The high school talent show was yesterday afternoon, and, as is always the case, Bryan has been gung-ho about performing ever since the date was announced. He had worked up a very decent version of a song by The Fray (after a tedious process of whittling down potential songs), then was asked to sing in a budding rock band with his friends. Of course, he was extremely excited about doing that, which was something completely different than what he usually does. He's been one of the more popular acts at these talent shows, ever since he was in the 7th or 8th grade, so maybe that contributed to the organizers decision to let him perform both the solo bit as well as the rock band.
The talent show could best be described with one word...LONG. Almost unbearably long. At least it seemed that way...in actuality it was the same length as they usually are, but time just dragged on and on as "singer" after "singer" took their place on the stage.
I place the word "singer" in parentheses because of the lot there was not a single one who could actually sing. Some were more painful to listen to than others, but nary a one could carry a tune. It was made even worse by the fact that practically none of them used a karaoke track (I don't know that ANY did). The thing to do, apparently, was to just sing along with the song on the CD. To stand perfectly still and try to remember the words. All of which was made even worse by the fact that Miley Cyrus is so popular amongst the participants.
But even that would have been a little more tolerable if not for the AWFUL sound system in the auditorium. "Awful" does not even begin to describe it. There was absolutely no bottom end...or middle end, either, for that matter. The high end was piercing and so loud it actually made my ears ring (more than they usually do). They've got a couple of speakers in the foyer which, I assume, are meant to be of service to those who aren't lucky enough to find a seat in the auditorium proper. But they weren't working...most of the time...meaning that it sounded like there was a short in the wires leading from the mixing board to the speakers. The thing is, they actually had a good sound, well-rounded, the entire spectrum of recordable sound represented well, at least to the point where it is possible with speakers of that size. From where I sat it almost made the front speakers sound okay, filling in the sonic blanks. But they cut out so much (like every couple of seconds) that it ruined the possibility of saving the overall sound. This had to be obvious to everyone, most of all the person behind the board. All she would have had to do to end the situation is unplug a cord. Maybe she didn't know which cord to unplug, because it never happened. This only happened during the last 15-30 minutes of the show...I have to wonder what went wrong and why.
As for the show...it was fairly typical. A few juvenile comedy skits, the afore mentioned cavalcade of "singers", a cheerleader routine, and a couple of "dance numbers", one of which was so terrible that the MC said, "At least they didn't sing".
Of course I thought Bryan's solo song was, by far, the outstanding performance. Though I am obviously biased I think if you asked the teachers and most of the high school students they would have to agree. He brings a level of talent and even professionalism to the stage that none of the others would even dare to attempt. That's not meant as a swipe at any of the other participants, but Bryan takes it a lot more seriously than they do. That's just the kind of kid he is...he takes anything he cares about seriously.
But there were a couple of very good acts. The best of that lot was a young black kid (couldn't have been older than 10 or 11) who did a PERFECT imitation of the dance that Michael Jackson famous, complete with multiple moonwalks, and with a few cartwheels and a little hip hop technique thrown into the mix. For some reason he didn't use any music, so I'm thinking the thing was a spur-of-the-moment affair. Be that as it may, I bet his popularity level jumped by a few degrees when it was over.
There was a girl with a basketball dribbling routine, and she was actually very good. She didn't seem to enjoy being on stage in front of all those people, but she had a lot of confidence in her talent. It went on a little too long taking into consideration the relative lack of variety in her "tricks". But it was still impressive.
The "big finish" was the band that Bryan sang with (he's not sure if he's the permanent singer or if they just wanted him for the show...oddly, I don't think he's too concerned about it). They go by the name Famous Last Words. Not too crazy about the name, but that's what it was before Bryan got involved. They had a stage set up behind the back curtain with the whole set-up...monitors and stage lights, the drummer wearing face paint, the bass player sporting a dopey old fashioned hat (which, no doubt, he thought was cool as hell), and amplifiers turned up real, real loud. As is the trend these days, I'm sure, they played very aggressive hard rock...this is why it was so bizarre to me, because Bryan is not typically like that (at least not that I know, but then again, what DO parents know, eh?). He did a very good job, nevertheless, even more impressive when you take into account his limited exposure to "live" rock music (meaning that he doesn't really like to watch rock bands on tv or even music videos...I don't think he had a real template to work within).
All in all, they were pretty doggone good, especially when you consider their ages. That being said, if they decide to go on without Bryan I would be perfectly happy to never hear them again. Their guitar player closed the talent show with one of the longest, most excruciating Van Halen wannabe solos I've ever had the pleasure of walking out on halfway through. If there's one thing worse than some show-off noodling excessively it's a show-off excessively noodling in front of a crowd of people convinced that they are impressed with him (or that they should be). I don't know if any of the unlucky spectators were of the same mind, but I have no tolerance for it and was ecstatic that it was the last act.
And so, another high school talent show goes down in the history books. Who can tell what will be remembered and what will be forgotten? It can only be hoped that in the future some kind of audition process will be implemented.
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