People need to get a grip

Before I delve back into the world of my job, I thought I would spiel off a rant based on something I watched on television last night. The topic this time is about people’s complete and total lack of realism. Where does this rant come from? It comes from watching some people get told they can’t sing, on American Idol.

Having flown Westjet home last night, I had the opportunity to watch some television via their satellite TV service. Since there was not much else on, and I enjoy watching the bad singers, I tuned into American Idol. The premise of the show, as I’m sure you already know, is they audition a pile of different people and then weed them down to a few select individuals who must compete against each other to win the distinction of being the next American Idol. This of course gets them a shitty record deal and what they think is being famous. Only 2 of the winners have had any REAL success thus far.

However, like many others, I don’t bother watching the competition part because I’m not interested in that. What I do find interesting is watching some of these people audition who truly have no talent, but really think they do. It does make for entertaining television but there is a price. Many of these people who really are talent less, whole heartedly believe that they are more talented than the best singers in the world. It’s not an act people, they really do think they can sing.

These same people end up making a huge scene, or break into tears when the judges don’t immediately bow down to their talent. There was one individual last night who auditioned and although her first song the judges really liked, her second song showcased the fact that she really had major issues with her voice. Thus, the judges passed on her. She broke out into tears and cried saying that so many people were counting on her and that she had to make it, etc.

There was another audition last week by this 16 year old kid who had no talent at all and when the judges turned him down, he left, in tears as well, crying to what must have been his mom saying that he wanted “to start out famous”.

Then there was a girl last night who admitted that she had no talent at all. She expected that she should become the next American Idol because of that fact. Her opinion was that American Idol should teach her how to sing so she can win. When the judges explained that it was a “s i n g i n g c o n t e s t” and that she was not being given a gold ticket, she got seriously pissed off, stormed outside and told the camera and everyone watching how stupid they were for not picking her and how they had no idea what they were doing and they were dumb, blah blah blah. No concept of what a singing contest was. A contest for the best singers. Not a contest for finding shitty singers and making them good singers.

Those are just three small examples but there were plenty more. Hell, we saw this in Canadian Idol and plenty other of those types of shows. Why is it that people are so obsessed and so delusional about getting something they don’t deserve? There are all of these young people who are truly oblivious to the fact that they have no talent, and they really think that the world is wrong about them. Is this the kind of world we really live in?

I’m sure there’s an explanation. I would guess that perhaps many of these young people have led sheltered lives by parents who do not want them to see the world as it really is. Parents can be supportive and want to help their kids but let’s face it, if your kid sucks at something, is it really better for them for you to tell them how good they are? I’m thinking down the road for myself. Say for example my daughter comes to me when she’s 10 and says she wants to be a singer. So she starts singing around the house and really likes it but no matter how much practice she does, her singing sucks. Yes, she inherited that part of her genes from her mom (although I’m not a great singer either, even Tamara would admit that she can’t sing at all). Should I tell my daughter that she’s doing good and to keep practicing, or do I confront her, tell her how bad she is (in a nice way of course) and let her grieve for a moment until time passes and she moves on to something else? For me, I think the latter would be better because if by the time she’s 16 and she decides to go on one of these contests, she would be hit with a real dose of reality. Young people get their hearts set on something and then run with it and I suspect that parents love seeing that kind of passion in their children. The problem is when that passion is really misguided. Children and young adults get very excited over something and if they get their heart broken or told they suck, they grieve, pick up their socks, and keep on rocking, assuming they have been brought up that way.

Have you ever known someone who was passionate about something and you knew it was just the absolute worst thing in the world for them, but didn’t say anything because you didn’t want to hurt their feelings? How did it turn out for them?

I think it is important to support your kids and try and help them achieve their dreams but let’s face it, not everyone is meant or able to do certain things just because that’s the way it is. Maybe it’s not fair, but that is life and both the young and the old need to get a grip on it.

Regardless, I think I may have strayed off topic but the point I was trying to make was that these people on these contest shows are funny to watch but man, it really is sad to think of what must be going on in their minds if they truly believe that they are the perfect singer when by all accounts, my cat can singer better than them. MEOW!

So there, I’ve had my say.