Britain's Got Talent

Were you one of the ten million people who tuned in “Britain's Got Talent” last week? Were you entertained by the variety of talents on display? I know I was. I was jumping up and down in my chair to see new and different talents that haven't been given the chance to be showcased in a prime TV slot in front of millions for over a decade; finally the art of variety is back. Don't get me wrong I am a fan of programmes like "Any Dream Will Do" and "X-Factor" but this programme to me was a breath of fresh air as finally people had a chance to shine that haven't had that chance in any other show.

In recent years on TV we have been obsessed with having talent shows which are all about one style of act whether that be singing or acting and for years we have been obsessed with having to find someone that can go on and make millions of pounds. Finally in this show it wasn't about finding someone who they could make millions off ok the winner got £100,000 it was about finding somebody with a skill that the public enjoyed to watch. Many people have talents and skills that they know they aren't going to make money off of but it doesn't make that talent any less special or that they shouldn't be given the same platform to showcase it.

The programme also showed a true wide range of people unlike some talents shows and for once they were from a real cross section of our communities in the UK who made it on to the final shows. The programme wasn't just about their talent it was about where they came from and how they got their which is just as important as the talent that they showcase. It's their inspiring stories that can make a difference as much as their talents. They found some really extraordinary people and extraordinary stories which I hope encourage other people to fulfill their dreams and to try new things. Hopefully by watching the programme people thought, hang about it's not what about my talent actually it is it's about how good I am at it, how I present it and how much I love doing it. Whether it be tidily-winks or football a talents a talent regardless of what it's in and one talent is no more important or better than another. We need to appreciate everyone for their talents no matter how wild and wacky they are.

The only downside to this programme was that it was only people who had a talent that could be conveyed well on TV that could get on. There are millions of people around the world who have talents and skills but these can't be presented well on TV so they are still flying under the radar. So I think we need to find a way of getting people will skills that can't be conveyed in an entertaining way for TV some exposure.
It's like if you are the UK's top business man, UK's most intelligent,
UK best counsellor and so on. All of these are talents that people have to work hard for and deserve the same amount of respect and appreciation as the skills and talents that were showcased on the
programme.

I can't wait for the next series and I was so proud of the amount of diverse talents the youngsters of today have. I hope everyone that went on to the show has used it as a learning experience and will go on to even bigger and better things. Just want to say a big well done to everyone that entered and if you didn't enter why not enter next time. Work on a talent or find a new talent and fill out the application form. Even if you entered this time round by why not enter the next series now you have a step up on the competition with one series worth of experience under your belt you could be the next “Britain's got Talent” champion and perform in front of the Queen.


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

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com/

The Apprentice

Tonight (13/07) sees the finale in the UK of the third series of the popular Apprentice series in which sixteen hopefuls have battled it out in what is called the job interview from hell to gain the six figure contract and the job of being Sir Alan Sugar's apprentice.

We are down to the final two, one being a Cambridge educated Internet entrepreneur Simon Ambrose and the other Pharmaceuticals Sale Manager Kristina Grimes. Both of who have given up their lives and careers in the hope that they would be the last one standing and achieve this life changing opportunity.

The show is designed to bring out the ruthless streak in all the contestants as they are put in to direct conflict with the others in order to save themselves and their own chance of winning in this game of survival. The contestants are picked for the show based on how entertaining they are going to be on TV as at the end of the day this is what it is an entertainment TV programme which needs to bring in ratings. There would be no show and nobody watching if everyone got on happily with each other.

Now say what you will about the show as I know it has its critics who do have very just and correct points about the show but in many ways I am all for it. If to work for Sir Alan Sugar or to work in international business is your dream then going on the show is a very achievable way of making it happen. Many of the contestants have sacrificed high paying jobs and great careers for the opportunity which shows their dedication. It's one thing going on a TV programme if you are in a job you hate or aren't currently in work but to give up something you have been working towards your whole life for this opportunity shows great strength of character to do.

Regardless of who wins or loses most of the candidates will have learnt invaluable skills through the programme and be more equipped to deal with stressful situations, teamwork and being able to go out of their comfort zone. Not many situations in their life will test them to the limits that the Apprentice has and sometimes in order to achieve great things we need to be tested to see how much we want something or how good we really are.

Going on this programme the contestants have sacrificed their own privacy with some candidates now being the subject of attention for many tabloids and magazines but for the contestants to be willing to do this in order to achieve their dreams shows great courage. For all of the contestants that have been eliminated now is the time for the real graft as they use the Apprentice experience and exposure to forge careers for themselves and that's what is so great about a programme like this as it can open up so many opportunities to people that they wouldn't have had if they hadn't gone on the show. Hopefully now the contestants can use the spark of being on the Apprentice and now use that power to go on and achieve even greater things.

To get you in the mood for the Apprentice final we have an interview with Apprentice series 2 star Jo Cameron about her time on the show and what the programme has done for her. So to find out her views and what she has been up to since the programme go to:

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.com/experts/index.php?page=article&id=29

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

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com/

Camp America

This month will set a lot of young people from across the globe start of adventures of a life time. After a year of hard graft at college or university many people will now be gearing up for their gap year, for a backpacking trip across Europe or to work abroad in programmes like the Camp America programme which sends young skilled and adventurous people across to America to work at Children’s summer camps.

For many young people this will be a life changing experience as they survive away from their parents’ home or their student digs for the first time. They will get to learn about new cultures, meet new people, see new sights, have new experiences and learn more about themselves than they ever thought possible. They will be getting an education that you can’t learn in a classroom and getting memories that will keep with them for the rest of their life.

I myself went through Camp America and ended up working at a camp called Kenmont Kenwood Camps in Connecticut USA. This was the first time I had ever been away from home or away from my parents for more than a week; it was the first time that I had gone abroad by myself. I was put in a situation which tested my personal skills and encouraged me to learn more. I had to put myself out there and get to know and make friends with people I had never met before. I had to learn how the camp was run and learn how to be the best counsellor I could possibly be.

I was put in a situation of great responsibility and greeted with situations that nothing could prepare me for but at no time in my life have I learnt so much or developed so much in nine weeks. That experience gave me so much confidence and so much energy that I don’t think I could have got anywhere else. I came home a changed a man and a changed man for the better from my experiences and I came back with a book full of friends and contacts from all corners of the globe who I still keep in contact with to this day. No words can describe the magic, the feeling and the experience that is camp.

I am now an interviewer for Camp America and enjoy giving back and helping young people across the country secure the summer of their dreams. I would recommend to anybody that really wants to challenge themselves and to experience all this world has to offer to do a work or study abroad programme. Working at an American Summer Camp can turn the shyest person in to the loudest and most outgoing and can turn the most dependent person in to the most independent person.

If you want to have an experience that will change your life log on to http://www.campamerica.co.uk and find out more about arranging the summer of your life. The application season for this summer has now finished but you can start gearing up for summer 2008.

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

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com/

Big Brother

Many people across the UK will be glued to their TV screens tonight (30.05.07) as we see the launch of yet another series of Big Brother. Everyone will be waiting to see if anybody they know has got in to the show as people are plucked from obscurity and thrust in to the limelight to spend time in a house in front of millions of TV viewers.

The argument with reality TV shows like Big Brother that I like to ask is this: Is the show more about the TV company using people to get good viewing ratings or about the contestants using the show to get famous? I think it is a bit of both which is a very dangerous mixture as it means you have people that are willing to do anything to get famous and a show that is willing to exploit that hunger for fame at any opportunity.

I personally commend anybody that goes on that show as you have to be very brave to give up your job, your friends, your family, your privacy and your life for the time that you are in the house. If you are willing to sacrifice all of this for fame then you are a truly motivated person. The problem comes when people think they are strong enough to deal with anything that comes their way as a result of the show get out of the house and back in to reality to find that they can’t cope with it. If you win the show or are able to get enough notoriety to be offered work after the show then you may see it as a sacrifice that was worth making but what happens to the people who don’t. For the ones that don’t it then becomes very hard for them to find work as everyone knows them as so and so off Big Brother and no run of the mill companies will employ them.

I think if you can go in the house and beat the producers at their own game by making a future for yourself out of it without becoming one of the top hated people in the country then you have achieved something great. The only problem is that now with producers trying anything to create controversy no matter what game plan you go in with its going to be very hard to achieve those things and not be a pawn in their game.

The show is really a test of who the strongest people and showing how strong you are. If you can survive being watched twenty four hours a day with people that have been put in the house with you deliberately to clash with you and with situations that have been created to cause controversy, without if affecting the way you behave and the way you act then you have a very strong character.

I think Channel 4 or the production company need to do more for the contestants in the way of support as well as counselling before and after the show as for the time they are on the show they are just used as pawns to create ratings and there is only so long you can do that for or only so hard you can push someone before one day something very terrible is going to happen on reality TV as they continue to play a dangerous game of “top this” with every series trying to do something more controversial than the next. There has to one day come a point where you can’t go any further.

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

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com/

Cheating

Right about now up and down the country many school college and university students will be either sweating to get their essays and dissertations in by deadline or they will be sweating on the results of work they have already handed in which could have an impact on their future. The question many people have asked over the years is how many students have actually sweated and worked hard and how many have used unethical means, plagiarism or have brought essays from the Internet.

The Internet has been a great tool for education and the advancement of information. The Internet has impacted the way we learn on all levels from how information is presented and how it can be accessed. Gone are the days when if you were ill you had to have work sent home now you can go online and do your homework and coursework online with the aid of audio, videos and online tests.

On the contrasting side the internet making information more easily available has meant that young people up and down the country with little or no effort have been able to stumble across essays and extracts and have given in to the temptation of copying the information and passing it off as their own so they can go out with their mates or watch TV. With the level of cheating going on the teachers haven’t been able to cope and many students have been getting marks for work which was not theirs.

This week search engine Google have made a stance against this by banning adverts for essay writing services on their search engine which is a huge step in the battle to combat plagiarism and the using of other peoples work on the internet.

Young people may think that if they get away with it then it doesn’t cause a problem but the far reaching and long term effects is where the real danger lies. Unfortunately in life there are no short cuts and when you leave school when times get hard you have to be ready to graft to keep a roof over your head, to pay the bills and in time support a family. By letting young people get away with cheating we are not giving them the right building blocks that they need for their development.

The big problem with cheating is that if you cheat say on your University Dissertation and you then decide to get a job in the field of your study they will expect you to have the knowledge and the skills equivalent to your grade. With graduate jobs companies expect you to have that high level of knowledge and expertise as the job demands it and you will soon be found out if you don’t possess these. A good University grade may help you get a job but if you haven’t done all the work you needed to do to earn that grade you are not going to keep that job for long and a CV which has you moving jobs every month or so does not look good to future employers.

I understand that there is a lot of pressure put on young people today to succeed with this pressure only getting more intense but if you can show the strength to deal with this and not be swayed in to cheating it will set you up for life. If you are struggling ask for help it takes a great inner strength to admit your own failings and you will only feel stronger because of the experience. Just remember that nothing is impossible or to hard to overcome you just have to put yur mind to it and have the dedication to see it through.

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

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com/

Eurovision Song Contest

Did you join the ten million people in the UK who watched the yearly phenomenon that is the Eurovision Song contest? Again the competition was filled with unusual costumes, routines and presenting but most importantly an array of talented young people. All of this was of course coupled with a vote which was based more on geography, history and politics than the talent they actually saw on screen.

In a fair and just world it would be the most talented act that would win every time but the voting you see on the programme represents the state of the world, where it's not always the best people that win or get the best rewards. The world would be a great and easy place if it was always the most talented and deserving people that finished first all the time but that doesn't mean that talent and belief can't get you to where you need to be in the world.

No matter how fair or unfair the world is no one will ever know if they are the most talented person in their field or industry. The pop act that are number one in the charts are the act that have sold the most singles or downloads that week. The world’s fastest sprinter is only the world’s fastest sprinter because someone was there with a stop watch and recorded it he didn’t beat everyone in his division in a race. To add to this you have to think about the people who haven't got recording contracts or haven't competed in an athletic event as there are many people with amazing talents who either don't get the breaks at the right time or pursued their talent. Then there are the people who have talents that they don't know about.

After reading that you may be feeling a bit of doom and gloom but to be armed with this information is a positive thing as by knowing these facts you should start pushing harder not just to be better than the people you are in competition with but to have your own personal competition to keep bettering yourself and to not stop. You should always be looking for new challenges and not stay in the box in which you or your industry has been defined.

Going back to the Eurovision there has been a lot of press this week saying that countries should pull out of the competition because it is deemed not winnable. Now yes granted the competition isn't based on talent but it doesn't mean we should pull out of it. I think instead we should enter talented young acts that need experience of working in front of a crowd or being on TV. UK's entry Scooch may have come back home with an appalling point score but they have gained the experience of performing at the competition, been seen by millions around the world, are now featured on a Eurovision CD and DVD and have had major press attention in the UK. Before the Eurovision it may have been Scooch who but they now have a platform to do even greater things from.

Even if you think you have no chance of winning a competition or you think that the competition is not winnable you shouldn't not enter. The entering of the competition and the experience of competing is what we gain from it. A lot of the time we learn more from losing than winning. If you feel like you can't win then start competing with yourself and pushing yourself to give the best performance you can and to learn as much from the experience as possible.

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

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com/

Known Talent

Following hot off the heels of the “Unknown Talent” series of blogs this week we have decided to turn our attention to talented young people who are already gaining wide attention for their achievements.

This week one of the top youngsters bagging all the headlines in the UK has to be Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo. Say what you want about some of his actions and behaviour on and off the pitch but last weekend this precocious twenty two year old showed what a talented young person can do if given the chance as he played an important part in their win over Manchester City which proved to be the decisive victory as his side Manchester United clinched the Premier League title.

When talented young people are thrust in to the limelight because of their extraordinary skills they quickly find themselves under a lot of pressure with legions of fans and legions of people that take a dislike to them. On top of this they are immediately cast as role models for the youth of today. Some young people can deal with this and have the maturity and character to handle all the aspects that go along with the life they have been given because of their skills but some young people only have their skills and don’t have the ability to deal with the other aspects.

If the talent or dream you want to pursue is going to see you thrust in to the limelight you have to not only worry about your skills being up to scratch you have to make sure you are ready to deal with life in the limelight. I know the limelight is something which is really hard to prepare for because until you have lived that life you can never fully appreciate what you are getting yourself in for. Their have been many talented people who have had the talent to compete and perform at the highest levels but haven’t had the personal skills to deal with the pressure or the lifestyle so if you have an amazing talent make sure you are ready not to throw it away.

Now going back to the issue of young people being role models. Many young people find it hard to be role models as whilst they are asking to be role models they are still developing and exploring their own character and their lifestyle so I think it is very hard to ask every talented young person to be a positive role model but we as a world need as many as we can get. I’m not saying don’t look up to other talented young people or not to be inspired or to have heroes but remember just because you appreciate the talent they have it doesn’t mean you have to live the lifestyle or act just like them. Use their abilities to inspire you, to learn from and to drive you but remember when you make it, it’s going to be your job to inspire the youth of today and tomorrow.

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

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com/