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I've been watching The Voice, and have seen a couple of crazy eliminations, not to mention, I lost out on a writing contest myself recently. (I truly was robbed, and I won't go into specifics. It was not a fair contest. The judge purposely withheld deadline information, that's all I will say.)
It got me to thinking.... some of the greatest talents of our time have been robbed in the past. Either someone deliberately did them wrong, the judge had a lapse of judgement, or maybe the timing of the Universe just wasn't right. Even during the Blind Auditions on The Voice, the judges said more than once about various singers, "Damn, I wish I would've turned around" or "I have no idea why I didn't turn around."
There are also some entertainers who lost legitimately early in their careers and later went on to have a fantastic run in their field of entertainment, and are still around, whereas the person who "won" was never heard from again.
Can you guys think of any famous examples of either one of those?
A famous recent one is probably Jennifer Hudson. She was eliminated early on American Idol. I never saw who she was up against, because I've never watched the show. So I can't say if she was "robbed".... but obviously, no one in that format was able to recognize what a multi-talent they had on their hands.
there are tons and tons of examples. Fred Astaire was told his hair was receeding too much and his dance moves sucked, ironically, in early auditions. George Strait was rejected, he was told wearing a cowboy hat and just singing without "moving" on stage was corny and nobody want to see his act. Those are just two off the top of my head
Talent is not the "be all and end all"....it's who you know, and when you know them! Timing is everything!
Most "stars" aren't more talented than others...they were just in the right place at the right time. There is really no 100% failproof formula for stardom!
Talent is not the "be all and end all"....it's who you know, and when you know them! Timing is everything!
Most "stars" aren't more talented than others...they were just in the right place at the right time. There is really no 100% failproof formula for stardom!
Yep. I remember, years back, working for a famous record company that would develop a 'star' by various promotional schemes. They would also sign on new talent that sounded similarly to the 'star' and deliberately not promote them, thereby keeping the competition off the scene. The new kids had contracts that required the company's approval for any move they made, and so their careers were frozen for however long the contract ran.
I remember the 'stars' getting a certain percent of sales on each record sold, and some country singers, selling just as well as the 'stars'(and better than some) making a half or a third or sometimes less. The country singers just had bad or corrupt managers.
It was all done legally.
So, it's so very important that a person gets a good manager who knows the business and going rates and is not corrupt. It's a crap shoot, sometimes, if you get such a person.
I'm now reminded of this one woman years ago on Star Search - this would have to be the very early '90s... possibly very late '80s. I want to say her name was Anita something? Her name started with an "A" if I can remember correctly (maybe I'm wrong). She had a very long run on Star Search in the vocal category. She won every single week, and I think ended her time on Star Search completely undefeated. She was a thin, pretty black woman, long hair.
I never heard of her ever making any sort of mark in the music business. Star Search was the last I ever heard of her.
Funny how people such as that can never be heard from again, and then there is the opposite end of the spectrum - the people who lose out miserably on those kinds of shows, and later go on to be very famous. What's funny is, maybe at that particular time when they bombed out, they really DID suck. They just hadn't honed their skills yet.
Just kind of funny to think about. Maybe some people working toward success in entertainment need to be weary of wins. I'm willing to bet that some people who had major victories early on in their career, such as a Grand Champion prize on Star Search, get sort of calm and satisfied. It causes them to lose the "fire," because they suddenly think they're "all that," or they figure that everything will suddenly be handed to them because hey... they won on Star Search. Everyone can clearly see how talented they are.. right? And of course, that backfires. Or they go elsewhere and continue their streak of rejection, and it messes with their head, because they think, 'Hey, didn't Star Search just tell me how great I was?'
On the other hand, the "losers" probably use their loss as further motivation to step up their game. They take the constructive criticism/advice they're given from the judges to heart and use it to improve themselves. Or maybe they're treated really badly by judges and decide to use it as motivation to prove those people wrong.
I think there are blessings and curses in both wins AND losses. The adversity and rejections don't stop because you win, and the journey isn't over because you lose.
To keep in time with the thread.... Luther Vandross comes to mind now. He was booed by the Apollo Theater audience, then obviously went on to be nominated for a Grammy for Best New Artist and have an amazing career.
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