Under the Lights

[Warbsywoo]

Ever been 'under the lights' or 'on the spots'? In other words, have you ever been the sole focus of attention?

Give any you can remember, be it in view of a gigantic audience, or just your class or work buddies.

I've done so many times before, such as dancing in front of all the parents at 'Family Day' -- a sort of gathering in the middle of the school year to showcase student talent, quite fun actually -- for 6 years in a row. It went double too during graduation years.

Well, during the past few years, it would be presenting in front of the class, terrifying experience on my part.
But really, in retrospect, I learned a lot from it.

Also, Academic Team, you're always on the spot when you're on academic team, answering questions like you're on Jeopardy, when they stop and ask you to answer, it's deathly quiet, and you have to give out loud and clear, no room for mistakes and potential embarassment. >.>

So...generally I like being on the spot, just not when doing something I'm not comfortable doing.

Now you.

 

[Mitsuki]

Uh yeah. I remember when I was like 6 or 7, we were rehearsing for a dance "What's Up" (Hey, it was back in the 90's!). Anyway, my parents and the other dancer's parents were watching us rehearse and it was my first experience, so naturally I was nervous.

The night that we actually had to perform...I felt sick. Or at least I wanted to think that I did. =/ So I backed out, haha. They had to perform without me...and didn't even finish the whole performance because it started raining really hard...

 

[Rydia]

Senior year I had to give a talk to the entire Senior class. I'm a pretty shy person so I don't know how I even got through that one.

 

[Aztec Triogal]

Yea, I've been in and out of plays and musicals my whole life. Like it's hard to image me being theatrical. But I've always enjoyed being in front of a crowd and putting myself out there. It's something that's very unacceptable in most situations. Being drunk, being mentally retarded, or being in a theatrical play are about your only excuses to act like a child past the age of fifteen. That amount of untainted happiness is an incredible thing. Very rare.

 

[Pagan]

No, not that I know of. I might have had people's eyes on me before such as speaking to a small group, or getting my exam papers, but I don't know if that qualifies as "standing in the spotlights". I might stand in them later in life, on stage with a band, but 1) I won't be alone, 2) I'm a bassist. 3) I'll never be the lead vocalist...and that suits me perfectly fine. So, no, I doubt I'll ever be in the spots that much.

 

[Shenorai]

Anyone who has ever had to do a speech has been the general center of attention.

Although, there were a few times where I was center of attention for entertainment purposes.

Back in elementary school, there was a magic show where students actually got to volunteer. I'm sure most people know about the classic 'join the two rings together' trick. Well, I was one of the people the magician gave the rings to. He leaned over and told me to say "I don't know" when he asks what the magic words are. He also told me to hold both rings in one hand and flick my wrist so they clang together. Well, I did both of those...and one of the rings went flying into the audience. XD Such an embarrassment...

I was also a soloist in a few choir concerts. Also, relating to the singing bit, I used to write down a bunch of lyrics in my notebooks (of existing songs, of course) and try to memorize them like that. Some of it was Japanese. During breaks in class, I'd be asked to sing it and I'd end up getting everyone's attention after a minute or so.

I've literally been under the lights as well, for I used to be on stage and perform on there. 8th Grade, I was in a talent show and sang Melodies of Life (in English XD). 9th Grade, I was in the musical 'Kilroy Was Here!' (WWII musical). I also helped with the play 'Arsenic and Old Lace', but that was with backstage stuff.

...guess that's my list of attention. XD

 

[F. F. Fan]

Actually I have, I’ve always lucked out not having to participate in a play, but I did have to give a minimum 15 minute speech in High School to the entire sophomore class (something everyone had to do for a career interest). Anyway it was my first time doing any kind of speech with an audience so naturally I was scared as hell, but eventually as the speech went on I calmed down and go through it.

Either way, I’m the type of person who doesn’t like being in the spotlight, so I try to avoid it whenever possible.

 

[LupoGrigio146]

Sometimes I love being in the spotlight, and sometimes it scares the crap out of me. It depends on what exactly I'm doing. If it's singing or acting, I'm usually pretty calm up on stage (I've been in a ton of school musicals-it's really a lot of fun to be involved in one). But for some reason, I get a lot more nervous whenever I'm playing some sort of musical instrument in front of an audience (piano or French horn for me) because I get really anxious about messing up...and a lot of the time, I do. But hey, no one's perfect. Once you accept that fact, you can really go far in everything you do in life.

EDIT: Forgot about public speaking. That one can go either way for me. If I know most of the people in the audience, then I don't have a problem with it at all. But if you put me at a podium in front of a bunch of people I don't know well, I freak out.