Best race for a bard?

[TeemoOfAstora]

What race you choose depends on what you might want out of your bard. They'll all play the same way, and whichever way you go you're bound to have a lot of fun.
Some people are sentimental about fashion, so will roll human and thus be condemned to YEARS of skyshrine later on in their existence for the coveted nipple robe.
Some might be influenced by starting area. Freeport is close to everything, in a manner of speaking, and you'll run into plenty of people there. Kelethin is a bit too close to those stinkin' gnomes if you ask me, but some folk prefer it over everything else. Qeynos is not a bad little place to start either. A bit remote, sure, but if there's a class that's meant to laugh at the vastness of West Karana it's the bard.
Others still care a lot about starting stats. I've found DEX and CHA to matter most in what I do. DEX affects how often you miss notes, interrupting your song (like fizzles); CHA affects your lulls/mezzes/charms/fears which you'll be using a whole lot. STR/STA are worthwhile in your early life, but won't matter in the long run since melee damage is not what you'll be doing. INT affects your mana, but you only use it when charming, just about everything else is manaless (there is also an AE nuke that costs a bunch of mana but it won't be buying you a whole lot). All races start with the same base CHA/INT, and halfelves have the most starting DEX making them a good "by the numbers" candidate race.