The day I met Alice Ferdenham...

ceilthojm *

Sometimes losing becomes more of a comfort than fear, for few of those who had accepted it as a habit. Such is a story of Alice Ferdenham which I came across when I watched her audition in the world famous talent show, Britain's Got Talent.

A 28-year old PG-therapist Alice was a fearful loser who still hoped to get through a success yet with no hope of succeeding. She still carried the hope like an ember but it was up to her whether she takes this ember as the dying fire or the spark to a big shine.

Like any other commoner who wants to gain fame and success, Alice came to the audition of BGT. Unlike other participants, she came alone with none to support or cheer her up. When she got on to the stage, you can easily figure out that she has a stage fright; holding her own hands together, shrugged shoulder, small steps.

Somehow she reached the center of the stage. As soon as she faces the audience, one of the judges asked her name and started off a small introductory conversation. When asked who she came with, she replied that she came all alone.

A shiver in her voice, a tensed giggle and fingers criss-crossed, ALICE was nervous and it was quite visible. The reason why he came alone was nothing but the fear to admit that she lost, again. She said in case if she failed, she doesn't have to admit to anyone who knows her because she had not told anyone that she is auditioning.

Then the judges asked her to start her performance. She was preparing herself. After the judges asked her to perform and before she started her act, a pre-recorded clip explained the story behind all her fear and nervousness. She had been rejected a lot of times.

People said "NO" and rejected her again and again. Rejections, rejections and failures at last. She was scared for another NO which had always screamed out loud to her ears that she is not good enough. It has become a routine for her whenever or whatever she had tried, but a hope brings her here and a fear hid it from her family.

Then the music started, there was a silence in the auditorium filled with hundreds of audiences. From behind the microphone, rose and evolved a voice, so mesmerising and incredibly beautiful as she started singing "My Funny Valentine".

With all the high and low pitches of the song, she let her voice flow like a stream, a beautifully flowing stream. She continued her song, as free as never she had imagined. Her tied hands were free and started to move with freedom in the air, eyes as bright as a star and a body relaxed like a baby. She was, by then, a different person altogether.

There were expressions of amazement and appreciation on the faces of the audience. The judges were equally engrossed in her song as if she got everyone under her spell yet she had not realised. The moment she ended her song, there was a roar of applauds. Audiences cheering with screams, claps and smiles. There was an appreciating crescendo.

As a listener, my hands clapped in a reflex of an action. It was so beautiful... When she realised it, she was not expecting it. There was a sparkle in her eyes with drops of tears piling up till the brim of her eyes. There were words of praise flowing in from the judges.

Simon, the serious, rude guy called her voice 'liquid gold'. Everyone on the panel had been wooed by her voice. She still had tears flowing all over, trying to control it and hide behind the microphone. This was the moment when I felt, had the judges rejected her, she wouldn't have cried this much.

Nothing would have changed in her life. She had come hopelessly and she would have returned failing. Things would have remained the same providing her her comfort zone of losing. But this moment took a 180 degree turn for Alice. She didn't fail, rather she succeeded. She was experiencing what she had never expected; she received not just a yes but 4 YES's. Alongwith the yes's, she was now a world famous personality that would be remembered. She got her piece of cake that she deserved and it was HER MOMENT...