beyoncé would never win the x factor

navigating your potential in a world of opinions

NOW WAIT.

HOLD UP.

I plead with the Beyhive. I’m joking. I’m kidding.

There’s a point to all of this. So please don’t cancel me, drag me on Twitter, or find my home address.

I’m actually begging. And don’t fight me because I know you guys like to tussle.

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Alexander Burke’s year of X Factor was pure British television at its prime. I think we can all agree that the show very much fell off after that.

One major aspect of her winning campaign was a duet with Beyoncé in the finals. I still don’t know how ITV had the budget for that but we thank God it happened.

But it recently had me thinking. I genuinely don’t believe that Beyoncé would win The X Factor.

Does she have the talent for it? Undoubtedly. But let’s be honest. Simon Cowell would say she’s a bit flat, Nicole Scherzinger would say she lacks the star quality, and Louie Walsh would say she’s too overconfident and is a bully (#JusticeForMishaB).

In May, I was invited to compete in the London Heats of the Roundhouse Poetry Slam. It was my first ever poetry slam and if I’m being very honest, I knew I wasn’t going to make it to the finals but I was just honoured to make it that far.

10 poets all with different poetry styles battling it out for a place in the finals. And honestly, it was one of the best experiences of my poetry “career”. Hearing the talent on show was inspiring.

But there was a slight issue.

Talking to some of the other poets, we appreciated the advice that was given by the judges, but some of us were given quite contradictory feedback. I was told my poetry was basically too light-hearted and jokey whilst others were told they were too emotional.

And this links me to the point of this blog piece. Far from it to be bitter for not making the finals. But I just couldn’t get it over my head that a girl was told that her poetry was too emotional. She was literally spilling out the contents of her heart. Her inner most thoughts, emotions, and some of her deepest and darkest moments; to receive this feedback. To be honest, maybe I’m just bitter that she didn’t win.

And that’s why I always say that Beyonce would never win The X Factor. Comparison mixed with judgement misses out on some of the best talent possible.

Competition-based TV shows and opportunities don’t necessarily find the best talent, just whoever people relate with more or who’s more marketable. Dragon’s Den doesn’t always select the most innovative business ideas but the ones they think will sell. If singers and artists attempted to rise to fame via shows like The X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent, they would still be busking in central London and releasing music on Soundcloud.

Take the Rap Game UK for example. Why are you being judged on your ability to record a diss track as that week’s challenge and be given 24 hours to write, memorise, and perform a new song about [insert random topic here]? When was that ever part of the music industry and why are judges using that to determine the trajectory of someone’s musical career?

But your performance to people standards is not your ceiling. It isn’t the best that you can offer life.

Being comfortable with people’s opinions of you is all part of growing up. Realising that opinions, judgment, and criticism often come with context. Understanding that allows you not to take things personally.

Many of us who grew up in the school system know how opinions can tarnish potential. What set you are in. Whether you sit the Higher or Foundation paper in GCSE Maths. Predicted grades. Negative reviews in parent’s evening. From young we’re taught that opinions shape us. We even go searching for them. Find validation in them.

We live in an opinion based society. It’s tough and there’s not much we can really do about it. But you always have the power to choose how you respond. You may not be able to control the original narrative, but you can definitely rewrite the story.

Some opinions may be justified but it doesn’t mean that you’re bound by it. Your life isn’t a continuous self-fulfilling prophecy.

Some of you are still angry at your Year 8 French teacher for saying you would never amount to anything. Even though that is a terrible thing to say to a child, come on. You turned up to school late everyday, with half a pen, and your tie looking like you’ve just been trading stocks on Wall Street. The woman was only going on the information she had. Forgive her. But you’re grown now. You control you now.

As I Grow Older, I realise that I am not a result of opinions but my own actions. If I allow my actions to be shaped by opinions then that’s my own. Even if you were to ask 100 people for their opinion of me, I’m sure you would get some mixed reviews. But I choose if I accept those labels or not (this is starting to sound like an A Level Sociology lesson).

If you judge your potential reach by the measure of people’s opinions, you will be resting on trees when God intended for you to be surfing on clouds.

I feel like everyone has seen this quote. Opinions are unfair, but I thank God I’m not bound by them. They don’t give me my self worth.

Love, Peace, & Blessings,

Abs