Confidence
You've been sitting at your table, sipping a glass of liquid courage, and waiting patiently. Singer after singer has gone up there and done a fine job. Then, finally, the KJ is on the microphone and you hear your name. Now is the time.As you stand up and start to walk to the stage, you try to remember what song you put down. Oh yeah, now you remember, how could you forget. But are you ready? Do you really know the song, or are you going to stumble through it? Now you start to get a little nervous. You're not usually nervous. But you're going up there anyway. Why, because tonight is the night you decided to enter your first contest. Tonight it counts. Tonight it means something. So if you're going up there as a contestant in a contest, now is not the time to be second guessing yourself. On the other hand, if you have been practicing and rehearsing your song then you would have confidence. And confidence is what helps to calm the nerves.
In some ways nerves are a good thing. It's what keeps you on your toes, keeps you focused. But being overly nervous can show and actually detract from your performance. So what is best? Nervous or not nervous? Actually, it's usually best to be a little nervous because as I said before, it will put you in a state of hyper consciousness and probably get you to do your best job.
As the music starts you look out at the crowd that is now staring right at you. They're staring at you because they genuinely want to hear what you have to offer. And this is one thing that is somewhat unique about contests, you usually get just about everyone's attention. As the music ends and the crowd goes wild, you smile and realize that it feels good. It feels good because you know you did a really good job. There wasn't need to be so nervous, because you had confidence. You had confidence in knowing that you know your song frontwards and backwards, because you practiced your karaoke at home. And it shows. You may not win, but you know that you put your best foot forward and you now have a reason to be proud. So stand up and Sing Out Loud.
