<p>So we have finally narrowed it down to these; she has three upcoming auditions, two next weekend and one at the end of Feb. </p>
<p>Ballad: Astonishing: I know it is on the overdone list, but her vocal coach said she nails it and showcases her mix and her belt so he thinks she should do it. It was either that or something from Into the Woods in which she is currrently the Witch, but we are avoiding that.</p>
<p>Uptemp: Either 'I Can Cook Too" or "My Strongest Suit". </p>
<p>Do these contrast enough? She has her next vocal lesson Tuesday and I am getting ready to download the sheet music, but any and all other suggestions are welcome!!</p>
<p>Some info about my D; she has a goofball, think "Lucille Ball" style personality, so we wanted an uptempo that can show this off in the 16 bars. She is also a Mezzo Soprano with a strong belt, great timbre according to teachers. She is doing her ballad first so she may not need her uptempo, but of course we have to be ready.</p>
<p>I never imagined this would be such a tough process, and I feel for all the kids currently dealing with the pressures of auditions, on top of their own Senior activities. I know what my d and her friends are going through, and I personally cannot wait until it's all over. :)</p>
<p>If she is offering “Astonishing”, I would definitely have something else prepared. I know during auditions my son was offering a very overdone song, even though he nailed it, and he did get some eye rolls. One time he was asked if he had something else. He probably over prepared, but he did have several selections in each category ready, music in book, etc.</p>
<p>^^ I agree with srw. I’m not in the business, nor am I remotely musical! So take this with a grain of salt. </p>
<p>What I have done is spent a lot of time within ear shot of auditions, both professional and community based. My advice is to stay away from “signature” songs originally sung by famous people. 1) because the song is soooo familiar and well known that if the auditionee cannot sing it as well as that original person (in this case Sutton Foster), then any error is MAGNIFIED and readily apparent. It does not take an expert to hear those errors! 2) There may be a perception that the auditionee thinks they’re as good as the orininal person. If they don’t nail the song, then the panel is left thinking… does this person actually know their strengths and limits? Are they not self aware enough or connected enough with the material to realize that this may be a poor choice?</p>
<p>With that said, if you D can nail it, then it might be a good choice. But as srw indicated, have something else. Astonishing is not an easy song. The auditors know that and may ask for something else. They want the auditionees to succeed! There are hundreds of lesser known, wonderful ballads that can showcase mix and belt.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice. Her coach said she should stick with Astonishing, and she has Music and the Mirror as a ballad back up even though they have seen it pre-screen on DVD it’s my understanding they would be happy to see it again.
I’ve honestly gotten so much contradiction on this site that I am going to go with my gut and the advice of the colleges she is auditioning for: If uou sing it well, bring it. So that’s our plan.
Thanks for the input but mainly for this thread I want to know if they contradict in style enough. I feel they do but since we don’t meet with he’d coach again until Tues I just wanted additional input.</p>
<p>Additionally, the one college in particular said of the opinion not to do a song made famous by someone :
“That’s ridiculous. We don’t expect anyone walking in here to be the caliber of anyone currently on Broadway or why would they need MT training to begin with, in fact we DON’T want the “triple threat” all we want to see is the student has the chops and ability to improve enough to be ready for Broadway in the future”.
That’s the best advice I got through this whole process and it makes the most sense to me.</p>
<p>I say go with your gut! If she is comfortable with her song choices and does them well then she should stay with them. Of course have some back-ups because you never know when or for what reason they may ask to hear something else. I think it might be stressful for your D to change at this point anyway.</p>
<p>You are right in that you will get a different opinion from everyone you ask. Each school will also have different advice. My daughter auditioned in '10 and I honestly don’t remember what songs she used at this point. I do know that she got a couple of eye rolls with one of her songs from a couple of her schools when she said what she would be singing. One school in particular spent the first 20 seconds looking like they weren’t even paying attention. When they started looking at her and then whispering to each other, she felt like she had their attention and really got into it. Afterwards, she got a lot of positive comments. She got into all of her schools except one, so it was definitely not an issue. Just tell your D to do sing her heart out, not read anything into anything anyone does or says, and most of all, HAVE FUN!!!. I think one of the most important things schools look for is for the auditionee to show that he or she loves what h/s is doing. I do know my D got some comments along the lines of “obviously you love singing…” and I think that is so important. Also, if she is convinced she is going to do her absolute best and have fun no matter what, I think it shines through in the audition and maybe results in less nervousness. Best wishes!</p>
<p>Whether you use the go with “the gut” or not approach, have some back up songs! EVERYONE should have a couple of back ups in each area! </p>
<p>One of the most important aspects of audition success wherever, whenever, is to be uber prepared. Do not leave anything to chance.</p>
<p>Extra songs prepared, sheet music properly prepared in the proper binder, proper wardrobe with alternates in case of wardrobe malfunction. </p>
<p>Stop and think about what the audition panel might ask and how you will answer: why this school, why this field? What other schools have you applied to?</p>
<p>Take along with dance clothes in your bag, a water bottle, something for headache, stomachache, muscle ache, energy bars…etc.</p>
<p>Being properly and perhaps overly prepared, can take the stress and worry out of the
“what ifs”, and also can ad a bit of professionalism to the auditioner.</p>
<p>I know when my son went through this he had 5 to 7 songs in each category, he was totally prepared for what ever they through at him. He was accepted everywhere he auditioned and with good merit money.</p>
<p>I Can Cook Too is a big-time belt song and My Strongest Suit is a belt or mixy-belt, so your D’s main choices don’t show a lot vocal contrast. Not all schools care about this, but some definitely do, so you D should have at least one true soprano song in her book.</p>