I’ve never been a big fan of Reality TV. Maybe because I know it’s not real. Or maybe I’m still bitter about Vanilla Ice stealing all my dance moves and using them to make it big. I’ve just never understood the attraction to the “reality” drama. Despite my aversion to these type entertainment offerings, I have gotten sucked into The Voice the last few seasons. I love that show. I didn’t give it a chance at first because a few years ago I watched American Idol and hated it.

I was thinking about my different feelings towards these two series. On American Idol, if someone messed up it was a free for all for the judges. Off came the gloves. The smarmy guy with the funny accent would scold them. “That was, without a doubt, undeniably, irrefutably, no question, the worst thing I have ever heard. (Pretty sure he said this every show). Your voice is horrible. Your hair is ridiculous. I don’t know how your mother could have loved you or what reason you could possibly have for getting out of bed in the morning.” The guy was just mean.

On my new obsession, The Voice, if a contestant has a bad night the judges take a different approach:

Adam Levine: “You were a little pitchy. But, you have so much potential. Keep working hard. Come back next year. One day you might win this thing.”
Miley Cyrus: “Dang, ‘yall. Just dang. I. Love! Your!! Hair!!! Dang!!!! You look so freaking awesome. Just…dang.”
Alicia Keys: “Awwwwww…..man… You were in such a space. I could feel that you were in a space. Not in outer space. But, you know. A space. Your space. My space. Our space. Wow. Yeah. Wow. I could feel you. Wow.”
Blake Shelton: “Lil’ sis, I tell you what. Couple things you can work on; but, you were having fun out there, weren’t you? Heck yeah, you were. Remember that feeling. You’ll have it again. Just keep on keeping on.”

A contestant can have a train wreck of a performance, and The Voice crew will find something nice to say. Something to give them hope. A positive message.

Some people aren’t meant to be singers. But, don’t run them down. Let them know you like their suit. Find something uplifting to say. We all have different gifts. If you haven’t figured out what yours is yet, you will. In the meantime, let it be making people feel good about themselves.

Have a great day.

P.S. (Can you Post Script a blog post?)

Getting ready for work. Just had a thought. American Idol has judges. The Voice has coaches. Be a coach not a judge. Dammit. I almost missed the point of my own writing.