A week or so ago a good friend, who I have worked with for the last 20 years, called as he was boarding a plane for LA.  He was taking his daughter to see one of the kids she did a lot of theatre work with compete on American Idol.  Being totally out of touch with these type of things, I decided to watch the show for the first time.  First, there was a whole lot going on there with voting, judge comments, second chances and having to wait two days to see who gets to go on the next round.  I was a little confused.  What struck me though was the huge amount of pressure these kids were under.  I wonder whether talent of this type is meant to be tested under such great pressure.  My bet is that all the contestants would perform a lot better with just a little bit less pressure and the audience would get to experience a higher level of talent. Continue reading →