American Idol & Vocal Coaching

I seem to write my best posts when a few thousand feet in the air from my IPad. I think I will start with the events on Thursday Jan. 31^st, 2014. It started with one of our Fox network contacts asking if a few of us #IdolTweethearts  could basically come “now”.  Earlier in the week us gals pitched some ideas to the Fox people, and apparently they did more than take us seriously, they wanted us back down in LA.   For the past six weeks we have been working to show American Idol that we can be a relevant group of women.  A few of us have gone to bat for the whole team.  It’s been a bit of a lifestyle high for me.  I have promised, upon writing this, I will not disclose any spoilers. Thus the date of writing and posting will be a couple of weeks apart.

Here is about 20 minutes of a day behind the scenes. For those who watch the show and tear up, imagine sitting in and watching the show being made. Let’s just say it is no secret I am a big cry baby. Can you imagine how hard it was for me to sniff back the tears as I watched this filming moment. I actually may get my foot in on the show. As the camera was moving around I swear the camera man caught my foot.

Michael Orland is the Associate Music Director for American Idol. Dorian Holley was not only a back up vocalist with Michael Jackson during the Bad World Tour in 1987, he now works with American Idol.  We have seen both these men in past shows coaching the contestants with music arrangements.  It was amazing to sit and listen to them give direction on how to sing the octaves related to one word in the entire song. Like a mad scientist scratching notes and keys on the pages of possibly the next American Idol.

There is a keyboard and a mic and this young talent busting out a song. Starting and stopping. There is no sound guy mixing it up. This is raw unedited talent. And I just want to sit and listen. This contestant is one of the top 30.  At this moment  I could be listening to the next American Idol. The vocals , transitions, and passion behind her voice go right from my ears and to my heart.  Even if the camera’s were not rolling I would still have been speechless. Actually I had to be speechless with the camera’s rolling.

American Idol set out to do more to grow and build the vocals of these contestants.  I am sitting here forgetting where I am, and who I am. Listening and lost in this voice.  Experiencing within a few feet the talent that is about to light up network TV. The thought that this young talent could be that next American Idol is surreal.   I am just a middle age mom  from The Dalles, OR who saw an opportunity and ran with it inviting others along.  That young girl taking direction from Michael Orland.   I am in awe to be here. Meg & Emily, two of the IdolTweethearts also moms like me. We are quiet, listening and watching. Why am I sitting here? I am not being paid. I was not hired or commissioned for this project? I asked. I asked that we, the IdolTweethearts be given more opportunities like this. That we can help tell these kinds of stories. We can invite others to come along and begin to expand the stories and tell our own. The right of passage, for me was earned through simply asking and inviting others to come along.  American Idol and the 100’s of people making this show happen are trusting the IdolTweethearts  with our cameras and our words.

The hashtag #ThisIsReal resonates for me. I look at this precious talent and can see in her eyes a deep soulful embrace of the lyrics. A determination to sing that single word over and over until it’s perfect.  There is something deeper.  This contestant  in this room, standing at the mic and being coached. I wonder if she is thinking that Carrie Underwood, Chris Daughtrey, Adam Lambert were all in this place. I may never step up to that mic and be coached by Michael Orland & Dorian Holley but that day I watched as raw unedited talent  being grown to new levels, pitches and talent; I sat in awe.  And then I sat at the keyboard.

What does it mean to be #IdolTweethearts. It started as a great way to connect a small handful of women on the same journey to Hollywood in December of 2013. It has turned into a respectful and honorable place among American Idol. Growing the passions we have around the contestants, people, music, and the stories we are invited into. If you would like to follow our stories, be sure to check in on our fan page, Twitter @IdolTweethearts and all that good stuff.  My journey is meant to be shared.

When a window of opportunity is opened I am climbing through it and leaving it opened that others may follow. #SavvySocialTip