Preparation

Practice

As Gecko Factor auditions began, my friends and I began to (jokingly) contemplate performing karaoke in front of the entire school. As the conversation progressed, what had begun as a joke seemed to be more and more realistic, but one problem still remained – our utter lack of musical talent. After a fair amount of brainstorming, we finally settled on an option that was almost certainly the easiest option fathomable – Tequila by The Champs. This musical masterpiece had three words in total – all of them simply being “tequila” (which was to be delivered in an almost monotone voice). After we had made our decision, we needed to audition in order to be officially included in the list of performing acts. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the audition, but I heard it went smoothly and left our music teacher in stitches. After the audition, we (foolishly) forgot to “practice” until the day of the performance, at which time we spent almost half an hour timing the lyrics perfectly. After our practice, we did one final sound check on stage and headed back to the green room as the performances started.

Performance

Execution

I daresay the above video speaks for itself. Although our timing on the second “tequila” was slightly off, the performance was ultimately executed fairly well, and we succeeded in getting the crowd well involved and the performance was, I believe, a favorite of the audience.

Reflection

General Reflection

Unfortunately, our act was not recognized as one of the top three of the competition. Although we scored quite highly in the categories of audience involvement, confidence, and originality, the lack of talent required to deliver the performance resulted in us just missing the podium (much to the relief of our actually talented peers, but to the dismay of the general audience). Despite this, I believe that we helped to provide balance to the overall competition, as most of the acts were comprised of sad songs performed as solos, and although I acknowledge the true talent that many of these acts required, I still believe that our act was just as successful in a different way.

Learning Outcomes

• Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process
  • Performing in front of the entire secondary school was certainly a major step out of my comfort zone. As I have stated in the past, I am not particularly comfortable on stage, and I viewed this performance as an opportunity for me to gain some experience in a low-pressure environment. This will hopefully allow me to undertake more serious performances in the future with more confidence and will thus allow me to be more successful.
• Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience
  • Although primarily comedic, the act still required a fair amount of planning to execute effectively, which thus allowed me to demonstrate my ability to plan and execute a CAS experience.
• Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively
  • I know for certain that the act would not have been nearly as successful as it was without the support of my fellow performers Andrew and Louis. Being on stage with them made me feel much more at ease and allowed all of us to enjoy the experience to the fullest. Ultimately, competing as a team brought us all closer together and reaffirmed in my mind the values of collaboration.