Lessons from American Idol

The best thing about watching American Idol (AI) is each week televiewers get to learn new lessons on how to be the best singer.

Where else can you get no-nonsense tips on how to be a star than from the show that has produced talents like Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood who have sold million copies of their albums?

From the choice of song to the clothes the contestants wear, nothing escapes the eyes of judges Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell.

You can call their remarks constructive criticisms or just simply not-trying-to-be-rude-just-being-honest kind of comments. Fact is, these pointers can either make or break the contestants. If they take them positively, chances are they will get more votes. If not they will pay the price.

As a viewer, it’s exciting to see the contestants as they journey from anonymity to stardom. Isn’t it what American Idol is all about, to find the best undiscovered talent and make him/her the next big thing?

If you’ve been a fan of AI just like me, or you’ve just started watching it since its season five premiere, you’ll realize that all the pointers the judges give to each contestant can help every aspiring singer watching the show to become not just a better singer but a better person, too.

Here are five lessons learned from the talent search.

Don’t sing songs that are out of your league. If you’ll sing a song of a great artist, you must give justice to the song, if not try to make it your own. Take Heather Cox for example. During the Top 10 girls’ performance night, she sang Mariah Carey’s Hero and not only did she fail to match Mariah’s version, she didn’t make the song her own. That’s also what happened to Fil-Am Jose "Sway" Penala who sang a Stevie Wonder song, Overjoyed, and got eliminated after. Simon called his performance nothing but pure karaoke. So, lesson learned. Choose your song wisely.

Don’t screw up the lyrics. Look at what happened to Melissa McGhee, the first contestant to be eliminated from the Top 12. Simon liked her performance. He even called it "edgy" and "strong." The only problem was she messed up the lyrics. The lesson learned is once you pick a song to sing, put all your heart into it and memorize the lyrics. Remember, forgetting the lyrics is unprofessional.

Stick to your style. A good singer must know his/her style. If you feel you’re a country singer, stick to country songs or if ever you feel like singing another genre of music, still try to incorporate your style to it. Trying to be someone you’re not is giving the audience the impression that you don’t know what you’re doing.

Know where you’re good at and hone your talent. There’s no doubt Ayla Brown is a good singer but she also happens to be a basketball player. She wants to hit two birds with one stone, so to speak. Thus, she joined American Idol. The reality is, it’s not always like that. Singing and basketball are two different fields. Yes, some people are born multi-talented but there’s always one talent that stands out. For Ayla, it’s basketball. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be eliminated in the competition. Lesson is you can’t have it all.

Image is everything. In AI, we’ve learned that image is everything. One must create an image or sometimes play an act in order to stand out. But one thing you shouldn’t do is play with other people’s feelings. An example is Kellie Pickler who is playing up her "Oh, I’m just a naïve country girl" to get votes. She’s also telling people that she had experienced many firsts when she joined the competition. But there are rumors circulating in the Net that these are all lies. For one, it’s not her first time to be on stage when she joined AI because she won a beauty pageant at 17 and competed in Miss North Carolina. And her talent at both pageants wasn’t baton twirling but singing Broken Wing and Independence Day.

So, what am I really driving at? Sometimes it helps to create an image spin for yourself so people will notice you, but don’t go too far. Don’t lie about your true self. Remember, less is more. And the more you exaggerate about yourself, the more people will try to find fault with you and the worst part is when they discover you’re not the person you’re trying to project.

Watching American Idol is a learning experience not just about music but also about life in general. Catch it every Wednesday (performance special) and Thursday (result show) at 10 p.m. on ABC 5.