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Original poster

Britain's Got Talent audition - what on EARTH do I do about this?!

78 replies

BritainsGotNoTalent · 01/11/2013 11:47

DD (10) wants to be a pop star when she grows up - the only problem is she is a truly DREADFUL singer; she literally cannot sing a single note in tune. Earlier in the year she was bugging me to let her audition for BGT and I said no as I thought it could be humiliating/upsetting for a young child. But as the weeks went on and she was getting more and more obsessed about it I relented and said that she could fill the form in, in the assumption that she'd never get picked for an audition anyway and so it would be a non-issue.

Well she's only just got a bloody audition! (she doesn't know this yet). It's early on a Saturday morning, miles away from where we are and we're going to have to stand there for hours and hours and she will be bored stiff - at the best she'll get to sing one verse and they'll politely say no thanks, at the worst she might be laughed at. Absolutely NOTHING is going to come of it but she's really going to get her hopes up :( So do I let her go, so that she at least has the experience and will know that I am supporting her - but this runs the risk of her being really disappointed. Or do I shield her from it all (she's a sensitive little soul) and not tell her that she got the audition? (she has forgotten all about it, tbh).

I know I shouldn't have let her apply in the first place but I really thought that nothing would come of it - and I can't change that now :(

WWYD?!

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PuhpullPlaylow · 04/11/2013 10:38

Marking my place

My dd1 (13) is desperate to sing on one of these shows and has been since she was about 9 but I have kept refusing

My dd sings all the time and has had lead roles in her school shows and has been asked to sing at local shows but I think her age us still too young to handle it, I'm trying to get her to wait until she's more mature and got more experience

Good luck to your dd though

DoubleDoubleTwigletTrouble · 04/11/2013 10:54

It sounds like your DD has got a chacne in this sort of thing so I'd definitely say wait until she has more experience and is older. The only reason I'm considering this is that I know she has zero chance of getting through :)

DoubleDoubleTwigletTrouble · 04/11/2013 10:56

I wonder if I could even quietly say to the producer that I don't want her put through - but then they'd perhaps be cross that we're wasting their time?

Lesson learned though - don't give in to pester power just to shut them up :)

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gamerchick · 04/11/2013 11:28

I doubt you'll get a chance too.. They have to audition thousands of people.

Trust me.. you're told by email what the verdict is.. The producer will bop along to your daughters singing and send her on her way. That's all that happens in that regard.. but she'll love the big hall full of different acts.

When's her audition for?

DoubleDoubleTwigletTrouble · 04/11/2013 12:01

I was wondering if I could just say as we walked into the room... (or does she have to go in by herself?) I'd better make sure I get to the email first! It's Saturday 16th...

BerstieSpotts · 04/11/2013 12:09

It will be fine! I'm sure the email will be nonspecific and just say "Congratulations you are through" or "Sorry you didn't make it".

She's too young for the "hilarious failure" angle and in any case I'm sure she's not horrendous - the kind of middle-of-the-road not bad enough to make fun of but not good enough to say "Wow" are going to be weeded straight out at the first panel.

DoubleDoubleTwigletTrouble · 04/11/2013 17:58

Berstie, I meant that I'd have to get to the email first in case it says 'you are through', so that I can lie about it.

in any case I'm sure she's not horrendous

Oh but she is :o

cory · 05/11/2013 09:38

It should be quite safe. If you think about it, the kind of person who gets picked to be a ridiculous failure tends to be a rather different type: adult or at least teen, slightly larger than life, very very cocky in a grown-up sort of way.

They don't have to be nice people to realise that they won't get good television out of humiliating an innocent 10yo.

Once this is over, it might be worth pointing out to her that the kind of person who does get through in these competitions tends to have previous experience of singing in a group: Susan Boyle had a long career of performing as a member of a church choir, various members of One Direction had performed in school musicals etc iirc.

School is where she ought to be starting- and secondary should offer more opportunities.

Dd's ambitions are more on the theatrical side. When she was 10, she was very upset with me for not getting her an agent (as if!). Last summer she happily spent 11 hours a day representing various parts of the furniture in a Dickens production because she realises this will look good on her CV when she applies to stage school next year. We haven't heard about the agent for a while...

DoubleDoubleTwigletTrouble · 05/11/2013 10:38

Well I'm the worst parent on Earth :( I told her this morning (to take her mind off going back to school) and she was thrilled but then I did the speech about how she won't get through and she should just see it as a fun day. She clearly thinks she might get through and didn't believe me so I said tbh, even if you got through to the TV round I wouldn't let you do it as it would be cruel, at which she burst into tears as I am not supporting her dreams Then I tried to say that she won't get through because she hasn't had any lessons and so she can't expect to be a brilliant singer yet - I phrased it as you just have a nice, normal voice that hasn't been trained yet (which I thought was encouraging and is WAY kinder than the truth!) and she burst into tears again because she thought she had a special voice, not just a normal one. Oh dear God, it went on and on and every time I tried to make it better it got worse and worse...

I guess half an hour before school, when we were rushed, wasn't the best time to discuss it. I'm really rubbish at this parenting lark :(

DoubleDoubleTwigletTrouble · 05/11/2013 10:40

Just seen your post, Cory. Thanks for that! I agree - I really dont believe that a young child would be humiliated (I've never, ever seen that) especially not at these early stages. Your DD sounds lovely, btw - I will keep my fingers crossed for her and stage school!

Thumbwitch · 05/11/2013 10:45

Double, maybe it would help to not try and prepare her for disappointment? Just let it happen, as it sounds it's most likely to anyway. Manage it as and when rather than in advance. She'll be ok :)

DoubleDoubleTwigletTrouble · 05/11/2013 10:47

Maybe you're right, Thumbwitch - I thought it better to let her know going in that it wasn't going to happen but I think you may be right. I thoguht I was protecting her but perhaps me saying that contradicted the 'look, Mummy is supporting you' thing. Oh blimey, I can't do anything right.

Thumbwitch · 05/11/2013 10:52

I think this is the sort of situation that would create problems for most parents in your place, Double, don't worry! and

DoubleDoubleTwigletTrouble · 05/11/2013 11:16

Thanks, Thumb :) I should have stuck to my guns in the first place and just thought before I spoke this morning.

TheSmallPrint · 05/11/2013 19:03

Oh Twigs, don't stress, it's done now. Say no more about it, just take her and let them let her down by email. It sounds just like DS1 who is convinced that he is the next Rooney even though he can barely scrape as a sub on the school footie team.

BerstieSpotts · 05/11/2013 19:42

Don't worry! She's in a horrible time with her hormones and everything and this is obviously a big thing for her. I agree - don't try to prepare her for the disappointment, be encouraging without saying anything and then be there with the tissues when she gets turned down!

I went to a filming of BGT and we saw about 7 different acts, only one of them actually got through the editing to be shown on the programme even though a few of them were put through.

I promise you she will be able to look back on this once she's out of the teen years and laugh about it :) Perhaps even when she's 14 or 15 and her ambitions have moved on to something else and/or she has had enough input with her singing that she can see how awful she was in comparison!

cory · 06/11/2013 09:12

Ah poor little thing- 10 is such a hard age. But she will get through it and later on she will be able to laugh at herself.

We found secondary school was a great help because there were more opportunities to get in there and get your hands grubby actually doing things- performing in a musical, joining a band, making videos. It cut down on the time for hopeless dreams about being lifted up to stardom. By Yr 8 some of dd's friends were getting real gigs- and the others could see how hard they had to work and how organised they had to be. It was less solitary too; they got to see how even as a soloist you depend on other people and work with other people.

DoubleDoubleTwigletTrouble · 06/11/2013 10:13

Thanks for more v.helpful posts - I do love MN :) Yes, I'm looking fwd to secondary school when she will have a chance to do more than the 'once a year in a Xmas play' thing.

It was quite good last night - completely coincidentally, her bedtime story was about a girl who wanted a particular role in a school play and her uncle was really encouraging and saying he was sure she'd get the part. She didn't get it and she was really angry and upset with her uncle for getting her hopes up. I said to DD "ok, so what does that remind you of?" and she laughed and said "yeah, ok, I get it..." :)

ShazZA109 · 12/11/2013 17:25

Hiya I've got a different BGT problem ,, recieved phone call on landline answer phone saying my 10 year old has an audition on Saturday at the Emirates at 1pm !!! They wanted to check I had emil and haven't,,, now concerned that she can go as the number they left I can't get through on ??can anyone help with any information or contact numbers Sharon

BerstieSpotts · 12/11/2013 17:53

I would just turn up Shaz. They won't turn you away.

Smam7217 · 23/11/2013 10:51

Hi my 8 yr old child had an audition on 17th November 2013 at London in Emirates Stadium at 1 pm. Don't be scared if u don't think she will go through even though my child went through it is a really good expierence he sang. The que took 1 hour and 15 minutes if there is a mcdonalds close by and a comic and magazine shop and if you meets some friends in the que like we did they will save your space. you then go in the snake bit and the cameras take snapshots of you and u get to wave at it. you then give them the form and they stick a sticker on you with your number then wait in the room you were called in and then they callu in and u go in front of 2 producers and then you doit they take u 2 the 2nd round if you go through and you sing on 2nd then you recieve a letter saying if u went through if you don't get a letter it means u don't get to see the judges staff are really nice. Guess what my child recieved a letter sohes going to the semi final hiphip horray

Smam7217 · 23/11/2013 10:52

Hope this helps

qazxc · 23/11/2013 11:06

I have little love for those types of talent shows. but there wouldn't be any point in them in humiliating a ten year old, nobody would find it funny or entertaining if they do i despair of the human race.
Try and manage her expectations, there's a lot of people, they might not be looking for a lot of singers, you haven't had any lessons, etc.....
And spare a thought for the poor producer who has to sit through all those mainly not very good auditions.

PassTheTwiglets · 27/11/2013 14:55

Thought I would report back on how it went. It was brilliant! They were SO nice to her - she was obviously dreadful but they listened politely and smiled and didn't wince or anything :) When she finished the producer said that sadly it was a no (well, duh!) but how much she loved DD as a person and wished she could be her friend 'cos she was so fun and fabulous etc. and how brave she was to do something like this at only 10 years old blah blah blah. Then she just politely added "maybe try and work on your vocals a bit" and left it at that. So, far from coming away with her confidence knocked, as I feared, she was buzzing with confidence about the lovely things they said to her. As we went out I whispered to the producers that I was really impressed with how sensitively they handled it as I know she's dreadful but they dealt with it really well. They were fantastic - it fair restored my faith in humanity :)

You don't get a letter now, btw - they tell you on the spot.

cory · 28/11/2013 08:30

Aww, how sweet of them.

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