Blogging

I've tried to maintain a blog so many times, but it never worked out. Usually I posted a few things and I was done. Now I hope to keep on doing this somewhat longer. I typed my first entry over a week before I posted it. Well, I didn't posted it that moment, but I had it scheduled for that moment, so I was quite surprised to see a few Facebook-notifications about it on my phone simply because I had forgotten about it.
Now my second post is out in the world and I was surprised to see at least a few people had been on my page -and hopefully took the time to read it and perhaps enjoyed reading it- , so I'm guessing I'm going to have to write some more.
I'm always very jealous about people who have these incredible successful blogs with thousands of readers. Not jealous about them having a popular blog, but jealous about them being successful at maintaining their blog, keeping up with popular items and taking the time to write it. One of the blogs I have had been following for a while (the last entry was unfortunately in 2009 ) is the blog of the model Elyse Sewell.

I think this is one of my favourite pictures of her ever....

She was my favourite on Americas Next Top Model and later she moved to Hong Kong and she posted silly items she saw or funny things that happened to her. It was incredibly simple, but because everything was so out of the ordinary (at least for us, Western European People*)  it was extremely interesting. (*No offence to the people who do not think Chinese citylife is somewhat different  from the Western European standard) (*Also do not feel secluded if you are not from Western Europe and you agree with this line of thought)

Picture stolen from her blog...

Now the big issue here is: I do not have a extraordinary life. I'm somewhat out of the ordinary when we talk about the big masses, but that's all. Sometimes you just say **** it and go on with it.
One time I was an chorus girl in an amateur performance and we performed the show three times. The first and last shows were performed in the evening, while the second was a matinée. During the second show the seats weren't even half filled, but we did the show anyway. I remember one person of the Creative Team told us this just before the show: 'Don't think about the people who didn't buy a ticket, but think about those who did. Don't they deserve something extra for being here? Now off you go and do this show ten times better than you have ever done before special for them.'
So thank you for reading and I will try to write ten times better.

Singing classes

I owe a lot to my singing teacher, she is one of the most inspiring people I have ever met. If not for her, I would never have been where I am now. She always drags me through the things I find difficult to do. 'We'll try something else' she would say, 'and if that doesn't help we'll find another way to get where we want to go.' Then we would try the silliest things, making the most idiotic faces and hideous sounds, but in the end we would get results.
Singing is something very difficult to explain. How on earth do you explain that you need to pull that muscle or that you need to sing with a low larynx? Yes, sure, I do understand, but now I need to find the way to actually do that. That's where the teacher comes in. There are so many ways of teaching and every teacher have their own tricks, so it's very important to find someone you have a connection with and that their way of teaching fits your way of singing.
My first singing class was not a disaster, but the classes that followed more or less were. (If you would ask my teacher she would never say they were, but they were, believe me.) The first time I had to make a incredible, ugly, sharp sound I thought she made a joke. I was not going to do that, but of course: I did anyway. In the end it meant the world for reaching the high notes more powerful, but at the time I was incredible embarrassed and scared for making a sound that was not beautiful.
Everyone who had to learn something ever knows the way it goes when you suddenly realise why you did what you had to do, why you did all these silly exercises and then know how to use that knowledge. Everything goes smooth and you have some kind of high, but then you'll have to move on and you'll have to start all over on a new subject. First you get frustrated and annoyed, but then again you'll get the bright moment again and it all starts over. Now double these feelings (or tripel or even more) and you'll get the idea of singing classes.
For example: it took me half a year to even come close to the understanding how to approach the opera-sound. Now I took another road, but it was still helpful anyway.
To any person who loves to sing I would just want to tell you how much difference it makes. Singing classes could mean the world to any singer. I have had a stop for a year and now I started again I'm starting to realise how important it was to me and how much I missed it...

From the start

When I was a little girl I dreamed about being a star. Now you would say: 'which little girl didn't?' and think it was a childish dream. I believe I could say that almost everyone have been dancing in front of a mirror with an improvised microphone in their hand at least once in their lifetime. I could also tell you that I did that a lot.
When I was around the age of 6 or 7 the Spice Girls were the big thing. If you weren't pretending to be Baby Spice (who lived the dream with a never-ending supply of lollipops), you wanted to be Sporty Spice (who could kick really high) and otherwise you were doomed to be one of the other three (Ginger -who was a little bit funny-, Posh -who was downright boring- or Scary -who was, well, very scary and weird). Every now and then we created our own band and stopped the traffic (in our suburban village, which meant that every 15 minutes -if we were lucky- we could stop a car) singing Stop (Right Now, Thank You Very Much).
I never have gotten over the fact my mum never got me one of those lollipop headsets. If I ever see one I'll buy it!

The oh-so-wanted lollipop microphone headset!

After the Spice Girls broke up I went into a new fan-phase: Britney Spears. Britney, who had perfect teeth and cool hair! I entered playback shows with Oops I Did It Again (Not knowing what it was about. Much, much later I realised what the lyrics actually said...) wearing red pants and a red shirt with hideous shoes, which were -according to my mum- 'fashion' at the time. I have pictures of my little sister dressed up as a space man, like the guy in the video clip.
During that time I still dreamed about becoming a Super Star like Britney was, but these dreams were constantly crushed by our oh-so-famous Dutch Morality. Some people were born for that, but it wouldn't be someone you knew and certainly not you.
I performed in amateur musicals, but never got a part for years and when I did it felt like a dream and I let it all happen. I learned a lot that year, but not as much as when I got my second part. For the first time I decided to act upon my dreams and -because of plain luck and sudden acquaintances - I was brave enough to take singing classes.
That year I did not only rise above myself, I surprised everyone with the fact that I was more than just a girl who happened to like to sing: I had a voice and I was not afraid to use it.
After years of fighting mostly myself, my hopes and dreams and fears about becoming a performer, I finally found some peace in me. I do not need to be a Britney Spears, I do not need to be a Lady Gaga. It would be fun, but it is a dream, not a possibility. At least, not now. Who knows, right?
All I want is to establish myself as me, as Elysabeth Hyde, the other side of me, the Empress of the Stage, the Empress of Europe (which is a secret joke I usually make. Really, I do not plan on conquering Europe in the near future) and hopefully I will leave a mark behind so you will look back on me and smile...