Miming

Britney Spears has launched a press and PR assault on the UK this weekend with an appearance on X-Factor and a 90 minute supposed bare all interview which was broadcast on Sky One this week. People should be talking about her new album which she is here to promote but this week many people have been left talking about her alleged miming on her so called live performance of here new track “Womanizer.”

People have been miming for years and this isn’t a new thing for music artists to do but when big names do it, it gets headlines. This week I ask when is miming acceptable and even is it acceptable at all? Should TV companies and music companies be doing more to make sure they perform live? And should we be told before an act performs if they are live or miming?

When people pay to see a concert are they paying for a show? Are they paying for entertainment? Or are they paying to see the act perform live? Now I can slightly understand if you are going on to a TV show at last minute and they can’t set the audio production up properly for you that you wouldn’t want to go on live. With sites like YouTube if you give a bad performance its going to be plastered all over the internet and through one performance could ruin your image but when it comes to concerts you play in venues which are designed for gigs and in which you have the whole day to set up and do sound checks so to me there is no excuse for miming at a gig.

When an act goes on to a TV show to do an interview and a performance do you just see this as a promotion / an advert for the music or should it be held in the same position as a performance at a gig? With a TV show no fan or member of the general public has paid anything to hear you sing live so is it acceptable not to?

You play a dangerous game when you mime and try and pass it off as a live performance. If you youtube Ashlee Simpson and Saturday Night Live you will see what I mean as on live TV her track started before she was ready and within a few seconds left the stage in embarrassment. Or if like Britney you have one of these headset mics and then when you have to be interviewed after the performance the interviewer has to put their mic in your face. As much as a bad performance can be bad for your image getting caught miming can be equally as bad just ask Ashlee Simpson.

The whole miming side of the music industry helps reinforce the belief that many people have that pop stars can’t sing and all there stuff is just edited to sound good. This is a reason why I think more needs to be done to make people perform live because as long as people continue to mime people will continue to have these thoughts.

I think the problem lies in the overproduction of tracks when they are released. When an artist can go in to a recording studio and spend days just recording one song and record it in small chunks having hundreds of attempts of course it is going to sound a bit different when you have one take to belt it out live. I think the quality of the production of some of these tracks makes it near impossible for some acts to recreate live and this puts them off performing live.

Britney picked the worst show to do a mime on as the show is all about people who have none or very little professional training performing live every week and this is what has brought this in to the headlines. If Britney had mimed on a daytime TV programme I don’t think there would have been as much talk about it.

What do you think about singers who mime on stage? Do you think it should be stopped? Or do you just want to be entertained and not care if the act is miming or not? We want to know your view points on miming and you can share your views by joining in our topic of the week:

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=617

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"
”Shaking up the Youth of Today”

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

Delivering on Talent

In this week’s blog I want to talk about a situation every young person wanting to achieve something with their life will experience the moment they have to deliver on their talent. Whether it is a trial, an audition, an exam or a job interview everyone will have a situation where the time for talking and practising is over and where they have to show they are better than all the competition.

I got thinking about this subject this week because X-Factor is starting to reach the business end and because last weekend the football team I help coach kicked off their league campaign.

In X-factor before the weekend they had whittled it down from the first auditions and now all the hopefuls had one more chance to sing one more song and based on those couple of minutes would learn if they were going through to the next round. They had all been put their because the judges thought they had talent but if they didn’t deliver in those few minutes then it was all for nothing. Not giving a good performance wouldn’t mean they didn’t have talent but it would mean they hadn’t delivered on their talent. Being on TV in a situation like that the nation judges you at home on if they think you are good or not they don’t take in to account if you are having a bad day or if that song wasn’t suited to you as they don’t really know how talented you are or could be as they only see you for those brief minutes.

Now delivering on talent is a lot different in competitive sports especially team sports. In this situation delivering on your talent depends on a lot of factors including the opposition, your team mates, your tactics etc. As coaches we believe our team is good but it’s not until others see your performances and see your results that they will judge where you stand. It’s like we took our team to a tournament which was for children in the age group above our team but we wanted to test them. In that tournament we didn’t get any points and looking at the results some people would say they weren’t talented but the experience we got from that tournament helped us to win our first game of the season 2 – 0.

When trying to work out if someone is talented or not you can’t judge them on one performance or a few minutes. Talent is relative as just because you are the best at something in your local area it doesn’t necessarily mean you are better than somebody from another county as the competition in that area may be a lot higher. So if you are in a football team and you finish second in a very competitive league you may be better than a team that wins the league at an easier standard of football.

So just remember success isn’t always based on talent but you can use your talent to achieve great things. Like talent success is relative, if you want to achieve great things and push your talent to the furthest is can go you have to challenge yourself as winning a football match against a team which aren’t anywhere near as good as your team it doesn’t teach you anything or help improve your game but losing to a better team can help teach you things that will make you a better player and a better team.

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"
”Shaking up the Youth of Today”

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

What is Talent?

In the UK millions of people are getting caught up in the second series of Britain’s Got Talent. After a successful first series and after the concept being sold to TV networks across the globe the UK’s thirst for TV talent shows still remains. For those that don’t know anything about the show it’s a talent competition with the winner getting the chance to perform in front of royalty at The Royal Variety Show (wonder what winners in other countries win?)

The series has got me thinking and has been a subject of many conversations I have been having recently. The show brings up the question of what is talent? The show has no limits and is just about people performing in front of the judges which has meant we have seen some weird and wacky people and talents on display from people breaking things over other peoples bodies to people re-enacting theatre whilst using a bouncy castle as their stage.

The next question it raises is what level or standard do you have to be at something to be considered talented? Many people have claimed to be able to say what talent is and what standard you have to be at to be considered talented but I don’t think it’s that simple as talent is something very subjective.

I think it’s hard in a show like this to say who is the most talented as I think you can only say who is the best performer. Contestants only get a minute or so to perform one act to the judges in order to progress to the next round. With this set up I think it is possible for people who may not be so-called talented but who are able to perform brilliantly to give that illusion. It’s like someone may not be a great singer but can perfect one song which they have been working on for years and go in and impress the judges.

The show as well as showcasing the best of our country also promotes the worst side of our society by encouraging the live audience to boo off any act they don’t like. It’s like a pack, one starts jeering and they all join in getting some pleasure out of watching someone break down or go off stage. In this country people seem to be ridiculed for being different or standing out for actually having the guts to try something. I have got a lot of respect for anyone that goes on shows like this and gives it a go as it is not the easiest thing to do.

So going back to what is talent? To me talent is something that people dedicate themselves to and show that they can do better or different than other people and who are always improving and wanting to improve.

Have you got on opinion on what talent is? Then why not get involved in our topic of the week and give us your thoughts by going to:

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=428

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com