You can tell someone how awesome they are every day, but if you never tell them the things they need to work on, they will never grow; not as an entertainer, not as a person. Stroking one’s ego doesn’t do an individual any good. To act like they have no faults, nothing they need to fix, is delusional and unrealistic. No one is perfect. I don’t care if you’ve been performing for over a decade, there is always something you can improve on.
People are too quick to jump on the “it was rigged” or “they were picking on me” soapbox if things don’t turn out the way they wanted them to. And of course, their friends immediately jump on the bandwagon, “The judges suck… their comments just prove their own insecurities… you’re amazing.” None of which are necessarily true. When you lose a competition, any competition, it just means that someone that night was better than you. It doesn’t mean you suck. It does, however, mean that there are things you need to work on. Even the winner will have things that weren’t perfect. If you take the judges’ feedback and ignore it, it means you have no desire to become a better performer. And the friends that keep telling you that you’re awesome and don’t need to change anything just aren’t being honest with you. They’re telling you what you want to hear….. and you’re soaking it all up.
I don’t care if you’re a king, a queen, femme, live singer, actor, actress, comedian or the guy who makes the donuts. You are NOT perfect. Listen to the constructive criticism, accept that you may not be as good as your mommy or daddy thinks you are, and better yourself. You cannot get better as an entertainer if the only thing you want to listen to is the “oh my god you’re so awesome” feedback. The honest critiques are where you learn. If you don’t want to learn, you will never be more than you are. So while mommy, daddy, your best friend, your uncle and your Aunt Jemimah all tell you how amazing you are, maybe the ones you should be listening to are the ones who don’t have to worry about hurting baby’s feelings. Seriously. Grow up. You are not five. You should be able to take criticism without immediately resulting to bitching, complaining, name calling and pouting. Especially on a public forum like facebook or twitter where people who could potentially book you can see what you say. By crying about results or the judges or the fact that you didn’t win, I guarantee you’ve lost at least 3 people who could have booked you for a show. Judges are not here to coddle you, they’re here to push you, to challenge you, to force you to take a look at parts of yourself that aren’t quite up to par yet.
If you are not at a place where you can accept criticism and critique, then maybe you should rethink the whole ‘entertainer’ thing, and you should definitely rethink the whole ‘competition’ thing. You’re not ready. You want to live in your happy little bubble where everyone gives the baby what it wants.
Welcome to the real world! Yes, you will be judged.