Its strange calling it judging. I spend most of my time coaching singers, not judging them, So I may have had my coaching hat on at the auditions today, jotting down as much constructive feedback as I could!
I tried to write down as many comments as I could today, which was quite hard at the speed we were seeing everyone at! The feedback was hopefully as constructive as it could be too. If someone was really good, I tried to say what I could to take them to the next level regardless of whether they got through or not.
On the other hand, if I thought the singer needed some help in places then I tried to put down a comment to quickly help them with that. Some were good singers but for a competition like this they probably needed more variety in their performance.
Its hard to say what you're looking for as a judge and of course its different for every singer. I think, for this type of competition I wanted to see pop/rock/folk/jazz singers who could bring me into their world and express their song with passion and meaning, who could sing us the lyrics in their own way with their own story. All that taking into account their experience, whether their voice has matured enough (sometimes they are very young) and the fact that they will be going on to the next stage where they may be better and feel more at ease to perform… no problem!
There were quite a few singers I already know either from my studio, from previous recordings or lessons or who are on my mailing list. I had to do what I thought was honest and abstain from voting in these circumstances.
Some singers that I know are already great artists in their own right, so putting feedback down for them felt somewhat futile. I still did though, for everyone I knew, so I hope it will be helpful for them.
Some were great performers and could captivate our imagination whereas others couldn't look the judges in the face. I don't blame them, you walk in to a room and see 5 scary judges sat there, I wouldn't want to look at them either! But I think its important to do so, or at least look around the judges, as it then feels like we are being involved in the singer's performance. If a singer looks at the wall or the ceiling it can feel like they don't want anything to do with us!
The judges are actually really nice people and have lots of experience in the music industry. Its a shame in a way that the contestants don't really know who we are, couldn't meet us and don't actually know anything about the people they're singing to!
At the end of the day the judges votes are just down to personal taste. If there was someone that I really liked then sometimes another judge thought they were was just Ok. Or if there was someone I thought needed some technical help, another judge thought they were good. The generally agreeing votes were the ones that we put through.
Every now and again there was a singer I thought could really do with going through if they need to develop on what they are doing. Some learn very fast and if they get the right constructive feedback then you can see them at the next round having really fought for their right to stay in the contest! So I hope we will see some of them next time!
I'm only judging for this one and the Bristol regional finals next month. After that, its on to the nationals and a whole new set of judges!
See you there!
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