Showing posts with label Stage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Stage. Show all posts

Avoiding Acting Like an Overbearing Stage Parent




With all of the publicity that American Idol has gotten in recent years, some of the most entertaining gossip from the show lately has been the overbearing stage parent that is Jeff Archuleta. Questions still surround his time with the show, and many parents worry that they could find themselves in Jeff’s shoes at some point with their own talented child. However, much as many parents are starting to worry, the show really had some good reasons to do what they did. Learning how to become a stage parent like Jeff Archuleta because is very important to actually allow your child to find true success on the show.





While it might at first glance just seem like a truly loving parent waiting in the wings, stage parents are a growing breed that seem to spawn from the depths of hell, rather than from the encouraging love that most parents come from. At times crossing over from a lovingly encouraging parent into the area of stage parent seems to be extremely easy; many parents slide over simply, while other parents find that the transition is extremely complicated.





It is a well known fact that American Idol will not allow contestants to actively participate that are under the age of 18 without the permission of their parents. This has been well known since season 1 kicked off many years ago. However, while parents’ permission is required, parents are not permitted to simply sign a form and disappear back to their hometown while the producers handle watching after their kids. I suppose this makes it easier for some parents to quickly turn into stage parents, but it is necessary for parents to watch after their own children.





Jeff Archuleta rose to fame as a stage parent due to his constant meddling with other contestants. He was not content to simply run his son’s time on the show. Rather he was extremely interested in trying to sabotage other contestants according to reports. Due to this, rumors quickly started flying claiming that tensions on the show were running high and stating that Jeff Archuleta was at the center of it all. How true the actual reports are is yet to be seen, but the fact is many parents find themselves crossing over into the area of tampering with other contestants. It is extremely important that as a stage parent, you limit your interaction with your own child, rather than messing with other contestants.





Another fatal mistake that Jeff Archuleta made which created the disaster that had him quickly banned from the set was working with his son to change the lyrics of his song. This created nightmares for the show due to the very real problems with copyright that were created. By working with his son to change the lyrics of his songs, he not only broke the rules of the show, he went against what the producers had told him when he asked about changing the lyrics, and he cost the show a lot of money in terms of fines and penalties for the artists who were wronged. This all created a very big drama in the show. Due to the problems that occurred because of the incident, Jeff Archuleta was banned from being back stage.





It is extremely important to realize that as a stage parent, you cannot interfere with other performers and you also cannot become so overbearing that you are putting the show in danger. Just as American Idol has turned out numerous winners, they are also turning out numerous “losers” who do still manage to go onto a truly successful career. If you are willing to let go of your child and allow them creative input, as well as ensure that you are having your child follow all of the rules of the show you will discover that it can be a truly fun experience without all of the drama that follows stage parents.


Moving From Idol to the Big Stage – Daughtry and Carrie Underwood




The two American Idol contestants who have gone onto the greatest commercial success so far are Chris Daughtry and also Carrie Underwood. With Carrie emerging in season four and Chris appearing in season five they came at separate times and have left a huge impression on the music industry. The entertainment that these two artists have provided on the music industry goes far beyond American Idol and has broken out into the mainstream. Watching the success of Chris and Carrie goes to show that American Idol really is capable of finding great stars, however it does still require a great amount of hard work.





While the spotlight is typically on the winners such as Carrie Underwood and the other six American Idol winners there are other who are cast off from the show quickly that find themselves in the middle of a very successful career. Chris Daughtry is certainly not the first contestant to find himself losing the competition but still given a recording contract, but he is certainly one of the most successful. His fourth place finish in the show found many of his fans believing that he would never go anywhere. However, after he was cast off from the show, he found himself with a recording contract from 19 Entertainment.





Carrie Underwood has taken the start that she received from American Idol and turned it into an enormous success. While many people might not be able to list off all of the American Idol contestants they are usually quite aware of exactly who Carrie Underwood is. While she received her start on the show and demonstrated a capacity for several different musical styles, she has proven time and time again that she is much better at country music and that is her comfort zone as well.





Upon finishing the show her first album took her to astronomical success and has been followed up by several additional albums that have all performed well on the charts and in sales. The draw of Carrie Underwood has been the fact that she is extremely likeable to a wide variety of fans, while her primary draw is the country music world, which provides her with some very strong support.





Pulling herself to the incredible success that she has found Carrie has sold more than 12 million records so far. After being predicted as the winner of the competition, judge Simon Cowell also went so far as to predict that she would outsell any other contestants as well. To this day, Simon has been correct in his assessment of her talents and she has in fact outsold all other contestants.





As you can just imagine, there is great amounts of success awaiting contestants if they are determined to prove themselves. Carrie Underwood and Chris Daughtry have both proven that using American Idol as a start to a musical career really is possible if you have the determination to make it work. There is nothing that the idol contestants cannot do if they really put themselves to it. Those that dream big are usually rewarded if they pursue their dreams. The contestants who are not determined to make it big will generally slip back into the darkness while the few stars of the show continue to rise above everything and make an incredible name for themselves.