Karen Foley
Lynn Raye Harris
Ellen Hartman
Diana Holquist
Samantha Hunter
Shirley Jump
Dee Tenorio
Jeannie Watt
American Idol Aspirations
I can’t sing. Not one note, though I try my hardest in church, in the car, in front of my (highly embarrassed) children. That, however, doesn’t stop me from watching “American Idol” and dreaming that someday, with just the right amount of coaching (and yeah, a huge miracle and some fairy dust), maybe that could be me.
Well, except for the fact that I’m a decade past the age limit. And the whole no-talent thing. But still, I keep wishing.
I even go to karaoke bars once in a while with my husband, and imagine song choices that I’d make, if I were to go up there and belt one out. But I spare the audience the pain of my voice.
Now, before all of you say, “Oh, try it, you’re not that bad,” let me just say that I AM THAT BAD. I have heard my singing voice recorded back on tape and faced the ugly truth. Plus, there was that one time when I was a kid and sang in choir, really belted out the tune, thinking I had it DOWN, and after the performance, I ran out to my parents, so proud of my megaphone voice, and my dad said, “Yeah, it was wonderful. But there was one girl in the back who was way off key and wow, was she loud.”
Guilty.
I don’t know why the musical gene skipped me. My grandmother was a concert pianist; my mother played piano and sang. My father plays piano. My daughter plays guitar in the church worship ensemble and sings in choir. But me...well, there’s a reason I write books for a living.
Nevertheless, I keep on watching “American Idol,” with that one unfulfilled dream hanging in my mind. I watch the tryouts, feeling for those people (all but the ones who put on chicken suits), because I know what it’s like to really THINK you can sing and not know you can’t until someone points it out to you.
And to satisfy my “Idol” dreams, I’ll go on singing to myself in the privacy of my car, sparing everyone else in the world from my less than ear-friendly performances.
What about you? If you could have a creative talent, what would it be? Or have you tried out for something like this, only to realize you didn’t have the goods? If you have, know that I'll be the one in the audience whoop-whooping your efforts :-).
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I only watch it
I only watch it sporadically, if nothing else is on, or when they get down to the final ones, because I just can't take watching some of those folks get up there and crap out, though I give them credit for trying, I suppose. I also kinda like Simon and think he's right on most of the time. I actually don't like Paula A all that much - she's so simpering. At least with Simon, you know where you stand.
I only sing in the car as well, or sometimes if I'm home alone -- it's one of the many things I admire about my husband, that he's been known to belt one out while he's plugged into headphones on the treadmill or while he's listening to music, right in front of an open window during the summer so the whole street could hear. It's not that he's a good singer or a bad one, but he just doesn't care -- he has fun and lets loose and that's all there is to it, LOL.
That's SO not me.
But what would I do if I could have another creative talent? Probably not sing or dance, those things never meant much to me. I think I would like to be a master gardener -- I have gardens here that I've worked hard on, and they're pretty good gardens, very nice, even, given the limitations of money and expertise. Maybe I'll post some pics here once spring has sprung here in the Northeast. But I'd like to be able to have those Martha Stewart, estate-size rose gardens where you know every flowers name and win awards and have the pictures of your garden designs in magazines. That would be cool.
Sam
Love to garden
I love to garden! Just hate to weed If I could find an easier way to prevent the darn weeds, and keep them out of there, I'd be fine! We have these really stubborn thorny weeds here that push through the weed fabric, find about any weed killer a joke, and just keep coming back every year. They are really, really hard to get rid of. But I keep on getting out there with my flowers every year, glutton for punishment ;-)
Shirley
Singing and feeling good
LOL
LOL, Mads. I think I even scare my cats!
Truly, I write because I have no other skills. Can't even clap along in church because if I lose track of the other people and look away, I get off beat and have to start all over again. I seriously have zero musical ability. I'm even worse athletically, which is why my kids find playing b-ball with me so amusing ;-)
Shirley
Creative Talent
That's my Daughter's Area :-)
My daughter is the guitarist in our family. She's been playing with the church band since she was twelve and is quite good. I'd love to play an instrument and think I'll take lessons someday when the kids are older and I have more me time (I think I'd have to write less books a year, too, LOL).
I agree wtih you about how harsh the show is, Tessa. But these are people that want to go into it professionally and like publishing, you have to be able to take the hard knocks, too, to make it in an endeavor like that, IMO.
Shirley
New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author
In Stores Now: PRETTY BAD, Zebra Books
Check out the cool video trailer at www.shirleyjump.com or read “Eating my Words”
I understand about the show
I Wanna Dance!
hmmm
Jenna, you made me think. I don't think I'd want to be a commedienne, but I think I would have liked to try acting. TV or Stage, not movies, I don't think. Sometimes as a writer I feel a link to actors because to some degree we have to think the same way, getting into character to get our work done (What's my motivation? LOL). I saw a Tom Stoppard play, The Real Thing, and oh man, if I could, I would act opposite Henry in that play any time... Or to be able to play a part like Buffy or Bones... that would be way cool.
We also have a lot of the same struggles, actors and writers, and if you listen to actors talk about the ups and downs of their professional lives, it's a lot like what writers go through (except actors stand to make a lot more money, I think, if they hit it big).
Sam
Dancing!
I love to dance, Jenna! I'm not good at that either, but it is totally fun. Now, stand-up, I get a bit of that in when I give presentations to groups, and it's fun :-)
Shirley
New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author
In Stores Now: PRETTY BAD, Zebra Books
Check out the cool video trailer at www.shirleyjump.com or read “Eating my Words”
If I had a creative talent...
I'd want to be a writer.
LOL -seriously.
Otherwise, I'd love to be able to draw. My brother is a professional artist and I'm always in awe of his gifts. I do a lot of crafty things, right now obsessing with scrapbooking, but thats more a creative outlet than a talent.
So my creative dreams are definitely behind the scenes, rather than in front. Nothing on stage for me, I'd rather let the book get all the attention.
Being a Writer
LOL, Tawny, because more and more publishers want their authors out there, too But I hear you on the creative end! When I was younger, I could draw and can't now. My son wants to be an artist and wants me to show him how I did those things I did in middle school and high school. I tell him I'm lucky I remember where I went to high school ;-)
I have no patience with other crafts. I have a cross-stitch project I've picked up and put down a thousand times since 1981. Maybe when I'm 80, I'll finish it
Shirley