「故事·听力」My First Singing Performance Was a DISASTER

My First Singing Performance Was a DISASTER

This is Amy, and her first singing performance was such a disaster that she couldn’t sing for a month after it!

Amy started singing when she was very young. At first she would just sing at home, and her parents soon noticed and signed her up for vocal lessons. The only person who disliked her singing was her younger brother, but she didn’t care. She took lessons for many years, and she regularly practiced at home.  And because of all her hard work, she became quite good at it! Strangely enough, she never sang in public. But then one day, a small talent show was organised at her school, so of course she decided to participate, because it was finally time to show her skills to everyone! So for the next month she practiced extra hard! And finally, the day of the show came. Amy was very nervous, but she was one hundred percent ready to give it all she had! So she went out onstage, confident in her abilities and herself, and stood in front of the audience. The music started and then...nothing. She looked at the people in the audience, opened her mouth, but nothing came out except this weird “ugh” noise.  It happened in front of the entire school… Amy tried to start singing several times, but every time she couldn’t make so much as the smallest sound...after a minute, she ran off the stage crying. Later, her parents asked what happened, but she didn’t know what to say, she had just got...scared. For the whole of the following week she spent most of her time in her room, reliving the moment again and again. Everyone in her school had witnessed her failure. Her parents tried to have a talk with her, but there was nothing she could say except “I’m a failure”. Her voice coach tried to call her, but she didn’t answer, because she felt like she had wasted all of her time on nothing. One day, her younger brother came into her room and said “so, why are you upset? You never cared what I thought, what’s the deal now?” She was so angry at him, but honestly, he was right, and she thinks he was actually trying to support her the best way he could.Amy loved singing, so why should she give up after just one failure? She talked to her parents and her singing coach, and she soon started practicing again. At first, she tried singing in front of a camera and then showed it to people she knew. She did it and everybody liked it; they cheered her on, and she realized that she had to push even further. Amy asked her coach if there was any way she could help. She explained that because Amy didn’t have any experience with singing in front of big audiences, she wasn’t used to it, so she was afraid of failure. But failure is a part of the learning process; nobody is perfect and it’s very difficult to be successful on your first try. So her coach had this idea: instead of just practicing in the office, she needed “experience in the field”. She sometimes sang in restaurants with a band, and she suggested that Amy join her – like, as backing vocals. So they practiced songs together, and after a week or two, Amy went to the restaurant with her. She stood at the back, and the spotlight was on her tutor, so it was easy for her not to get too nervous. They sang together, and it was such a magical moment! And then...her teacher made a mistake and stumbled! But she just smiled and continued singing. And people didn’t mind, they were completely okay with it – nobody laughed at her. Amy was amazed. At the end of the year, there was another talent show. Only this time, it wasn’t just her school, it was a much bigger event. Everybody said that she should try performing there, but she kept saying that she wasn’t ready. Her coach said “you’ll never be ready, it will always be scary. I’m still nervous even when I perform at restaurants.” Amy had to try. So she applied, went through the audition, and the judges loved her voice. Once again, she went onstage, and now there were so many people she couldn’t believe it. The music started and she...couldn’t sing. Again. All of it happened again, she was just standing there, not able to make a sound. Five or ten seconds passed, and she thought that it couldn’t get any worse, so she made an effort and...she started singing! At first she was very shy, but then she started to feel the music, and in half a minute she forgot all about her fears and was simply singing and enjoying every minute of it. She closed her eyes and had her best, and technically first, performance in front of the public. She took second place in the contest, and after that, she became much more confident. She’s still scared of performing in front of people, but now she knows how to deal with it.