"Idol" finalists need power of positive thinking
It's incredibly difficult to get yourself in the right frame of mind to perform and just forget about all the outside stuff. Most times I wasn't able to do it; consequently, my mental state really affected my performances.
On Tuesday night, judge Simon Cowell told Carly Smithson, "Something about that performance didn't quite work. You were so tense. You need to lighten up a little."
On Wednesday host Ryan Seacrest asked her about her emotional anxiety.
"Apparently, I'm pregnant, but I'm not!" Carly said. "Simon was right. I did have something on my mind. I had a bunch of Spanx on last night trying to make myself look a bit thinner."
Spanx is a line of body-shaping underwear and pantyhose. Carly was obviously more focused on how she looked than how she sounded. Still, she managed to stay out of the bottom three this week.
Ramiele Malubay also had a difficult time focusing on her song. She was sick.
"The voice went bye-bye," she told Seacrest after her performance of Heart's "Alone." "I pushed everything out I had."
He was right.
Seeing fellow contestants perform well and receive positive comments can also add to your mental pressure. While I always smiled and said "Congratulations!" when someone had a great night, I'd be lying if I said that deep down I wasn't thinking, "Dang it!"
It must've been difficult for the other contestants to watch David Cook and Michael Johns hit it out of the park this week with "molten-lava hot!" performances, according to the judges.
"For any of us who have ever said you haven't found yourself, we can all shut our mouths after this performance," said judge Paula Abdul of Johns' rendition of Queen's "We Will Rock You/We are the Champions."
"I saw star potential," Cowell said.
Cook also turned in a great performance. "That was brave. It could have been insane or amazing," Cowell said. "It was amazing."
Another amazing performer who, surprisingly, was in the bottom three this week was Syesha Mercado. She was joined by Jason Castro (who celebrated a birthday on March 25, same day as mine) and Chikeze. The first two were safe. Chikeze, with the lowest vote total, ended up being the first Top 10 contestant to leave the competition.
In addition to dealing with the judges' comments and watching other contestants succeed, the thing that probably psyched me out the most was dealing with comments from people backstage.
The week I sang Blondie's "Call Me" during dress rehearsal, the judges (who are there taking notes about what to say during the live show) gave me weird looks.
Byrd, the show's singing coach, said, "Carmen, you need to go for a walk to calm down."
I didn't know I was uptight. A member of the crew took my arm and walked me outside, saying something about "relaxing" and "not worrying" if my song didn't sound good. I was completely floored. I never thought it sounded bad.
On Wednesday night, Byrd came up to me again and said, "Your performance last night sounded so out of tune, I wanted to get up and turn off my TV."
Again, I was completely floored. Later that night, my Utah vocal coach, Dean Kaelin, called to see how I was doing. I told him about what Byrd had said. He was as shocked as I was.
"Carmen, I just had a friend of mine who's also a vocal coach call me to say he thought your performance was pitch-perfect," Kaelin said. "We both agreed it was one of your best so far!"
I was really confused. I wanted to believe Kaelin but couldn't understand why Byrd would tell me the opposite. It definitely messed with my mind. I ended up performing poorly the next week as a result of negative thinking.
I really hope David Archuleta doesn't let the negative comments get to him. The Murray teen is incredible, one of the best. I actually clapped on Tuesday night after his performance of "You're the Voice" and was shocked to hear Cowell say he didn't like it.
If I could give the remaining nine contestants a bit of advice, it'd be this: You've absolutely got to be mentally strong to be a serious competitor. In the voters' eyes, you're only as good as your last performance. Stay positive and make every 2 1/2 minutes of stage time count.
Utah recording artist and actress Carmen Rasmusen-Herbert came in sixth place during the second season of "American Idol." She wrote about her experiences in her book, "Staying in Tune." Her first full album is "Nothin' Like the Summer," featuring the single of the same name.
E-mail: features@desnews.com
Recent comments
Ya, I think that they're (the producers and Simon) just trying...
London | March 28, 2008 at 3:55 p.m.
Good insights once again Carmen. I have fun reading your article...
SLCmom | March 28, 2008 at 2:04 p.m.
I can tell that Carmen is speaking from experience there. I have...
Stephanie | March 28, 2008 at 2:02 p.m.
