I'm sure it's me, but...

Watched De-Lovely, on a DVD from the library. Kevin Kline and Ashley Judd portray Cole and Linda Porter well and the music is lovely. With one exception. Whoever does “Begin the Beguine” murders it. It makes me really, really angry. Turns out it’s Sheryl Crow. Her rendition is a crime. There is nothing whatever wrong with the melody of the song or its beguine (a dance from Martinique) rhythm the way I've heard it by many performers. Good performers. Ms Crow's liberties with "Begin the Beguine" in my opinion compare to Ted Turner's colorizing the old black-and-white movies. Hell, I don't even know if she can sing the tune the way it was written. Talent started running pretty low after Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn, Jo Stafford, Margaret Whiting, and Anita O'Day left the scene. There are no rules anymore, I suppose, but if there ever were, I think they included -- even among jazz musicians, who improvise all over the place -- running through the song the way it was written just once before taking liberties with it.