Transformers: Talent Show Edition
April 17, 2017 1:48 AM Subscribe
Microphones can be instruments of possession; I'm sure we have all been unlucky enough to witness an otherwise decent person turn into (gender neutral) "that guy" by virtue of being behind a live mic. But possession by microphone spirits can be magnificent. Consider these two very different contestants on Britain's Got Talent: 12-year-old Beau Dermott (2016) and 28-year-old Alice Fredenham (2013).
Beau absolutely knocks it out of the park with her rendition of "Defying Gravity" from the musical Wicked. And Alice does the same with a sultry performance of "My Funny Valentine".
You can see both of them transform: Beau just before she starts singing, and Alice just after her first note. Beau seems comfortable with her muse, giving them run of the house, while Alice, outside her vocal chords, seems a little less sure how best to accommodate her guest. Both are charming: Beau for her confidence and Alice for her awkwardness.
And speaking of charming: One of Beau's competitors was Jasmine Elcock, (here singing "Believe" at her audition) a 14-year-old singer who is wholly incapable of being transformed by a microphone; she's protected by being the corporeal manifestation of charming. (Beau finished 5th in the 2016 show, Jasmine finished 4th. Alice was eliminated in the semi-finals in 2013.)
Beau absolutely knocks it out of the park with her rendition of "Defying Gravity" from the musical Wicked. And Alice does the same with a sultry performance of "My Funny Valentine".
You can see both of them transform: Beau just before she starts singing, and Alice just after her first note. Beau seems comfortable with her muse, giving them run of the house, while Alice, outside her vocal chords, seems a little less sure how best to accommodate her guest. Both are charming: Beau for her confidence and Alice for her awkwardness.
And speaking of charming: One of Beau's competitors was Jasmine Elcock, (here singing "Believe" at her audition) a 14-year-old singer who is wholly incapable of being transformed by a microphone; she's protected by being the corporeal manifestation of charming. (Beau finished 5th in the 2016 show, Jasmine finished 4th. Alice was eliminated in the semi-finals in 2013.)
Apparently Fredenham was later accused of faking it, after someone dug up video of an earlier BBC talent competition where she didn't appear nervous, which led to some tabloid drama. Even later, Sony dropped her but she ended up doing a kickstarter to finance her first album, which was released last year.
And since it just showed up in my FB feed, here's a clip of someone who definitely isn't faking how fun she's having, the winner of Danmark har talent 2017, Johanne Astrid. Mega wild!
posted by effbot at 3:25 AM on April 17, 2017
And since it just showed up in my FB feed, here's a clip of someone who definitely isn't faking how fun she's having, the winner of Danmark har talent 2017, Johanne Astrid. Mega wild!
posted by effbot at 3:25 AM on April 17, 2017
I'm more moved by the Mega mild Chloe in the polka-dot dress, singing Walk Away Renee in the park.
posted by StickyCarpet at 3:40 AM on April 17, 2017
posted by StickyCarpet at 3:40 AM on April 17, 2017
I'm sorry for pooping on your FPP, but I think this is completely contrived and I don't buy it. The transformers shtick is nothing more than that; a shtick. "What what happens when they open their mouths--it will SHOCK you!!" is going to get far more media attention than a competent singer getting up there and doing their thing. Cue shocked Cowell face, panelists getting goosebumps, audience members nudging each other while applauding wildly and backstage cheers.
I don't know if it's the show's producers, the performers or the performer's parents, but somebody is encouraging these fine and talented people to appear nervous and unsure, often saying nobody they know even knows that they perform.
It's the Susan Boyle Phenomenon: get onstage, look pensive, have a backstory to indicate you most definitely don't work at your hidden craft, perform beautifully and watch audience go wild.
posted by yes I said yes I will Yes at 7:10 AM on April 17, 2017 [2 favorites]
I don't know if it's the show's producers, the performers or the performer's parents, but somebody is encouraging these fine and talented people to appear nervous and unsure, often saying nobody they know even knows that they perform.
It's the Susan Boyle Phenomenon: get onstage, look pensive, have a backstory to indicate you most definitely don't work at your hidden craft, perform beautifully and watch audience go wild.
posted by yes I said yes I will Yes at 7:10 AM on April 17, 2017 [2 favorites]
There is such a narrative of demanding "rawness" in this genre of shows, as if the only authentic talent is a completely untutored one - and that nervousness at a really serious audition is somehow fake if someone managed not to be as nervous before.
I don't follow these shows, so this is the first I've heard of these singers. Beau Dermott's performance really is astounding - not just her not-inconsiderable vocal talents, but her acting is very mature. My first thought was: this kid should be in musicals. So I googled to see what's happened - and I was happy to see she's got an agent and will be moving into theatre.
But while looking for a simple Wikipedia link, I couldn't help but see several tabloids talking about "cheating" and "scandal" - because she's had singing lessons once a month and auditioned once before. It wasn't even a tempest in a teapot: it was like the tabloids were swirling the cup to try to get one started.
I was at an arts school when younger; I live with a trained singer. That kid would stand out among any trained group. Maybe it's aptitude, or maybe she just listened and paid more attention to her teachers. If it's the latter, that's even more admirable than simple aptitude.
Talent isn't this magical thing that you just have or don't have - it's a mix of aptitude and training and practice. But our western notions seem to play down the importance of training and practice to focus solely on aptitude. I think it's corrosive. Not only does it lead to undermining the work of people who do practice and train, but I think it demotivates the rest of us to improve our skills. If we don't master something right away, we decide, "I guess I just can't do that." I've done it - and it's self-limiting.
posted by jb at 7:21 AM on April 17, 2017 [11 favorites]
I don't follow these shows, so this is the first I've heard of these singers. Beau Dermott's performance really is astounding - not just her not-inconsiderable vocal talents, but her acting is very mature. My first thought was: this kid should be in musicals. So I googled to see what's happened - and I was happy to see she's got an agent and will be moving into theatre.
But while looking for a simple Wikipedia link, I couldn't help but see several tabloids talking about "cheating" and "scandal" - because she's had singing lessons once a month and auditioned once before. It wasn't even a tempest in a teapot: it was like the tabloids were swirling the cup to try to get one started.
I was at an arts school when younger; I live with a trained singer. That kid would stand out among any trained group. Maybe it's aptitude, or maybe she just listened and paid more attention to her teachers. If it's the latter, that's even more admirable than simple aptitude.
Talent isn't this magical thing that you just have or don't have - it's a mix of aptitude and training and practice. But our western notions seem to play down the importance of training and practice to focus solely on aptitude. I think it's corrosive. Not only does it lead to undermining the work of people who do practice and train, but I think it demotivates the rest of us to improve our skills. If we don't master something right away, we decide, "I guess I just can't do that." I've done it - and it's self-limiting.
posted by jb at 7:21 AM on April 17, 2017 [11 favorites]
You know what, jb -- you're absolutely right.
posted by amtho at 8:20 AM on April 17, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by amtho at 8:20 AM on April 17, 2017 [1 favorite]
Louisa Johnson (who won BGT in 2015) was similarly "mired" in "scandal" because, as jb mentions, she had voice lessons before she appeared on the show.
Johnson's a considerable talent, to my ear, probably because she has worked at her craft; and it was interesting to watch her performances mature as she made her way through the show.
posted by maxwelton at 8:54 AM on April 17, 2017 [1 favorite]
Johnson's a considerable talent, to my ear, probably because she has worked at her craft; and it was interesting to watch her performances mature as she made her way through the show.
posted by maxwelton at 8:54 AM on April 17, 2017 [1 favorite]
jb hit the nail on the head. I have two degrees in opera, and struggled with a performing career for 10 years before finally giving up and going back to school. During that time, I paid exorbitant amounts for voice lessons and coachings, attended young artist programs for little or no money to build resume experience, and generally lived hand to mouth.
It is a tremendous source of frustration - not just to me but to many of my colleagues who are still working their asses off to be working performers - that most people would rather listen to cell-phone salesman Paul Potts (Britain's Got Talent) struggle his way through "Nessun Dorma" than someone who has actually spent his entire adult life training to do exactly that.
The fact that so much of the public appears to value "surprise" talent (no matter how mediocre) over actual training and preparation was one of the big reasons why I stopped performing in the first place.
posted by Ben Trismegistus at 9:18 AM on April 17, 2017 [1 favorite]
It is a tremendous source of frustration - not just to me but to many of my colleagues who are still working their asses off to be working performers - that most people would rather listen to cell-phone salesman Paul Potts (Britain's Got Talent) struggle his way through "Nessun Dorma" than someone who has actually spent his entire adult life training to do exactly that.
The fact that so much of the public appears to value "surprise" talent (no matter how mediocre) over actual training and preparation was one of the big reasons why I stopped performing in the first place.
posted by Ben Trismegistus at 9:18 AM on April 17, 2017 [1 favorite]
I think what the public is valuing is a feeling of connection with the performer. It's easier for most people to identify with years working in a restaurant than with years taking private voice lessons.
Also, the sense that a human being is more than their surface appearance or the broad outlines of their life story is incredibly important to us. That something beautiful is hidden inside us is a fundamental message of Christianity, which became a very powerful force partly because of that message.
I have seen the "years of hard work" message occasionally on a program like this, but I think it sometimes loses power for two reasons: 1) the person in question was also very beautiful, and we tend to think that beautiful people _don't_ work as hard, and 2) the motivation for such hard work seems to be to earn lots of money and/or fame and/or it's not really clear what the motivation is. So, if I were going to try to tell my own story (involving years of voice lessons, rehearsals, discipline, imposing on others, etc.), I'd put a lot of thought into explaining my personal reasons for doing all that.
The problem is that there are a lot of memories in my head of teenagers and young adults actually saying out loud that they wanted to be famous (sometimes rich too, but mainly famous), and that's not a compelling reason for me to support them.
posted by amtho at 9:48 AM on April 17, 2017
Also, the sense that a human being is more than their surface appearance or the broad outlines of their life story is incredibly important to us. That something beautiful is hidden inside us is a fundamental message of Christianity, which became a very powerful force partly because of that message.
I have seen the "years of hard work" message occasionally on a program like this, but I think it sometimes loses power for two reasons: 1) the person in question was also very beautiful, and we tend to think that beautiful people _don't_ work as hard, and 2) the motivation for such hard work seems to be to earn lots of money and/or fame and/or it's not really clear what the motivation is. So, if I were going to try to tell my own story (involving years of voice lessons, rehearsals, discipline, imposing on others, etc.), I'd put a lot of thought into explaining my personal reasons for doing all that.
The problem is that there are a lot of memories in my head of teenagers and young adults actually saying out loud that they wanted to be famous (sometimes rich too, but mainly famous), and that's not a compelling reason for me to support them.
posted by amtho at 9:48 AM on April 17, 2017
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(I hope you like talent show posts, I'm working on a couple more, one on Grace VanderWaal, who won the 2016 America's Got Talent by singing her original music in a format normally dominated by covers...as a twelve-year-old.
And please excuse the fanciful post framing!)
posted by maxwelton at 1:57 AM on April 17, 2017