Classical-Crossover.co.uk

[nicola]

It's complicated for us, but not the users (which is key, obviously). Only need to carry on rating as normal. It just gives fans that want to support their artists something to strive for. XD

Reset will be in December some time, as that was when I last reseted the ratings anyway.

[Elliot Kane]

Nicola...

One thing that seems to work really well when you want to reset the scores is the use of vote incentives. If you reset every 2-3 months, but create a special article (Or an interview - though not always possible, of course!) about whichever artist is top at the time of the reset, you may find more people liking the idea because they have an incentive to get their favourite artist to the top.

Anything that acknowledges and rewards the hard work of the voters is good, because it shows you value and appreciate their input - and perhaps more importantly from your POV, it gives them a very good reason to keep voting and thus to keep visiting the site

[nicola]

That's an incredibly good idea. I will run it by with my web designer! Thanks, Elliot. xx

[Elliot Kane]

No prob Glad my suggestion is useful

[grant]

Hi Nicola

Looking through your site a few weeks ago, I came across Emma Shapplin. Noticing that you had compared her to Tarja Turunen and knowing that my friend Steve had been a huge Nightwish fan whilst Tarja was with them, I sent him a link.

A couple of days later, I got an Email from him saying that he had picked up a copy of "Carmine Meo" on Ebay.

Yesterday, he lent the CD to me and last night I played it for the first time. What a voice! I've found it difficult to really appreciate any other singers since I found Hayley, but Emma is wonderful and I will probably end up getting my own copies of her CD's

Thought I would share that with you!

Incidentally, I noticed that Hayley's average score on your chart has fallen from 4.90 to 4.88 since last night Looks to me like a deliberate act of sabotage!

Best wishes
Grant
xx

[nicola]

I started up a Emma Shapplin thread ages ago, thinking that she had a similar voice to Hayley, but she does do a very different style of music. If you do pick up albums by Emma, there's only two to get, the one your friend lent you, and my personal favourite (almost all time favourite album) 'Etterna'. She recently released 'Macadem Flower' after seven years of not releasing anything, and she has (sadly) changed direction - it's a mediocre European pop album. Avoid it. (I was heart broken by it - massive fan of Emma... or "old" Emma, shall I say).

If people are down voting Hayley, they are doing her a favour. The votes are worth more than the rating in the calculation. I have told people this before, but if they want to be vindictive and not listen, well, more to Hayley.

[grant]

Hi Nicola

Thanks for the heads up on Emma. I've played "Carmine Meo" again this afternoon and love it even more than I did the first time! Will certainly look out for "Etterna"

Very sorry to hear about your accident and hope you are both OK - lucky you still managed to get there.

Best wishes
Grant

[nicola]

Hey Grant,

The down voting has happened to almost every single artist on the list. Some have lost as much as 0.50 points. I assume someone was having a vendetta against my site (why? more ratings and lower average scores makes the site look better?) I can think of someone who has this much time on his hands and would do something as non-sensical as this, but who it is doesn't really matter to me. Only a few artists managed to get their ratings higher than last fortnight. Still doing the charts, but it's safe to say that Hayley is a clear winner this fortnight too. I think Sarah Brightman will be second next fortnight. Rhydian's fans have lost the will to fight, it seems.

[nicola]

This is how close Sarah Brightman and Rhydian were:

2. Sarah Brightman -2594- 4.88/5 = 12658.72
3. Rhydian -2614- 4.84/5 = 12651.76

Anyway: Top ten: bit.ly/1e78Ms Full chart: bit.ly/4CfBXe

[martindn]

Yes, I noticed the voting down too! I was trying to work out who had not been voted down, thinking it was an attempt to promote one particular artist, but didn't spot anyone. Hayley peaked at 4.91 BTW.

Martin D

[grant]

Hi Nicola

Mar 21, 2010 9:51:16 GMT nicola said:

The down voting has happened to almost every single artist on the list. Some have lost as much as 0.50 points. I assume someone was having a vendetta against my site

Hadn't realised that! Some people are just mean but I guess that's another plus for resetting the votes from time to time isn't it?

Thanks again for the info on Emma Shapplin, I've ordered "Etterna" and should have it this week sometime. Really happy I've 'discovered' Emma. Like Hayley's, Emma's voice really excites me and it will be good to have CD's other than Hayley's that I can listen to without getting bored after a couple of tracks!

Best wishes
Grant

[mihizawi]

Hi Nicola and everyone
tracking and going through some of Helmut Lotti's song, I came across with a clearly classical crossover group. It's yet another string ensamble (this time, a violin trio) quite following the steps of Vanessa Mae, but they don't sound bad, so I thought I would show you and see if you like them. Interestingly (or not?), they are out of the "English-speaking/Western Europe" area,: they are three Hungarian girls and the ensamble is called Gracia. Here you go a couple of videos from youtube:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClG2IIh4I3c
www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3iDeIq3j6Y
And here's their official webpage: www.graciamusic.hu/english/

Michal

[nicola]

Hey everyone,

One of the updates has now been implemented, which is a comment box for each profile. These can be used however people wish to use them; to express opinions, vouch for the artist, but I am hoping people would put the latest news (tour dates, album release, etc) when they come across it. Because I have 70 artists now, I can't keep up with them all, so the more fans contribute, the better.

Hey Michal,

I checked them out. Bond, Escala, Vanessa-Mae, etc tend to use electric violins, so I guess Gracia have a bit of difference there. I will look further into them. I also found a German trio called Appassionte yesterday. XD

Nic xx

[nicola]

Someone from here asked about including Only Men Aloud! - they are featured now.

Work is still ongoing on the site. Every profile is being updated, and anyone with news or tour dates has been given a comment on the bottom of the page.

I'm up to "Giorgia Fumanti" - a few more to go until Hayley - but does she have any news as of late?

[nicola]

Hey Grant,

I just reviewed one of Emm'a albums. It's not the one you have, but I hope you'll like it when it arrives:

Etterna: bit.ly/9wfxXB