Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Operation: Stage Presence

If you were to video tape (or whatever technology is out now) me talking and then put it side-by-side with a video of me singing, you probably would barely believe that it's the same person.

Just ask Drew, Kayla, or Maria any day. I'm pretty loud. Ask Maria about my storytelling, which is constantly about the hot temperatures in my house. Or ask Kayla if I ever explained Yoga Farm clearly. I didn't, because I was laughing and crying the whole time.... it was pretty loud and rambunctious too.

Then, ask those same three people what I look like when I sing. They will all come up with different descriptions of the same thing: I have NO stage presence. And others will say the same thing. The sayings range from "Hope looks like she's about to cry onstage" to "Hope never smiles onstage". Well, let's do some math.

        I am extremely shy onstage
        I am sorta quiet onstage
        I am self-conscious about my tone
        I focus on tone and not much else
   +   Singing in front of people scares me
________________________________________
NO stage presence whatsoever.

It's simple kindergarten math. I'm a pretty bad singer---- in that area. You would think it'd be impossible to find someone like me--- someone with the same problem.

But, no matter how bad my presence is---and it's not bad stage presence because I don't even have that---I'm not alone.

"I know I'm not the only one!" (You know, from Fireflight's song, For Those Who Wait.)

Well, yesterday, I was watching NBC's show "The Voice". If you want a short review, it's a pretty good show, but I'd only give it maybe three-and-a-half stars out of five because of some pretty nasty contestants. And I'm not being rude--- just think about what I mean when I say 'Nasty'. But the show in itself is pretty good, and the judges get to coach the contestants, which is really cool!

So anyway, I was watching "The Voice" and on Adam Levine's team (dude, you don't know how much that guy's name sounds like Avril Lavigne!) there's this Sixteen-year-old girl who is very shy. So, you'd imagine, me and her have the same problem--- stage presence. We do!

On the show, it's kind of like "American Idol"--- they show a short video of them talking about why they chose the song and blah... well, this girl chose one of my favorite songs, Price Tag, (CIMORELLI did it awhile ago) which is a pretty jumpy, happy song. Well, if you don't have stage presence, it sorta sucks the life out of a lively performance.

Back to the subject, they showed a little bit of her and Adam's rehearsal and guess what her problem was? Stage presence! And, another problem that we BOTH HAVE--- fidgeting! Every time she would mess with her ring, Adam would make a buzzing noise and he might've made her start the song over, I don't remember.

Also, she's just a shy person, (she even said it herself) and so that makes her stage presence kinda bad. I still have no excuses, though! I'm NOT a shy person at all, once you get to know me! The first few times you meet me I will be quite shy. But after awhile, I get louder and louder until it reaches the point that your ears have reached their hearing capacity! Maybe I'm not that loud, but I'm loud. And I am a screamer, I just can't do screamo. But no matter how loud I am behind closed doors, I am very shy when people are actually looking at me.

This is why I'm wondering if I should even try doing a human video next year. I've done human videos many times before, and I have even had roles when all eyes are on me! (In my most recent one, I was a little girl and I narrated the entire beginning of the video. I was pretty much forced to work on my presence in that, thanks to my human video leader, Brianna)

This is also why I'm wondering if I should ever join the youth worship team. I'm still only twelve, I have time. But still, I have a very limited vocal range and my presence--- I have NONE! I've talked to Sarah, who does piano/keys on the youth worship team and she's one of the rare girls in my age group (although she's one grade higher) who's taller than me, and she said she thought she'd be nervous being up there, but she wasn't! After all, you're performing for an audience of one, right?

Even though I'm just doing the BGVs in the Fine Arts band, it's still kinda frightening. Most BG vocalists can play an instrument, so it's a lot less awkward standing there waiting for your line. But I can't play an instrument--- I can only sing. As you'd expect, I'm the only person in the band that can't play an instrument, because the only other singer can do piano! Plus, Mariah (the lead vocals) has amazing stage presence, but I have to remember: She's been singing for a looooong time, she can act--- so it makes sense why she would have good presence, and she's nearly six years older than me.

And maybe shyness does have to do with it. I've always been a shy person, (believe it or not) but I'm just good at coming out of my shell... well, when I'm not singing, at least. My volume isn't always that high because I like to focus on making my voice sound good, which messes up everything else. My stage presence is horrible because I'm just a shy person in that area. Why can't I just move around? I don't know. I'm just a shy person and slightly self-conscious. I'd love to be a Hayley Williams any day and show my not-shy side, but I'm far from there right now.

Can I do it? Maybe... I mean... YES I CAN!

"There's a vulture on my shoulder and he's telling me to give in. Always hissing right in my ear like it's coming for my own head. It's got me mixed up, trying not to give up, tell me there's a way to get out of here... oh, fixed at zero!"
-'Fixed At Zero', VersaEmerge

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