Performing is hard.
…so lay off Jessica, will you?
Jessica Simpson apparently froze up during a live performance at the Kennedy Honors ceremony honoring Dolly Parton. She’d expressed nervousness about the performance before, and even had a teleprompter set up. Still, her singing trailed off, she said something about "…so..nervous" and that was that–she went offstage while the audience sat there, stunned.
(Shame on you, audience. She deserved something to make her feel better.)
Look–public speaking is more of a fear for people than death. How much more is time based performance, when you can’t stop, say to the engineer "Let’s try that one again!" On stage at the Kennedy Center? Honoring an icon like Dolly Parton? Who wouldn’t get nervous?
So…I, for one, don’t blame her at all. I give her credit for trying. Ashlee Simpson, her sister, is apparently doing fine on the West End as Roxie Hart in Chicago. But…I think that the rumors of Jessica being part of the Broadway version of 9 to 5 is, well, a pretty bad idea.
Stick to TV, movies, and songs, Jessica. It’s safe–and you’re good at it. Now I’m going to go find a copy of "The Dukes of Hazzard" just to make her feel supported.
Tags: jessica simpson, dolly parton, ashlee simpson, performance
3 Comments
Good post…public speaking IS hard, and it sounds like it was a very different context than what she was used to. I’m just as guilty as the next guy for doing jokes from a bandwagon perspective, here’s a raised glass for a different one…
~ K
Stage fright happens, sure. Freezing happens. Corpse-ing happens. Performing in front of a large group, especially when the person whose material you’re interpreting is IN that group, is going to be stressful.
But, isn’t that what rehearsal is for? Isn’t that part of what these singers get paid a squillion dollars to do? To be able to step up and sing a song in front of a stadium, arena, hall, bar or living room of listeners? If she was nervous about singing that song specifically, she should have tried to change it. If she was nervous about singing in front of Dolly Parton, she should have addressed that BEFORE stepping out on stage.
I’m not trying to put her down as a performer. I can’t, really – I’ve never seen her perform. I just think there’s something basic to when you choose to have performing be a part of your life. You do the work, whatever it takes, even if it’s hard and unpleasant and sometimes a bit ego-shaking. You do the work, and you protect yourself, your audience & your art.
Sorry, dude, but I gotta disagree with you 100%. Yes, public speaking is hard. Yes, it is a fear that one must work to get over. And one DOES have to get over it if one is going to perform for a living.
Public speakers gets nervous and make mistakes. I’ve done it; I once froze in front of a public speaking class. And I developed techniques for dealing with it, much like a juggler develops witty banter to deal with drops or a Al Gore has a backup plan if the PowerPoint fails.
I’m sorry she got nervous. But this is what she DOES FOR A LIVING. She should have done what all performers do–gone through the talk repeatedly beforehand, do some visualization, come up with worst-case scenarios and techniques for dealing with them. That’s part of what she is paid for–to deal gracefully with inevitable mistakes.