Bradford Files: TV Audition Not Like A TV Dinner

The TV Audition: Never go to an audition with songs you don’t know that well. Always do songs you can do in your sleep. The camera doesn’t lie. It shows that you are nervous, or confident, and it has no mercy. You may feel you have sung those songs a million times and you want to try something new but remember the audition staff more than likely has never heard you sing these songs. Don’t get me wrong you have to stay on top of your game if you are gonna keep up. You have to learn all the new songs but unless you are 100% sure of yourself on a certain song than stay away from it on your audition. Try to stay away from apologizing for having a sore throat or a cold. If you didn’t tell them they probably wouldn’t even have known. Now that you let the cat out of the bag they will be listening that much harder for imperfections.

If you are allowed 2 songs always do a fast one and a slow one. If you are having problems that day and one of your songs has a lot of range in it consider changing it to something less strenuous. It is better to hit the notes right on than go for a high note and crack. Dress as if you were performing on stage . People listen with their eyes. TV especially is a visual form of entertainment. Don’t be shocked to find out the over all volume in a TV studio is much lower than you are used to hearing in a live show situation. The ultimate mix they are trying to achieve is a TV mix. Something that sounds good on anybody’s TV. They are not worrying about getting sound clear across a race track to the grandstand.

Keith Bradford