Not a Performer

On February 10 2012, I decided to enter the WVU Faculty Staff Talent Show and sing a couple of songs for a lark. I made the mistake of scheduling myself to teach a half day workshop and an hour long webinar that day - my voice was shattered by evening.

For the performance itself, I found myself facing a bank of bright lights and the audience was totally dark. This was NOT the way the room had been set up for rehearsal 2 days earlier. Everyone else's video introduction played - they had technical errors with mine. I should have stopped singing after one song (at least it would have been over with sooner).

We only had 10 contestants and I did not make it into the top 5. Only the top 3 got prize baskets. When the college student judges emailed me feedback 3 weeks later, I deleted the email without opening it and emptied the trash.

Instead of signing up for a singing/performance class with my buddies at Irish Week, I decided to stick with the Set Dance class instead. I will still join them for song circle in the evenings (maybe not EVERY evening) and sing one song if I get a turn. But that will not be a performance, rather a sharing in a community of singers as opposed to performing for an invisible audience and a table full of judges.