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The Voters’ Dream! The Contestants’ Nightmare!by Rosanne Simunovic -- 05/06/2003
View Printable version of this article In my teaching career, I have trained all genres of singers: classical, broadway, country, pop…you name it. I have respect for all types of music. Shania Twain even sang in my choir, the Timmins Youth Singers, before she moved from Timmins and became a mega-star. In fact, in 1993, riding the crest of the New Country wave sweeping the country, I staged a concert called “Christmas In The Country” with a rising country artist from Timmins (not Shania, she was long gone) and Timmins Youth Singers. It was a huge success – one of my best. Additionally, as a voice teacher, I have seen many of my students achieve enormous success in every genre of the music business. The rewards, when they do happen, are exhilarating… mainly because they experience tremendous disappointment and heartache along the road to success. I have repeatedly told my singers to be ready for criticism, for defeat, and for rejection. If they cannot cope with this reality, then move on to another career and leave room for others who wish to push their music career to the limit. Alas, along the way, some of my most gifted students abandoned their musical aspirations and entered another phase in their life. They still sing, they still perform, but for personal enjoyment. Both teacher and student accepted this fact and set their sights on other pastures. Now, let’s apply this to the present American Idol situation. We are left with four singers: Joshua, Clay, Ruben, and Kimberley. Since my article on re-dialing, I have received tremendous support balanced by the numerous e-mails of endorsement from Joshua fans. The latter group are committed, zealous followers, dedicated to Joshua’s success on American Idol, and it is their right and privilege to feel this way. However, in some instances, I was accused of insulting their personal taste for country music and for Joshua in particular. Really? Well, let me point something out to these people. In the very early stages of the competition, one of my personal favorites was Carmen Rasmusen, who has her roots in country music. Even though she is no longer competing for the coveted AI 2 title, I still believe in this young lady’s talent and feel that she handled herself with grace and dignity in the face of horrendous criticism by the judges. In fact, I feel that she experienced the strongest backlash from the judges and from the American public. However, as a teacher I could appreciate her charisma and the unique quality to her voice and really held to my belief that she embodied some very special talents. However, on Billy Joel night, this young lady really fell apart before our eyes. It was heartbreaking! I realized then that her time, for now, was up. She was obviously very nervous and the pressure was taking its toll. She bravely jumped back in the following week, improving tremendously in fact, but in the end was voted off by the American public. Even her grandmother was recently quoted as saying that she was relieved when her granddaughter was eliminated from the show. You have to weigh the pros and cons, look at the positives and negatives, and realize that the positives are what is important. She managed to stay in the top six, was voted as Simon’s wildcard choice, turned in performances that – although there may have been some technical issues – still were energetic and charismatic Which brings us now to Joshua. He is a wonderful entertainer, has a great voice (although technically he really needs tremendous help) and, in the early segments, had a wonderful spark and energy that was terrific. However, look at this poor guy last week: head in his hands, upset that Ruben was in the final two knowing that he would have to endure yet another week on American Idol, having difficulty coping with the criticism from the judges, and just obviously so unhappy to be on this AI stage. If you think the demands and schedule of the AI2 competition are stressful, just wait until he has the responsibility of living up to the AI2 crown should he win it – the pace, the demands, the expectations, the criticism, the fact that he is a product first and a person second. The investors of the Joshua product will expect him, and rightfully so, to produce big time. Money and reputations are at stake here and he will have to succumb to the demands of his backers or risk further humiliation at an even higher level of exposure. This is not about riding around in limousines, traveling around the world, enjoying the high life. This is work first and glamour a very distant second. This is a competition to find not only the best singer, but also the person that we feel will be most capable of managing the demands and rigors of a musical career with intelligence, with determination, with stamina, and with respect for the people who gave him or her this opportunity. We cannot motivate a person to be what he is not – in this instance, a superstar – if the time and the occasion are not right for him. We have to respect his or her wishes to leave and move on to the next person, as I did with Carmen. That’s life! That’s show business! And that’s reality. Denial is a very powerful emotion, but now is the time to allow the more positive emotion of acceptance to rise to the surface. Case story in point: I am acquainted with two exceptional Canadian singers who, at the peak of their musical careers, decided to travel a different path and enter the priesthood. The jaws dropped, not out of disrespect for their decision, but out of sorrow that we lost two stellar classical singers. However, as priests, they have added a musical dimension to the liturgical community that is unsurpassed, and their musical gifts combined with their spiritual contributions have resulted in exceptional benefits to their vocation. So, on hearing their decision, what were we supposed to do, picket outside the Church during their Ordination Ceremony in an attempt to force them back to the music community? This is what is happening to Joshua. He is conveying through his moods and gestures on the American Idol telecast that he wants out of the AI experience and, contractually, that’s all he can do up to this point. It is the responsibility of the voters to do the rest. You have to look beyond what you want and really do what is best for the competition, and, ultimately, what is best for Joshua and his family. Rosanne Simunovic is the Voice Instructor and Conductor for the Timmins Youth Singers. If you have any further questions our comments, please at e-mail her. Be sure to sign up for the RealityNewsOnline/FoxesOnIdol e-mail update so you can stay informed about new articles on both sites! For all of the RealityNewsOnline articles about this show, check out the American Idol page. For more news about reality TV, be sure to check SirLinksALot! View Printable version of this article
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