido. Pláci didn't start off as an opera singer, but in zarzuela, which is operetta. Not in a G&S way but in a light opera way. His first job outside his parents' company (apart from playing piano in a bordello) was in the chorus of My Fair Lady. He is passionately evangelical about zarzuela and he is a big fan of musicals. His other big crossover thing is mariachis, rancheras etc, the music he grew up with (when he first started courting Marta, he would hire a mariachi band and serenade under her window, at which point the neighbours would call the police, who would tell him to hurry up and finish or else they'd have to arrest him). But throughout the Sixties and Seventies he was pretty solidly performing as an opera singer, on which he built his reputation. If you look at his crossover records, be it "The Broadway I Love" or "100 anos di mariachi", they are very much a side thing, thrown together in a recording studio late at night to warm down his voice after Otello or Ghermann or Parsifal. Other than the occasional hastily thrown together video, he doesn't actively promote them. I'm not saying the record company doesn't, and he tossed off a track from Italia ti amo at the Crossover Brits. That was recorded in Budapest in between conducting stints in Vienna, and was combined with a visit for a stadium concert, the Formula 1 Grand Prix, a Racing Drivers vs Celebrities charity football match and sightseeing. In other words, Plácido's idea of a holiday. The Three Tenors were amazingly successful for a variety of reasons. Firstly, three of the world's top singers not far past the peaks of their careers; secondly, the Jose Carreras leukaemia story; thirdly, it being promoted as part of the World Cup Italia 90. Album at number one in the charts. Goodness the record companies thought, there is a market out there for this sort of thing. Oh but these guys already have exclusive record contracts elsewhere, or are too busy performing in operas, and know their market value, so demand enormous fees. On the general basis that if you want to emulate a success, replicate it, first as tragedy (Andrea Bocelli) then as farce (Katherine Jenkins). Crossover was so coined (or stolen from punk rock, ) because established Classical Artists crossed over into non-classical territory. I don't suppose Bryn spends a great deal of time recording his crossover albums, and as far as I know doesn't set off on hectic multiple location tours complete with numerous appearances on Daytime TV, because he's got other things to do with his life. Plácido has justified the $1 million per night fee for the 3Ts on the basis that in general classical musicians do not get paid what pop stars or sports stars do and doing the occasional 3T concert doesn't interfere with his opera schedule; he's managed to be at every World Cup Final since 1982. And I imagine Bryn's pension fund is nicely boosted by the royalties from crossover. I don't see it as any different from when good serious actors do adverts and voice-overs; it's not artistically pure, but it's a good fat fee for relatively little time commitment or effort. I'd do it, too. But they don't regard it as a career pinnacle, and they don't cite their ads to demonstrate what great actors they are. I'm a fan of Christopher Ecclestone, not for his voice overs but because of the long list of splendid portrayals in films and TV series. Similarly, I think Tony Blair is funny and entertaining on chat shows, but I would despair if he was judged that way, either by voters or by history. What I hoped to imply, but didn't spell out was as one participant** said Katherine Jenkins, Russell Watson et al do not 'crossover'...what are they crossing from? The one definition of cr***o**r we didn't get onto is more problematic. Although if it was being pedantic I would call it fusion. This is where a composer writes a piece of music which is classical in idiom but influenced by rock or 'world' etc music , or when they write a pop song which follows the structure and rubric of classical. I think that can be excellent if done with inspiration, sensitivity and, um, talent, but it can end up sounding like a dismal attempt to be down and grooving with the cool dudes or a misconceived pretence at aspiring to something without the requisite skills. * which I won't replicate here, because I don't think it's right to breach the expectation of privacy and the freedom to be candid ** who is welcome, if she wishes, to reclaim authorship of her wisdom