Winning American Idol

Jeannie Deva

Reality TV

The popularity of reality TV in general and singing contests specifically have made American Idol a media sensation. At the same time, it has created a wonderful opportunity for aspiring performers while inspiring many to hold to their dreams.

Entering into a competition like American Idol however, is the modern day emotional equivalent of the gladiator fights in the old Roman coliseum. And there sits Simon, like the emperor, ready to determine your fate with a thumbs up or thumbs down. So how to you enter such a competition and not only survive but succeed in wowing the judges and an American audience well enough to eventually win?

In preparing for my appearance on “Idol Chat” on the TV Guide Channel, I have been watching American Idol with more scrutiny. Here are some of the errors many of the contestants have in common:

1) Going off pitch or “being pitchy” as the judges say.

2) Choosing the wrong song; this means that the song doesn’t easily permit them to sound unique. Instead of showing their own distinctive qualities as a singer, they sound like good but boring “record copies."

3) They don’t have a level of certainty vocally and as a performer to put their all into the song without being self-conscious, causing them to hold back or play it safe. This results in an uncourageous and less than fully inspirational performance.

Tough Enough for Simon

Singing before a panel of judges and a TV audience may be one of the hardest things a performer would ever have to do. The pressure alone may cause you to make vocal mistakes that would otherwise never occur. In order to withstand that pressure well, a performer needs to be confident in each aspect of their talent and not just because they tell themselves they are, but because they really are.

Are You Ready?

Winning a competition or any challenging task begins with an attitude and carrying forward with a gradient approach. That means that before you go on national TV before millions of viewers and tough judges, you must master each of the simpler earlier tasks that cumulatively add up to a great performance. You crawl before you walk; you ride a tricycle before tackling a bicycle and even then someone helps you steady it before you go off on your own. Master the simpler, earlier steps before moving on to more complex skills.

In the Idol top 24 finals, the female contestants were in general, better singers than the males. More of them gave better performances as a result. They became good singers before becoming good performers. I have observed during my 30 plus years of teaching voice, that about 70% of voice students are female. Do we see a pattern here? A higher percentage of females study and practice voice and we find the women finalists on Idol are better singers and performers.

Good Singer First

Do you have enough understanding of the voice and strong enough vocal technique to sing with good pitch and tone when you aren’t under the stress of live performance? Training in proper voice technique and practice to develop your vocal muscles needs to happen before you worry about song choice and stylistic considerations. Trying to sing a song with appropriate style before developing adequate vocal technique is like worrying about correct accent in a language where you don’t even know what the words mean – or yet, don’t even know the language.

Even these actions have many steps within them, like learning to ride a bicycle, where you do the simpler action and build it up to more complex skills. Your voice needs to be developed and your performance skills need to be sharpened. Vocal technique should allow you to come through your songs and not restrict your personality and style. Your technique is adequate when you have attained freedom of expression and can deliver a song with good tone, consistency, control and passion. Then you have to be able to do it in front of an audience. The passion in your expression must come out without creating vocal strain or off pitch, non-musical phrases.

Choosing The Right Song

You may have an excellent voice, but if you have not picked the right song, you have a big strike against you. It is tough to take a song that has become an “industry standard” and turn it into something uniquely different enough to give it your own signature. Choosing a competition song must include several factors: 1) You believe in the message of the song enough to pour your own heart and soul into it; 2) The style of the music allows you to do things with your voice that bring out the best in your tone and unique attributes; 3) It is a song that will not automatically compare you with the original artist; 4) It permits you to take chances both emotionally and vocally; 5) The song inspires you to make certain melodic and phrasing changes from the original recording while still keeping it true to style.

Having a good vocal coach is vital to accomplishing all of this and delivering a unique performance. You need to have someone who is both objective as well as knowledgeable in all the facets of how to bring out the best in your voice and performance.

Selling Your Song

Once you pick the right song, the task becomes how to really showcase your voice, be authentic and take the risks that will make this the most memorable performance your judges have heard. You need to know how to bring out the best of yourself and put it on the line.

Most successful performers develop these skills from experience over a long period of time. However, if you work on each aspect of performance as you do your voice, you’ll be able to acquire these skills faster than by trial and error.

Have you worked on the physical presentation of your performance, videoed it, reviewed and corrected it until you can look at yourself in a video and know that it is good?

Taking Command Of Your Performance

Otherwise known as stage projection or stage presence, the ability to command your performance space is an essential ingredient to your song delivery and performance success. If your attention is on yourself when you perform, you will not be able to emanate enough energy from the stage into the audience to create much impact. Conversely, extroverting your attention outward to your audience can help to give you a sense of space and certainty into which you can project emotion and your communication.

Being a dynamic performer does not necessarily mean jumping all over the stage. It does mean that you fill the performance area (rather than shrink from it) and give to your audience rather than being focused on receiving from them. I'm not saying you won't get anything back; it is just that while singing and performing, you emanate rather than receive.

Exercise To Help With Confidence And Extroversion

Believe it or not, here is an exercise that can help. When you walk down the street, say hello to people you pass. You can certainly choose not to address everyone. Just make it a point to find as many people as you can to say hello to and make sure they hear you. Then, when you’re in a store, say hello to people, say hello to the person at the cash register and find something about the person you can compliment or any other subject to start a conversation.

The point is this: Extroverting your attention and being friendly toward others will make you feel better and more comfortable with yourself. You bring this comfort and confidence with you on stage and into your performance. When you perform in front of a judge, you also need to have personal confidence and the ability to like strangers. If you shrink from them, there goes your voice and performance. You need to reach out instead. Make sense? Try it!