also for me there is honestly something of a... distancing to how opera singers sing. I mean, the technique is amazing and it's really neat that you can get that kind of timbre and volume to come out of a human throat, but because there's so much technique to it, it also to me often doesn't mimic the visceral "I can pretend this is someone speaking, only in music" that musical-singers can convey to me.

That is very true. It's odd, I never had a problem with accepting dancing when watching a filmed musical. Perhaps that year kid!me spent learning ballet was of use after all!