VOS-25 Theatre Week by @deportal — [Oluwatosin]

Truthfully, I am quite a naturally inclined person towards acapella and love it dearly. There is something raw, pure, and honest about singing with just your voice-things that strip music down to its essentials and challenge you to feel each and every note properly. However, acapella can be also very demanding, especially when singing alone. Without other voices to harmonize or lead, it can be tiring at times because mine itself is not the most flexible as a lead. Here's an interesting part, though: when I have other voices around, I do wonders. My voice naturally blends, becomes an instrument in itself, and supports the overall melody. That is acapella in its magic in groups.

Conversely, accompaniment playing is second nature to me, especially when I am singing solo. The instrument provides a solid support on which I can tread, pinpoints the flow, and removes the psychological and physical tension of singing alone. It enables my voice to fly without having to bear all the harmonic elaboration alone.

While my voice works well with instrumentals, and I like both, religiously or in worship, for some things I would tend toward acapella. There's just something intensely spiritual about singing in this raw, naked form — it eliminates distractions and brings the message of the song more personally.

So, in short: acapella is my first love, especially in groups, because it lets me harmonize and support others. But instrumentals give me strength and ease when I’m solo. Both have their sweetness, and both bring out the unique colors of my voice. But if I were to give a direct answer to the question, I would say that singing with the instrumentals was sweeter because my voice alone is not perfect and smooth going like some voices I have listened to in the judges stage. That's why I do much respect those who are naturally lead gifted like the likes of @bee and some other persons I visited their blog to see what they are up to.

In all honesty, my worst fear at this moment was not doing it, but doing it wrong, in submitting my entry. For a moment, I thought missing the deadline would be the death of me. Now I realize that as long as I have done what I have to do, eviction will never be an issue. Results will speak for themselves, and all that is important to me is that I have done my best.

I joke that I could be the first person ever recorded in the Guinness Book of Records for singing a song competition with a sore throat. Even as I type to you today, I have a sore throat. But if I can live through a sore throat and still sing, what would really be challenging? Such an attitude makes every show sweeter and more tranquil.

Being here in this place is, in itself, a grace. Oluwatosin reminds me that Jesus is enough for me — yesterday, today, and forever. At my core, I don't think eviction is something to be feared, because my heart is in singing with my heart, doing my best, and letting the rest work out as it should. That is enough.