How Mike Howard could call Russell Watson a "middle of the road singer" is totally beyond me. It makes me wonder if he appreciates good music at all.

Russell is by no means middle of the road - he is just slightly different from standard opera singers and there is nothing wrong with being different.

That is just one of the many reasons he appeals to me so much. When he is on stage, he comes across so well.

When I was younger, I used to dislike operas because they all seemed so unreal, unapproachable and almost non-human, whereas Russell is charming, friendly and loves involving the audience.

To have the nerve to say he has no presence on stage is an insult. He has a damn sight more stage presence than most opera singers.

Mike was so busy trying to sound clever and witty he didn't bother to take the time to appreciate natural talent and charisma.

In a time when there are so many talentless and big-headed performers in the music business, we should be making the most of the talented ones, not slagging them off to make ourselves sound important.

Russell's reputation is not based on a version of Puccini's Nessun Dorma. That was just his first break. Since then, he has gone on to much bigger and better things.

-Kaitey Earl, Kait_Earl@uk.ibm.com