A Lesson from "The Voice"

Do you ever watch that television show The Voice? I do. Actually, I tend to watch the blind auditions and ignore the rest. I am not sure why, I just think "the blinds” are just so compelling. But, that is neither here nor there.

If you are not familiar with The Voice, the blind auditions are at the beginning of the season. The blinds are a big part of what first made the show so popular. During the blinds, singers perform a 90 second song while four judges have their backs turned. The idea, of course, is to have the contestants judged solely on their voice.

Though I usually do not, this season I decided to watch a little bit after the blind auditions. And I am glad I did. I was reminded of a great lesson.

This season there is a contestant named Ashley Morgan. Ashley is a 27 year old gal, from my neck of the woods, in Costa Mesa, California. So I guess, in that sense, I am kind of partial. Nonetheless, all of the judges agree that she has a fantastic voice.

For her blind audition, Ms. Morgan performed “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” by Whitney Houston and got two chairs to turn. Meaning, two of the four judge (Pharrell Williams and Blake Shelton) pushed their button indicating that they want Ashley on their team.

This is another great part of the show. If more than one judge turns around, for any given contestant, the judges are each obliged to make a sales pitch. The judge must sell the singer as to why said contestant should choose them to be on their team. I do not think any of them sell harder than Adam Levine. But, in this case, Adam was not in the running.

After Pharrell and Blake explained their positions, it was time for Ashley to choose. A choice I cannot imagine is very simple. As it turned out, Ashley selected Pharrell to be her coach. Now, after the blind auditions come the battle rounds. This is where the coaches pair-up two of their team members, to battle it out, by singing a duet.

In order to practice for the battle, each coach brings in another artist to help them prepare the contestants. Pharrell's assistant was none other than Lionel Richie. And, for Ashley's battle, Pharrell selected the song “Put the Gun Down” by ZZ Ward.

As the contestants were practicing we learn that Ms. Morgan is a studio vocalist who has been taking singing lessons since she was 5 years old. Her opponent was Mia Z a 16 year old girl who, apparently, has no formal training.

During the rehearsal Ashley was obviously nervous and uptight. Something Williams and Richie picked up on right away. While Morgan's execution was flawless, it lacked color. Pharrell stopped the rehearsal to instruct Ashley to loosen up and let her personality show through.

In order to show her individuality, and personality, Ashley would need to allow herself to be less technical and more imperfect. As a matter of fact, Lionel Richie told her to, “Throw away your training.”

To throw away her training, and let her guard down, would require opening up and being vulnerable. An idea that Ashley said is, “A terrifying thing to me.”

And, herein lies the beautiful lesson. Ashley Morgan is a highly trained vocalist who can execute songs with perfect pitch and tonality. But perfection is not the goal. Two of the worlds greatest music artists (Williams and Richie) were both telling a singer to stop being so perfect. At first glance, kind of a strange idea. Wouldn't you say?

As we grow up with are indoctrinated with the idea of not making mistakes. In school we are tested, and then punished, for the mistakes we make. However, in the real world, perfection is not the goal.

As we all know, the music business is big business. And, Pharrell Williams and Lionel Richie take it very seriously. What they were clearly telling Ashley Morgan was that the most serious thing she could do was stop being so serious. Maybe we could call it the Richie Paradox.

As The Voice has shown, over the years, perfection does not win. There have been numerous singers who have been flawless in their execution. Some were trained at places like the Berklee College of Music and UCLA. And, if my memory serves me right, not one of them has ever won.

Who knows what will happen to Ms. Morgan. But one thing is clear. If she hopes to win she will need to stop hiding behind her singing technique and show the world who she really is. Because the goal is personality not perfection. Remember that next time you are tempted to demand zero mistakes from yourself.