Talent show, at least that is what it was on the surface but down deep lying underneath all the false smiles was something a little more insidious. Last year my Granddaughter won 2nd place in the show. She sang This is Halloween from The Nightmare Before Christmas. She was wonderful and she worked so hard on this years presentation to be even better. She sang The Worst Pies In London from Sweeney Todd with the English accent. It was brilliant. During tryouts she was told by the teacher running it that if she wanted to win she should choose a different song. Something more relevant or contemporary, like Annie. When she tried to explain how hard she had been working and how much she liked the song and felt it was relevant, she was told if she sang the song she would not win. Her Mother got involved and the teacher denied having said it and no one is going to side with a 13 year old girl against a teacher, except her family. After much consideration she decided to sing it anyway, her integrity being more important than winning. Deep down none of us believed that this teacher would be so unfair as to influence the judges against her. We were wrong. She did not even place in the top 3. I sat there flabbergasted by what had happened. She got the most applause and her performance was without mistake. The winner did a flag routine, she did it well but it was not a competitive level routine.
I am always proud of her for the woman she is becoming but I was especially proud of her this evening for how she handled this unfair loss. She learned a hard lesson for one so young. This teacher set out to prove a point and she used her friends to do it. They should grow up and get rid of their Peyton Place mentality.
These were the judges and I would love to believe that they voted their conscience and did not shatter a young girls hopes on the whim of a friend. But in a day where Mothers stalk teenage girls on the internet and drive them to suicide, I am quickly losing my faith in humanity. The kids are expected to play these kinds of mind trip games in middle school not the teachers.
Here she is cheering for the winner. She is genuinely happy for the girl who won though disappointed for herself. If all the other kids had been so far above her with their talent I would not feel this way. If the teacher had not said what she did I would not feel this way. But sometimes you just have to get angry and cry foul. Since this is my blog and I can say whatever I damm well want, I’m saying the whole thing stinks and their behavior was unethical and if I could prove it I would file a complaint with the Superintendent.
Even though she didn’t win I am still giving her the Girl Power nod for having grace under fire and being the bigger person, for standing up for herself and not selling out her integrity by singing a different song. I love you K. and I am so very proud of the way you are dealing with this nonsense. I am just sorry you have to.
passions and soapboxes 
She should be proud of herself for standing up for her decision even though the teachers were against it. I think she’s an awesome person and I hope that this experience won’t teach her to give up her dreams/wishes just because someone tells her to.
Question: How is a song from Annie more relevant or contermporary? Honestly. Teachers like that Kill the joy out of students, and that pisses me off because I’ve watched an Olympic hopeful turn to hate the sport she loved and excelled at because of the coaches. Your granddaughter is awesome! Keep encouraging her because it won’t be long before real talent seekers see her talent. And let’s just wish karma on that teacher.
Karma, good one I like it.
My first thought was also, ‘Annie’ – how is that more contemporary?
Perhaps it is more kid friendly, and if that was the case the teacher should have said that. She certainly shouldn’t have played it out the way she did. Very unprofessional, and certainly not a way to encourage and help students to grow!
When our high school bands took a trip to NYC, Sweeney Todd was one of the musicals they were able to go and see. I was horrified when I saw the movie though, I had no idea how gruesome it was. Although we can’t hear her sing, her costume and make up looks wonderful. A very beautiful girl.
Sorry life has to be so hard sometimes.
I am proud of her sticking to her beliefs. It is so hard to watch our children/grandchildren fall prey to adults that act more like children than the ones they teach.
I’ve seen it before with my own, and it never ceases to hurt.
Three cheers for K! She acted like a pro and was mature to cheer for the other contestant.
That teacher, however, needs a few lessons in not being a control freak. Also, in musical theatre (Annie = 1977; Sweeney Todd = 1979).
I’m so sorry to read this. I think you are wise to look for the silver lining here… your granddaughter was gracious to the (questionable) winner and learned an unfortunate and valuable lesson about the real world. She is clearly a stand-out child.
Such a shame, though, that such grim lessons need to be learned so young…
She’s on her way to becoming a truly beautiful woman! She gets my “Steel Magnolia” vote. May the “teacher” (and I use the term loosely) be ashamed of her behavior. The only thing she “taught” her is how manipulative people with agendas can be in this world.