World Wanting Peace

"Let's drag out everything dumb we said when we were 18"

I worried about this girl all last week...

You know who I'm talking about - South Carolina Miss Teen America. Why on earth would I worry about her?

Well, let's see...

She's 18 years old, and ridiculed all over America for a dumb answer she gave under pressure.

Clips on Youtube.com portraying the incident have been viewed more than 19,000,000 times. Tons of additional cruel clips have cropped up ridiculing her. Even Subway (the sandwich place) created a commercial that took a cheap shot.

That's the kind of thing that a fragile mind (like most of us possess) could obsess about to the point of paranoia, and really turn into a life defining moment.

You probably remember those moments...good or bad in your life that stayed with you. Often, they're moments we'd like to redo.

But, seldom are there redo's in real life.

So I was tickled to see an interview with her on The Today Show also on YouTube where her situation was handled fairly and with compassion. Click on the image above to start the video in a new window.

She's a smart girl with a great future...and a healthy perspective, I'm glad to say.

Good God! She's 18. I'd hate to be judged on what I did when I was 18...

Find Your Voice...

In 1998, you could not have drug me to an Opera. I was more of James Taylor-Santana-Steppenwolf kind of guy.

But then I married an opera singer.

I was really nervous going to my first opera (Andre Chenier) to watch my wife on stage, but I hadn't fallen in love with a beautiful woman with a beautiful voice.

At the end of Chenier, I had fallen in love with opera too.

Yesterday, Luciano Pavarotti died. A great voice, huge talent. He brought opera to the masses. Even if you don't like opera, you know Pavarotti.

Today, my friend Mark Hendricks (who spent several years in the music business as well) sent me a link to a scene from the British version of The American Idol.

A man - a cell phone salesman named by day Paul Potts - wows the audience with his version of a Pavarotti standard taking everyone by surprise.

As soon as he opened his mouth, I gasped...and tears started flowing.

It was the story that got me, not the music itself. Oh, he's good, but when I'm in Atlanta, I room with a tenor who practices every day and is a much better singer.

But this little guy is everyman, hiding in little job because he doesn't have great confidence in himself. He's the chubby guy in the lunchroom who sat by himself avoiding social interaction. He's the one who doesn't say much or smile much because he's got bad teeth.

And inside him, lay a spirit - his voice - that couldn't be contained.

We've all got that spirit. All we have to do is find our voice.

Click on the link - turn up your speakers. Watch and cry.

Then click to the bottom of the page and listen to his next-to-final performance.

And click here to see his final performance on Youtube.

Whew!