Losing The Karaoke Contest

In all of my years as a performer, and being lauded as a good one, I have never won a talent contest.

This past week, on an Alaskan cruise with my family, siblings and their children, I lost a karaoke contest in front of all of them.

My Dad, who provided this amazing trip, is usually the one who wins these contests, as the Sinatra of the Seas.

Yet this time I had the chance to take the stage and did my best to bring home the crown.

I began with a number I knew would get me to the finals, as there were 4 contestants, only 2 would move on, so I did “What A Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong.

Beginning in my own voice, I casually switched to Louis’ voice halfway through, gasps from the audience assured me this was a big moment. Bouncing back and forth between my voice and his, I did a rendition I had never before attempted, and it was a hit.

The applause from the crowd were huge.

The judges were astounded, giving me 10 out of 10.

Here’s a video of it –

And then, the jig was up.

The Cruise Director, stern and serious, stated, “I have to ask – Are you a professional singer?” 

Not wanting to lie, I said that I had made a living for years singing around the world, but that I had damaged my voice many years ago and was excited to sing a song in front of my family and Dad, as the product he has formulated called Cardio Miracle has managed to strengthen my voice in order to do what I just did.

The crowd groaned with that response, as yes, this was apparently a contest for amateurs and I shouldn’t have been chosen to sing after all.

Dang.

I don’t consider myself a professional singer…I’ve never signed a record deal, never been on American Idol, and although I have made a career singing in my shows and speeches, I couple it under the banner of comedy, motivation, inspiration, etc, and thus have only identified with one word: “Entertainer“.

That’s not how the world sees it.

Same as how I don’t call myself a comedian, even though I elicit laughs, the words we identify ourselves as don’t always matter to the audience.

As The Entertainer, I use all of the arrows in my quiver to entertain, be it voices, faces, my body, inspiration, story, dancing, comedy, and singing.

There were 2 clear finalist acts, and I was one of them.

Admittedly, I chose the wrong song for an international audience as my final number, as I sang “Piano Man” and didn’t have access to my harmonica or piano…

And then the couple who followed me sang a bang up version of “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” to wow the crowd, brought the house down, and were the clear winners of the night by applause.

I admit, I was bummed, and embarrassed.

When someone doesn’t know your story, or the background of why you’re doing what you do, it doesn’t matter when it comes time to be in a contest.

Suddenly, in this case, my being a “professional singer” ended my chances of winning.

America’s Got Talent has figured out a formula to get us to support certain acts, by giving us their tragic story first, so then we will enjoy their talents more, and this is ingenious marketing.

That story matters, and many acts would never make it through had we not known of their ailments and struggles, how they’ve overcome such difficulty.

But in this moment, having been called a professional singer, and then not choosing the right song to follow it up, I clearly lost the contest, even when the couple who sang after me absolutely won it by doing a great job.

Admittedly I was bummed, but did my best to hold my head high as I received a consolation prize T-shirt.

The Promise, in this case, is a simple one:

Put yourself out there! 

I’m surprised how often I hear people say they want to go for it, write a book, become an entrepreneur, start dating again, change their body…

And they never go for it – or they write Chapter 1 and that’s it.

How many times have people lamented that they want to be a professional speaker but don’t want to have to dedicate the time to traveling and choose their career over their family.

I gag when I hear it.

Why? Because most people will never make it far enough to get to make that decision.

I say – Go for it, and when you have to come to making that decision then GOOD FOR YOU! Now it’s time to make and keep The Promise. But don’t STOP before you even begin because you’re scared of the decisions you’ll face when you have success.

Go be a success!

It’s like the overweight guy who told me he doesn’t want to lift weights too much because then he’ll be uncomfortable when he sits on a plane, due to his muscles being too large, and will need to share the armrests.

Great excuses, folks.

Yes, I just lost a singing contest. It’s a bummer to lose something and put yourself out there in front of your family and then lose.

But the bummer is the person who is sitting in the back, in the shadows, who is probably the best amateur singer on the ship who never took the mic.

Why not step into the lights?

Don’t hold yourself back.

Take the mic.

Maybe it’s your time, perhaps you’re better than you realize.

The Promise is to give all you’ve got, and losing the contest just proves you were in the running in the first place.

~ Jason Hewlett

Husband, Father, Writer, Mentor, Hiker

• Speaker Hall of Fame * Award-Winning Entertainer * Mentor
• World’s Only Keynote Speaker utilizing entertainment, musical impressions, and comedy to teach The Promise
• Author of “The Promise To The One”
• President of Cardio Miracle.  Go to CardioMiracle.com to take your health back! Use coupon code HEW2024 for 15% OFF your order.

jasonhewlett.com