Doing What I Love
I have been interested in a lot of things that this world has to offer, and I have always done what felt right at each particular moment. This has led me to enjoy things that I have never experienced before, such as getting my first ant farm for my 28th birthday (because at the particular moment when my wife asked me what I wanted for my birthday, I said “an ant farm.”)
One particular day last month brought with it an opportunity to go with the flow; To indulge the universe just for the hell of it. As I returned home from working the night shift at the hospital, my wife had left the computer open on the bed with a screen that read QUEEN EXTRAVAGANZA!
Upon further investigation I found out that Roger Taylor (Queen’s drummer) was holding auditions online for anyone in the US and Canada to fill spots for a 2012 North American tour commemorating Queen’s 40 year anniversary, including the search for a vocalist.
Many readers may already be aware that Freddie Mercury has always been my idol for his unmatched voice and dynamic stage presence. Though I cannot compare vocally to Freddie, I feel in touch with his passion for performing on stage in front of thousands of people. It is a high like no other (although I have heard heroin is pretty close).
I was instantly filled with adrenalin and had the Good Idea that I was going to submit an audition that day. Before I started the audition process, I decided to watch some of the other auditions to see where I stood compared to the competition. After watching 5 auditions I was so confident that I could barely contain my excitement.
Then I saw the sixth audition:
After watching this video 35 times and finally deciding that in fact he was not lip-syncing, I had the Good Idea to go to bed.
When I awoke I thought of another Good Idea for helping me pick myself up after having my dreams crushed by Freddie Mercury’s reincarnation. So I recorded my “audition”:
After posting this video I was blown away by how many people said that it was “funny, yet sad” or said “you poor guy, John G.” I guess my humorous angle did not completely hide my dejected spirit.
However, another pervasive theme throughout the comments was people telling me that the QUEEN EXTRAVAGANZA was in fact taking 3 vocalists, and that I should audition anyway.
Finally my wife asked me to audition for her sake, and almost a month later I gave in and submitted a real audition:
John G’s real round 1 audition
In that month Marc Martel, the reincarnation of Freddie, had become a celebrity with 4 million YouTube views, a performance on the Ellen show and non-stop attention from the across the globe. However during this whirlwind of instant fame, he managed to find time to post a comment on my audition video. He wrote:
“This is my wife’s favorite audition. H I L A R I O U S”
Even though my video has received as many “dislikes” as it has “likes” I am still proud of my accomplishment. No matter how successful Marc Martel will be, his wife liked my audition better than his (or at least that is how I am going to interpret the comment).
Then just this Thursday I received an email telling me that I was 1 of 24 vocalists selected by Roger Taylor and his QUEEN EXTRAVAGANZA judges to go onto the semi-finals. It turns out the public will decide which 6 of the 24 will go on to Los Angeles and the live Final Audition. Then 3 of the 6 will tour with the band! (There are also instrumentalists competing with each other for spots).
Suddenly I have the opportunity to do something that I have dreamed about ever since I first saw Freddie walk onto the stage at Wembley Stadium dressed as the Queen of England. Please help me realize this dream by voting for my video!
Voting is from Nov 14th (at noon)-Nov 28th, vote as often as you want!
Click Here to watch my new audition and vote! (Pretty Please?)
P.S. Marc Martel’s wife is probably voting for me, you should too!
THANK YOU AS ALWAYS!
Good Idea John G 
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