This was one of those heartbreaking nights where I thought I had a great chance to place only to be slapped down by the judge for doing the very things we’ve been trained to do.
The challenge in the styling contests is to take the theme and run with it. For the last few weeks, it’s been an escalating challenge to keep pushing the envelope. Tonight the judge picked people who didn’t push the envelope at all. Tonight’s theme was “Famous Singer” and I picked The Man in Black:
The issue here is “gimmick” and where it all breaks down. In addition to making a shape that looked like Johnny Cash, I had a guitar and poses, and songs. When I went out on stage, I did a little Johnny Cash concert with gestures from “Ring of Fire” and “I Walk the Line.” It took a lot of work over the last couple of days to pull it all together. Unfortunately, tonight’s judge thought I didn’t walk the line, but crossed it. I can’t say I disagree. These contests have been less about modeling and more about gimmickry for at least the last couple of weeks. I certainly pushed that just about as far as it could go – and with a different judge – might have won.
What Would I Do Different?
With 20/20 hindsight, gone for the straight walk on and off. The problem with that is that I never know what the judge will like or not like and we never know who the judge will be from night to night.
Picked a different singer, somebody with more “stuff” I could carry and less performance. The problem is that this “performance” aspect is usually what wins.
Chalk it up to a bad night and take my two votes. Monday is Hawaiian and I’ve got a killer look for that.
Stuff
Hair: Laqroki – Rebel Black
Skin: Emil 1 – Pale
Eyes: E’s for Eyes – Gleeming Deep Brown
Suit: AlphaMale – Casual Tux Black
Guitar: Gibson – Epiphone EF-500RA Vintage
Shape: Custom sculpt by me
[...] I used this costume a few weeks ago and lost, but under the circumstances, I had to pull it out and try again. I did look at my advice [...]