The main problem with up & over & close is that the vocals can sound nasally, like the vocalist has their nose plugged.
A foot or two away straight out front works best for me, IF I can keep the vocalist at that distance.
Maybe I should construct a fake pop-filter, of material so porous that it will be useless for pops but will also have minimal effect on the sound, then just use that to "place" the vocalist. Or maybe just an empty hoop to sing through.
(I've tried the "dummy mic" but having a 58 directly in front of the mouth can make things sound muffled.)