I have received my fair share of criticism over the years: some good, some bad. I have had people tell me that I am a nasaly singer; I have had people tell me that I need more work; I have had people tell me that I am amazingly talented; I have had people tell me that I am an emotional singer. Although some of these comments are positive, some are also negative and force me to think about what I am doing with serious doubt.
After the second WeFest karaoke contest, it dark time for me (in terms of karaoke singing). I couldn't believe the amount of politics that went into such an amateur contest. A guy won twice for crying out loud! He literally stole my winning spot and made me feel defeated and hopeless. How come the judges told me they scored me 40 out of 40 yet somehow I still placed 4th? Something wasn't right.
Through all the karaoke drama, I have been fortunate enough to have many people support me. My biggest fan is my Mom. She has always pushing my story on other people. Although embarrassing, it helps get my stuff out there! One way she pushed my karaoke shenanigans on other people was by making copies of my performances and MAKING other people watch them. Well, my DVD got into the hands of my friend Joe. Joe is one of the most genuine, positive, caring people I know. When Joe watched my 4th place performance, he had more than comments or critiques, he had the exact advice I was looking for. I would like to share what he said with you. Take a look:
"My best friend has an awesome voice and entered many contests... being the new chick in the circuit proved to be a huge disadvantage because people tend to stick with their own. The more people see of you the more infectious you will be and the harder it will be to vote for someone else. Win or lose you have to believe you got something - it's why you have gone soooo far in these competitions...get yourself in the right group and it will increase your chances.... genre is one group, clothing is another, vocals is a third group, fast song or slow song, guys or girls etc.... hopefully you get my point. The peppy songs tend to get the crowd involved (even if the person kind of sucks) and this creates an energy in the room that can sway the votes. So many rules for something that is suppose to be fun and unbiased. If you felt cheated, you were - as a singer we tend to know when we suck... we know when we missed a note, screeched (and some of these singers screech - oh my god my EARS!) What you have is a security on the stage and a presence that comes through... connecting some dots could take u all the way (in an unbiased competition) but either way you can take singing wherever you want to :)
Find your nitch Mary... being good is great but being awesome takes something special - you may feel like you gave it everything you have, but there is soooo much more in there :)" -JoeI didn't have to share all of this with you. I could have broken it up into parts and discussed each few sentences, but I wanted to show you bloggers out there that Joe is not only an amazing person, he is also an amazing writer. Joe helped me take a look at my singing situation and approach it with a different perspective. Whenever I used to watch my DVD, I would tell myself that I did the best that I could and that it was my best performance. What else could the judges want? Joe woke my a** up and snapped me back into reality. There is SO much more that I can give. Every contest I learn something new and grow into a better singer and performer. Next WeFest contest, people better watch out, because -thanks to Joe-I am going to connect the dots, find my group and find my niche; I am coming back with a vengeance.
Much love,
Maryoke
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