Tamyra & Ella & Billie & Nina & Etta
Watched Tamyra on Boston Public last night. Girl, you were so good, I forgot it was you; I was watchin' Aisha!! And I love what Aisha's father taught her long time ago: when you're feeling good, you listen to Ella Fitzgerald; when you're feeling bad, you listen to Billie Holiday. We lost Nina Simone, another legend, this week. RIP Nina, I know there's singing in Heaven. The good news is that Etta James' new album drops on May 7th. And of course our album drops today. Wow.
This week both stephen__king and Ashton Kutcher akutcher have been talking about fame. Stephen King's been famous forever. Since Robin Yount's baseball career began, eh Steve? ;) People come to Maine just to take pictures of his house. He's one of the bestselling novelists on the planet. Just amazing. Ashton hasn't been famous very long; he was talking about how he can go out and do regular stuff, and sometimes be recognized, but not mobbed or anything.
Of course we AI2 contestants haven't been famous very long -- but we do tend to get mobbed. When we go out, it's some kind of media event; we don't just walk to the corner store for a magazine and a pop, you know? So fans know we're coming. I admit that I thought some about that kind of thing before I even auditioned. I knew the grueling tour schedule the first season finalists went through. I've wanted to be a performer for a long time, so I've had many years to think about things like privacy vs. fame. When Princess Diana was killed, that was a real eye-opener. Famous people don't necessarily have their own lives very much, and may have to go to extreme measures for a bit of privacy. Diana was probably even more famous than Stephen (and I would think that living in a small, off-the-beaten-path place like Bangor, Maine, helps) and from the time Charles started courting her, her private moments were numbered. I wonder if she might have been able to withstand the stress better if she'd had some sort of journal? Perhaps not a public LJ, but something she could turn to in order to be alone and just herself, not on stage.
So before I auditioned, I thought of the best-case scenario, just in case. What if I was lucky enough to be called to Hollywood? Would I want to be on TV all over the world? What if I bombed my audition and ended up being one of the joke auditions that everyone laughed at? And if I got farther than that... was I willing to give up privacy? Would I be willing to give nearly total control of my life to other people, for at least a year?
I feel that God is always in control of my life. I pray for guidance for decisions big and small, then I do my best. I don't think I'm God's puppet, but he has a hand in everything that happens. I try to make the right choices and things go from there. I didn't camp out for the Nashville audition, just went really early that morning -- it seemed like the right thing to do, and it seems now that it was.
In a way, fame is a lesson in humility. We owe everything to our fans. They are our customers, the people who pay an entertainer's salary. They are also the boss. And in the case of AI, they say who gets fired every week ;) I'll be doing my best to keep them happy with my work for as long as I can.
This week both stephen__king and Ashton Kutcher akutcher have been talking about fame. Stephen King's been famous forever. Since Robin Yount's baseball career began, eh Steve? ;) People come to Maine just to take pictures of his house. He's one of the bestselling novelists on the planet. Just amazing. Ashton hasn't been famous very long; he was talking about how he can go out and do regular stuff, and sometimes be recognized, but not mobbed or anything.
Of course we AI2 contestants haven't been famous very long -- but we do tend to get mobbed. When we go out, it's some kind of media event; we don't just walk to the corner store for a magazine and a pop, you know? So fans know we're coming. I admit that I thought some about that kind of thing before I even auditioned. I knew the grueling tour schedule the first season finalists went through. I've wanted to be a performer for a long time, so I've had many years to think about things like privacy vs. fame. When Princess Diana was killed, that was a real eye-opener. Famous people don't necessarily have their own lives very much, and may have to go to extreme measures for a bit of privacy. Diana was probably even more famous than Stephen (and I would think that living in a small, off-the-beaten-path place like Bangor, Maine, helps) and from the time Charles started courting her, her private moments were numbered. I wonder if she might have been able to withstand the stress better if she'd had some sort of journal? Perhaps not a public LJ, but something she could turn to in order to be alone and just herself, not on stage.
So before I auditioned, I thought of the best-case scenario, just in case. What if I was lucky enough to be called to Hollywood? Would I want to be on TV all over the world? What if I bombed my audition and ended up being one of the joke auditions that everyone laughed at? And if I got farther than that... was I willing to give up privacy? Would I be willing to give nearly total control of my life to other people, for at least a year?
I feel that God is always in control of my life. I pray for guidance for decisions big and small, then I do my best. I don't think I'm God's puppet, but he has a hand in everything that happens. I try to make the right choices and things go from there. I didn't camp out for the Nashville audition, just went really early that morning -- it seemed like the right thing to do, and it seems now that it was.
In a way, fame is a lesson in humility. We owe everything to our fans. They are our customers, the people who pay an entertainer's salary. They are also the boss. And in the case of AI, they say who gets fired every week ;) I'll be doing my best to keep them happy with my work for as long as I can.