Apparently, a famous name is all it takes to bring in revenue, even if the task promised by said name is so minimal that the person used to open the show should have been the main attraction.
Yesterday my mother and I went to a Mother's Day Brunch, and it was absolutely lovely. The food was great and the fashion show was wonderful. However, the famous name used to draw us in was highly disappointing. It was so exciting to hear the radio advertise this famous person over the airwaves. I was so excited to see her that I squealed at my first glance.
Our star performer's preceding act was in the middle of his impressive performance when she entered the room. Even though all eyes fell on her turquoise dress-top with puffed sleeves and her spiffy haircut, her preceding act pressed on with his performance. As he hit high notes that would rival those of Mariah Carey, the crowd in that conference room of the Hyatt Hotel was very much responsive by getting out of their seats with loud applause.
When the time came for our main attraction to entertain, she made the first mistake an entertainer could make -- she admitted not being in tip-top shape for her performance. It was like saying to the audience, “Okay, be prepared for less than my best; ‘Pray my strength,’ even though you paid big money to hear me sing.”
There is a possibility that said confession on her part caused the audience to tune her out...but more than likely, it was the opening of the buffet line.
Ironically, when she opened her mouth to sing, nothing would have been able to convince me that she was sick at all. Okay. We understand you can still blow a song out of the water even though you have a "bad cough."
In any setting, especially one in which the audience is looking forward to food, it is never good to set up any "important" entertainer while people are satisfying hunger or are on the road to satisfying hunger.
Case in point: the people began to eat; the people tuned her out.
What's so sad is no one really paid the woman any attention. This is THE main attraction. Hardly anyone is paying attention, and those who are responding are doing so for those who weren't. It's like when a kid is in a talent show doing something really terrible, and in order for the kid to not feel totally crushed by the choking silence in the auditorium, his mother stands up in the middle of the 10th or 11th row and begins cheering loudly. It just didn’t work.
Though I hardly noticed, after two songs, our performer sat down. Now, my mother thought she sat down for a glass of water between sets, but when we looked up from our plates, she and her entourage were gone...never to return.
She had sung two songs though we were promised a show. We were robbed.
The show continued to include the oldest mom (96!) as well as free roses for all the matriarchs present, but it's sort of comical that the reason we decided to come didn't really leave such a stellar impact on our hearts.
I don't want to communicate that the entire experience was disappointing because it really wasn't. I met some lovely women, heard some wonderful stories, saw an incredible fashion show and ate some delicious food. However, I was disappointed, if not a little insulted. I paid for a ticket and didn’t receive the package I was promised.
I guess this means I have to find out where her opening act is playing next.
Keeping the Faith and Keeping it Real,
aM
