There Must Be Something In The Water.

What is it about that tiny country Wales that produces such amazing singers? Here are five of my favorites. And when I say they are my favorites, I mean, unlike vast majority of famous singing acts, I'd pay money to see them perform.

Katherine Jenkins is probably the most popular mezzo-soprano alive today. Here she is singing a Habanera from Carmen!



I especially like this guy. He sings the raunchiest songs but is almost as famous for being being true to his wife as he is for singing. Also, he takes the songs of lesser known singers and popularizes them. For example, he added EMFs "Unbelieveable" to his Vegas act and told people about the band long before EMF became a name act. Besides that, have you ever been in a wine-soaked room when this song comes on the juke box? I've experienced it twice.



Bryn Terfel, the "barritenor" sings of Wales and makes you want to see it.



I first heard the voice of Cerys Matthews in 1999 when I came into possession of a frightfully good CD by band called Catatonia. Sometime after that album was made the band broke up and Cerys began a solo career, which, oddly, has seen paired her with Sir Tom Jones singing "Baby, Its Cold Outside." Here she is the way I first heard her, singing in Welsh with the rest of Catatonia, the amazing and loud song "International Velvet"



Ladies and gentelmen, Dame Shirley Bassey! What else needs to be said?