Knowing how to find your passion and follow it can have a profound impact on your life. In the last article, I told you the story of how singing in a metal band taught me about the role of the body in good vocal technique, and what my true calling in life was. In this article, I want to talk about how being on Season One of The Voice of Germany led me to create VOXXBODY®.
This article is part two of my story of self-discovery. I was on the German version of The Voice, back in 2012 (see the full Blind Audition here). In the interest of keeping it real: my time on the show was one of the most enlightening times in my entire career, but not for the reasons you might think. That’s why I want to share with you how my experience on The Voice led me to be honest with myself about my career choices, become a certified fitness trainer, and create the VOXXBODY® Vocal Fitness System.
“…I’m not throwing away my shot…”
Being a singer and being an athlete are more alike than many people think. Both are physically demanding and require intense training, concentration, and discipline to achieve peak performance. Just like an athlete has to perform at his or her peak, a singer has to be mentally and physically prepared for the challenging work of public performance. The modern performer is expected to not only be an awesome singer but a skilled dancer and talented actor/actress as well. This lesson became clear to me as a contestant on the first season of the German version of The Voice.
As you all know, The Voice is the most successful singing competition show in the world, with different versions of the show in 145 countries around the world. I’ve been involved in television for many years as a coach; I was a vocal coach on the first season of the German version of X-Factor, and a couple of other shows, but The Voice was the first show I participated in as a contestant.
When you work as a coach on a tv show, it’s your job to not only prepare the contestants to do their best in front of the camera but also to make sure that they’re ready for the intense psychological pressure of performing in front of millions of people. So when I became a contestant myself, I wasn’t quite prepared for what happened to me. I could totally understand what my singers went through.
Be careful what you wish for
The intense pressure of performing on a live television show with millions of viewers can take its toll on you psychologically and physically. My time on the show was very rewarding, but also physically and mentally draining. So much so that after appearing on the show, I almost completely lost my voice. I had developed something called hyperfunctional dysphonia, which is defined as severe cramping in the muscles that control my voice. This condition is usually caused by mental and physical stress, so I had to see a speech therapist to fix the problem.
I was in speech therapy for about six months. During this time, my speech therapist said something to me that would change my life. She said, “the absolute worst thing for a singer is sports!” Now what she was talking about was the notion that body tension required for sports training is a direct contradiction to the relaxed state the body should be in to sing properly. When she said this, I was shocked, because since I’m a professional singer and a fitness freak, I never really considered the role that body tension played in my singing. It led me to start asking questions. Like:
Is the physical stress needed to be good at fitness a positive or a negative to proper vocal technique? If so, does it have to be? It was my desire to answer all of these questions that led me to create VOXXBODY®.
All roads lead to here
So there you have it, The whole story of how two powerful moments in my history changed my whole perception of life, my career, and my true passion. After a lifetime of pursuing my dream of becoming a pop star, I discovered that my real passion was helping others achieve their dreams, which gives me greater satisfaction than I ever imagined could be possible.
I’m all about helping people like you get stronger, healthier voices and bodies, so if you’re looking for a program that incorporates all of the vocal and fitness tips that I give you on my site, please check out my VOXXBODY® workout.