Why Are Some Singers So Pretentious?

[vulcan42]

I was listening to a programme celebrating the music of Andrew Lloyd Webber presented by Michael Ball. After each piece was played canned applause was added, not sure why but that's beside the point.There have been dozens of recordings from the musicals but Michael Ball played three of his own recordings and not content with that, his canned applause was longer and with added cheering. After the third song he did apologise for playing it but he needn't have played any of his own, there are other and in some cases, better versions available.
Elaine Paige is not adverse to playing her songs in her programme either.
Why do they feel the need to constantly promote themselves?

[douglas9401]

Chrissie Hynde's the worst.

[goodgoalie]

Can't stand the nauseating Michael Ball, and I thought there was some rule about presenters not playing their own stuff on the BBC. Guy Garvey has mentioned on his 6 Music programme that he can't play Elbow songs.

[bhg481]

Don't artists get royalties every time their stuff is played on TV?

[goodgoalie]

Only if they wrote the song, bhg

[ladybirder]

I'm averse to listening to either Michael Ball or Elaine Page on anybody's programme. They're both embarrassing.

[bhg481]

Thanks goodgoalie - no incentive there then.

[goodgoalie]

Maybe that's why Ball and Pnaige are allowed to play their own recordings as they do not stand to gain financially, but Guy Garvey, for example, would gain as he is one of the writers. Still don't think they should play their own recordings, though

[goodgoalie]

^^ Paige!

[ladybirder]

^ Ditto (Paige).

[dannyk13]

Goodgoalie.From the BBC:-

Performers in the UK receive royalties from record sales and radio airplay for 50 years after a song is released. The person who composed that song, however, is entitled to the exclusive rights to their music and appropriate royalty payments for their entire life and a further 70 years after their death, a total of perhaps 120 years.

[gness]

Desert Island Discs.......Norman Wisdom chose five of his own songs...and Rolf H chose three of his......but the best was Elisabeth Schwartzkopf......she chose all eight!.....so I read anyway....I didn't hear any of these...

Englebert only chose one of his own records.............but his book choice was his own autobiography.......though perhaps he'd not read it yet.... :-)

[bookbinder]

Some singers [and not only singers] are pretentious/vain because that is probably the very aspect of their personality that drove them to become public entertainers. A person has to have a degree of pretentiousness/vanity to stand on a stage and convince themselves that the audience is absolutely loving their performance.

[anneasquith]

I refuse to watch/ listen to Michael Ball .

[Guilbert53]

>>>After each piece was played canned applause was added

How do you know they were not live recordings?

Michael Ball has appeared in a number of ALW musicals including Phantom of the Opera, Aspects of love, Sunset Boulevard, The Woman in White etc.

So it was reasonable for him to play some of his own songs, after all he was presenting the show.

[vulcan42]

Thank you all for replying, I'm not a fan of Michael Ball either but I did want to hear the Andrew Lloyd Webber interview. Yes, I agree a certain amount of vanity is necessary to entertain people but to include your own talent when presenting a programme about another persons talent seems OTT in my opinion.
gness, I believe Elizabeth Schwartzkopf chose seven of her own recordings but I read somewhere that she didn't understand the concept of the programme. However Dame Moura Lympany, concert pianist, did choose eight of her own recordings and asked for the piano as well.