Catching up and The Audition

There is a bunch of news bits over the last couple of weeks that I wanted to share with everyone (all 2.5 people who read the blog :-P) I will post them as time and memory permit.

About 10 days ago, one of the nights when I came home late and brain dead and turned the TV on and sat in front of it like a zombie, I was nicely surprised by a fabulous documentary called The Audition on PBS that...

"looks at the intense pressures young opera singers face as they struggle to succeed in one of the most difficult professions in the performing arts. The feature-length documentary takes you behind the scenes at the Metropolitan Opera's National Council Auditions, where each year thousands of hopefuls compete for a cash prize, the chance to sing on the Met stage–and the opportunity to launch a major operatic career."

It was like a grown up, matured, interesting and talented American Idol (no offense intended since I enjoy watching AI :-). The voices were absolutely heavenly and the process of performing at the level of the MET was fascinating. If you like opera voices and want to learn how technical these performances are and how many different aspects there are to a performance, well you'll just have to watch this documentary :-)

Oh and the saddest part of all was the ending credits where one of the contestants who we learn about and learn to love is said to have passed away after a one year fight against cancer. That was just really sad. It always surprises me when any life but especially one with so much talent and vivacity and joy, is extinguished.