What I don't get about "color" is: if you're going to change the spelling to be more phonetic, shouldn't it be "kuler" (or possibly "kuller")?
Very true, examples include words ending "er" changing to "re" and 'z's being replaced with 's's. I suspect the idea that this was a deliberate effort to differentiate the Brits from the Colonials is supposition or guesswork, but it's true that the more French sounding variants have come to prominence of late.
Oh, are you Russian?
(You mean "you're", by the way)
Regarding your first point, on a similar note I think ABBA sounded like southern English people when they sang. Interesting, that. I suspect much is due to whom the artists have heard a lot - perhaps the English artists you're thinking of listen to a lot of Ohioan music (are a lot of American musicians from Ohio)?
Regarding your second point - absolutely correct. There's no right/wrong, only different*.
*Actually, I take that back. No-one outside Yorkshire knows how to talk. And I doubly take it back when people say "less" when they mean "fewer".