Famous Folks Are People, Too

My band has a potential gig in the works where we may be opening for a multiple Grammy winning artist. This artist happens to be the favorite singer of one of our band members. Leslie has been a huge fan of this person for many years and the thought of possibly meeting her and even performing in front of her is a bit overwhelming. In fact, Leslie’s exact words to us the other night at practice were “Don’t let me drink anything before this gig because I will pee my pants when I meet her”.

So I was thinking about that today. I have had the good fortune of meeting my favorite artist (Amy Grant) twice. Yes, it was a big deal to me, but the reality of it all is that she was a person just like me. When I met her the first time, it was only long enough to get a photo, but she was very down to earth and gracious for those couple of seconds. The second time around was in a much quieter setting and we talked for several minutes about music, kids and family. Ordinary stuff. It was very cool and I felt quite comfortable the entire time.

It always cracks me up when I watch people gush over others because they are famous. I always wonder what that fan is really like because the mushy-gushy persona I am seeing at that moment is usually just an overreaction to the perceived image of that celebrity. The fan doesn’t really know that person. Maybe it’s just my personality type that finds this behavior a bit odd because I just don’t get that excited over things like that. Sure, it’s cool to meet people you admire and to have an opportunity to personally express how their music or art may have inspired you in some way, but please remain calm and be yourself!

As most of you know, I am a huge American Idol fan and a few weeks ago I wrote about How Not to Pass an American Idol Audition. While pondering my friend Leslie’s reaction, I thought about Kelly Clarkson’s American Idol audition video so I went looking for the original clip. Who needs a Tivo when you have YouTube? :D

Watch how Kelly Clarkson takes on meeting American Idol celebrities Simon, Randy and Paula for the first time:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rWe6iz884w]

Handled like a pro. She quickly and politely mentions that she is a fan of Paula’s and moves right on along with the interview questions. Then, after rocking out with her vocal performance, her true personality busted out and in one swiftly stolen moment she has Randy performing while she takes his spot in the judges seat! She just joins in the camaraderie and makes herself at home. Kelly recognized that the American Idol judges are people, too, and she treated them as such. Her actions were honest and sincere and they got her more attention and respect than a hysterical display of star-struck flattery. It is no surpise to me that she won the competition.

So the moral to my rambling story is just another “be yourself” suggestion. I really don’t forsee Leslie peeing her pants over this gig, but I will hide the water bottles just in case. ;)