Cuppacafe

The career making moment

by Walt Posted on Apr 22, 2008 under American Idolize |

Some people go their whole lives without crossing the one threshold that sets them apart from the rest of their peers. This is fine for many people, as there’s a kind of stage fright that occurs when you realize that everyone is hanging on your every nuance, your every meaning…

But then there are others that seek the spotlight. They never find their moment.

But perhaps you do try to reach out, to do something that sets you apart from yourself.

You may surprise yourself, doing something so important that you realize later that what you did surpasses everything you have ever done before. Perhaps not to yourself, though. You can take a private memory, either good or bad, and that’s YOUR private excellence, but we’re not talking about how you view yourself here. We’re talking about how others view you, how perhaps you’ve just changed the way that everyone sees you.

Like I said, not everyone gets that kind of moment. But I witnessed one today, and figured I’d share it with you.

Chances are, you witnessed it too, if you watch American Idol.

And now that I’ve said that, perhaps you can also guess who I’m talking about.

Even if you don’t watch American Idol, here’s your chance to hear an Andrew Lloyd Webber song sung on national TV that just made a young woman’s career. She may not win the show — but now that she’s had this moment, she will never go back to ignominy. She’s won a career for herself, based on just this one performance.

Up until now, Syesha has been just getting by in the competition, being good without standing out, and that’s typical of many of the also rans in this TV show, but take a great song and perform it like she’s been doing it all season long on the Broadway stage and you’ve got someone that shows serious appeal. This is what sets her apart from the rest of those that have gone on to lose American Idol (and no, I don’t believe she’ll win the whole thing) but as several contestants have proven, you can lose American Idol and still go on to a better than average career.

So the song I’ll show you now isn’t as great as the best song ever sung, but that’s not the point I’m trying to make.

What this performance did was change everyone’s perceptions of this performer, and how much it changed them. It changed Syesha’s future.