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Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsOne last request for help and some DU love
My dear friend, Kimberly, has a beautiful music performance/video that I produced that is in a singer/songwriter contest.
She is a fantastic singer, and her song is very inspirational and a quite powerful story of her search to regain her personal power.
A week ago she entered a contest that had already been running for over a month. In just the last 6 days she rose to 45th place out of over 6,300 contestants, most of whom had already been in the contest for over a month!
To vote for her, all you have to do is watch the video. If you love it, please share it. K&R this too, please.
I would also love any comments you might have.
I've been a DU member now for 10 years. Never asked for a favor like this before. Probably won't again.
This is very important for her as she now is approaching a darn good chance to be in the semi-finals. Every view matters!
Thank you.
http://songwriter.revimage.com/channels/KimberlyHaynesMusic
In_The_Wind
(72,300 posts)Richard D
(8,674 posts)Kimberlyly
(9 posts)Thank you so much for viewing my video!!! Please feel free to share with the world
gopiscrap
(23,662 posts)antiquie
(4,299 posts)Richard D
(8,674 posts)It's beautiful, no?
Phentex
(16,329 posts)Very nice!
Richard D
(8,674 posts)Kaleva
(36,093 posts)Richard D
(8,674 posts)petronius
(26,576 posts)Richard D
(8,674 posts)Shampoobra
(423 posts)I don't know where to begin. My thoughts, in no particular order of importance:
1. Listening to that was a rare moment of bliss for me, due to Kimberly's voice and the song's melody.
2. I can't share it on any social networking sites because I avoid them all like the plague. (DU is as close to social networking as it gets for me.) All I can do to support her is view the video (which I did), email the link to friends (which I will), recommend your post (done), and buy Kimberly's music.
3. I'm confused, practically to the point of irritation, that I can't go to Amazon and buy Kimberly's MP3s or CDs, and I can't find her on CD Baby.
One of my hobbies is finding amateurs on YouTube (most of whom, while talented and promising, possess only a fraction of the talent Kimberly has), then purchasing their recordings on Amazon or CD Baby. I have entire MP3 playlists and CD-R compilations consisting exclusively of relatively unknown artists. It's a great way to find unique music, and the amateur artist gets the message that his or her vision is working its magic. (I mean, I highly doubt that famous, professional artists get excited when an email informs them they sold a song or a CD that day.)
So there's no excuse for this. Kimberly has created what economists call a "pent-up demand" for her product. I'm positive that, like myself, a lot of viewers would have gone directly from this video to a site that sold her music, had one existed.
4. I'm supposed to be somewhere else right now. I'm not "late" - I am, in fact, a no-show. That's how much her performance moved me today. It literally caused me to change my Saturday plans so I could spend the time telling you how much I liked it.
5. Beyond Kimberly's excellent performance, the song itself is a true gem, and would have translated as such even if it had been performed by someone with none of Kimberly's talent.
6. If or when she makes her MP3s or CDs available, I hope you'll post a link (and send it to me through DU Mail, in case I miss the thread).
Richard D
(8,674 posts)For the past years, Kimberly has been a near full-time mom. That is why there are no CD's.
The Phoenix is really a song about how she has been struggling over the past years with removing the chains of a very challenging past that in many ways kept her from really opening up to her inner and outer talents. Entering this contest is a huge step for her and represents her saying to the world "I am ready now".
Obviously, with the incredible success she is showing in this contest, the world is agreeing.
Part of the grand prize is having a 4 song EP produced by Don Was. I'm hoping she wins this, of course. It's a huge game-changer.
Also, as a result of this several producers have shown interest in her. So I expect a full CD sometime soon. There's a couple youtube videos if you search her name. The three on the contest site are just the beginning.
I just got her to join DU, so I'll talk her into making a post here.
She has a website for her voice coaching. kimberlyhaynes.net.
Thank you again. Your words were sent to her and they are so very meaningful and inspiring.
Shampoobra
(423 posts)...my "there's no excuse for this" comment was meant to be rhetorical. Of course there are good reasons why a person wouldn't have time to produce a CD. My daughter has a lot of kids, and I don't know how she gets anything done. I find myself exhausted when I babysit them for just a few hours.
(Last December I was telling one of my grandchildren, "You're going to take a long trip for Christmas with your brothers and sisters and your mom and dad. Your school will stop for two weeks, and your dad won't have to work for two weeks, and ..." And then I had a epiphany. I turned to my daughter and said, "You don't ever get a vacation, do you?" We talked about that and likened it to a business trip. Everyone else gets a vacation, but Mom gets a business trip. Mom has to do her regular job as always, but she has to do it on the road, while living out of a suitcase!)
Shampoobra
(423 posts)What if, instead of merely thinking it, or saying it, we actually meant it?
Kimberlyly
(9 posts)This is so touching - and inspiring. Thank you for your kind words.... I am speechless...
Shampoobra
(423 posts)but thanks just the same
Shampoobra
(423 posts)... and come to think of it, so could that.
Kimberlyly
(9 posts)I so appreciate your support in this crazy contest! Every view counts, so please SHARE if you care to - even if you don't LOL!
Thank you so much!
Shampoobra
(423 posts)I was searching Amazon and CD Baby for Kimberly Haynes, and I should have been looking for "Kimberlyly" Haynes.
Mnemosyne
(21,363 posts)Rebellious Republican
(5,029 posts)Really I did not understand where you go to vote.
Rebellious Republican
(5,029 posts)Shampoobra
(423 posts)If I understand correctly, a view counts as a vote, but it also helps to share the video on sites like Facebook and Twitter, or link to it on your own personal website.
Rebellious Republican
(5,029 posts)I don't tweet, facebook or have a personal website, so back to vote I go!
Rebellious Republican
(5,029 posts)Richard D
(8,674 posts)I don't think viewing it multiple times adds to the votes though. But it's good music.
The other songs are also very nice. If you just leave the initial video going it will cycle through them.
Rebellious Republican
(5,029 posts)Have been checking them all out.
TxDemChem
(1,918 posts)Richard D
(8,674 posts)TxDemChem
(1,918 posts)And please send her my best wishes. I'm a lover of music and really appreciate the craft.
Kimberlyly
(9 posts)For your endless supply of brilliance and support!
snagglepuss
(12,704 posts)So glad Richard posted the vid. Wishing you every success.
Shampoobra
(423 posts)I've watched it quite a few times, and I think the video's effectiveness is a combination of (not necessarily in this order) the song itself, the voice, the passionate delivery, the truth behind it (which I guess could be considered the delivery, in which case I'm being redundant), and the accompaniment.
hwmnbn
(4,277 posts)Richard D
(8,674 posts)NBachers
(16,964 posts)Richard D
(8,674 posts)The other musicians are fantastic as well. Perfect background.
I hope that they have a future together. I'm also hoping for a stand-up bass or cello.
calimary
(80,521 posts)I'd love to listen to this!
Richard D
(8,674 posts)And some other smartphones. Is that the case for you?
calimary
(80,521 posts)And I just can't get the music to play. Can't figure out how. I wouldn't even begin to know how to do it on an iPhone. I can barely make a coherent phone call on mine. Severe technophobe here, I'm afraid.
Kimberlyly
(9 posts)You must listen on a computer. Phone or pad won't play.
Thank you so much for checking it out, and PLEASE SHARE! Making dreams come true
calimary
(80,521 posts)Glad you're here! I understand your music is WUNNderful! My son has a band that I plug whenever I can (check my sig line).
I am using my laptop, but that's where I can't get it to play. And there's no way I could figure anything out on an iPhone. Can barely even make phone calls with the damn thing.
I'll keep trying, but I can't get anything to respond. Sure wish you the best of luck, though!
Richard D
(8,674 posts)Thank you DU!
The jump to the 30's is steep, but we're all doing it!
Shampoobra
(423 posts)(Pacific time)
Kimberlyly
(9 posts)Thank you everyone for your views and shares!!! My video is rapidly gaining on all those ahead of me! So exciting to get my message out there. A dream unfolding right before my eyes. Wow!
Great gratitude to each of you!
http://songwriter.revimage.com/channels/KimberlyHaynesMusic
veness
(413 posts)CherokeeDem
(3,709 posts)Good job and good luck!
pacalo
(24,721 posts)Best of luck for the win!
Kimberlyly
(9 posts)We've done so great!!! We hit 1900 tonight around 7:30 and I know we will take 2000 by midnight tonight!!
I'm really humbled by your loving support and I look forward to sharing amazing news tomorrow!!!!
Great gratitude!
Shampoobra
(423 posts)I can't stop listening to this
irisblue
(32,793 posts)she has a good voice
BlueToTheBone
(3,747 posts)Richard D
(8,674 posts)The really important part of the contest was completed at midnight. We won't know the results till around December 15, but I can't imagine that Kimberly didn't get into the finals.
Beautifully, her views continue to climb, and she's on the cusp of entering the 30's. It's so astounding that this all happened in just a week.
Now I'm hoping that the trend continues, and while it won't directly affect the outcome, her continuing up the ladder can't hurt. Plus, even more importantly, I've seen her music deeply touch hearts that needed to hear her message.
So please keep sharing!
Thank you all so much. So happy and proud to be a member of this wonderful community.
Shampoobra
(423 posts)It scares me a little to think I almost didn't click on your thread when you posted it. I was feeling very negative that morning, but I thought: Who knows, why not at least give it a chance.
My initial positive reaction, which began in earnest about a minute into the video, happened to coincide with a recent epiphany. I mentioned up-thread how the performance resulted in a rare moment of bliss, which was a topic that had been on my mind just a few days earlier.
I was taking a walk and listening to the radio, and a song came on that reminded me of the summer of 2001, which was one of the happiest periods of my life. Now, I've experienced moments of happiness and/or pleasure since then, but as this old song played, and as I felt a rising bliss that took me back to that summer, I discovered the reason my life was so good then, and so mediocre now.
Back then, I made it a point to experience blissful moments as often as possible. It was healthy, unlike chasing an addiction or an obsession. It was the kind of bliss that made me realize my very existence is a valuable gift that has been bestowed on me. Without that bliss, and even in moments of happiness or pleasure, the universe can seem ugly, cruel, and even punitive.
So that day, on that walk I realized why my day-to-day life was so much better then. (It wasn't because I was younger in 2001 than I am now, because 2001 was much better for me than many of the preceding years.) I had been seeking and finding bliss on purpose, on a regular basis, and that resulted in feelings of thankfulness instead of want.
Two or three days later, I was experiencing bliss again while listening to Kimberly sing "The Phoenix." I felt like, happiness and pleasure aside, I had developed an invisible shell that was made up all things negative ... as if the magnetic properties of this shell transferred to the outer layer, attracting more negativity (and further strengthening the shell).
I realized, happiness and pleasure aside, that what I've been doing for the past 12 years is WAITING. Nothing was going to improve, there was probably nothing good at the end of the journey, and suicide was (as always) out of the question.
I could go on all day like this. I'll try to cut it short. What happened when I watched Kimberly's video was just a pleasurable experience at first, as her voice is physically soothing. But then, the song's message seemed to address this inner version of myself, a version which had long been in hibernation. It reached the one who used to be in charge: the bliss-maker. The one who used to insist that life be made valuable on a recurring basis, and would tolerate no opposition.
"Its dark in here, where I've been hiding all my fears."
Had I seen those words in print, I don't think I would have noticed them, but when Kimberly sang them, the bliss-maker became enraged at his unlawful imprisonment, fought to break the shell, and it was a surprisingly easy exit. (Negativity, it turns out, has no intrinsic power!) The evidence I have that the experience is real has been my increased levels of creativity over the past two days.
So, seriously ... no need to thank anyone. Thank YOU for posting the link in the first place.
Richard D
(8,674 posts)Thank you. Beautiful words and thoughts.
Kimberlyly
(9 posts)That is so beautiful. I am honored to have been a part of an awakening for you - and even more that you have shared the experience so beautifully with me - and others.
It is truly this healing that songs are meant to serve. So, thank you for having the ears to hear - both literally and figuratively - my songs.
Blessings to you.
Kim.
Shampoobra
(423 posts)Artistic expression often reminds the listener, viewer, or reader that he or she is not alone.
When the artist has experienced extreme pain or joy, something so strong that it can't help but direct the artist's creative path; and when the resulting message has been so carefully delivered that the audience can't help but perceive it as genuine, it can send a feeling that reaches to the core of our experience as humans. The feeling is a reminder that we are not alone, that others experience the same intense levels of pain and joy that we experience.
Keeping that in mind, the very first time I watched your video, it seemed like it was being sung with the energy of someone who had already won the contest. That alone gave the song a sense of validity for me. ("This is someone who knows what she's talking about, so I should pay attention." The song became a kind of warning to me that procrastination is artistic sin, a reminder that I need to get serious about a project of my own - something I had been putting about five minutes a day into when I could afford to spend at least an hour or two each day on it.
RebelOne
(30,947 posts)steve2470
(37,455 posts)Kimberlyly
(9 posts)Thank you so much for viewing! Please share if you have any way to do so.
Many blessings to you.
Kim.
Shampoobra
(423 posts)Do they wait a couple of weeks before updating those?
It's the 19th now, but the most recent Top 10 list is still 9/29 though 10/6.
I keep checking to see if Kimberly's video made it to the 10/7 through 10/13 list, but it hasn't been created.
Richard D
(8,674 posts). . . and actually, sadly, the weekly top 10 is not indicative of who will be in the judged top 100 as it includes all the people in the contest, including those who were already in the weekly top 10 in the past. Oddly, the top 100 are not revealed, so we'll not find out unless Kimberly is one of the 10 chosen finalists. That will be released around Dec. 15.
If she is, and I so hope so, she will then perform in front of the judges to see who gets first place.
Richard D
(8,674 posts)She got up to #39 overall, which is extraordinary, but has in the last day slipped down to #40 overall.
So she still needs as much help as possible spreading the video until the contest ends in 2 weeks.
Thank you all over and over again!
Richard D
(8,674 posts)As you can see, Kimberly is now one of the top 10 views of the week. This means that she will go on to be one of 100 semi-finalists, personally viewed by the judges. This is out of over over 7,800 contestants! Next step, top 10!
While the weekly part of the contest is successfully completed, there's still nearly 2 weeks where your love and support can only help her in the eyes of the judges.
And beyond helping her, watching the video is deeply touching people's hearts.
Here's the video in case you haven't seen it yet or want to see it again.
http://songwriter.revimage.com/channels/KimberlyHaynesMusic
Again, thank you all so much!
Shampoobra
(423 posts)...I watched her channel jump from 41 back up to 39.