My wife and I are big fans of the Finnish Idol show (It’s actually called Idols, but the format is exactly the same as in American Idol). Unlike many watchers we enjoy the good performances much more than the lousy ones – it’s just so great when you see someone use their talents and rock the audience.

The next season of Idols won’t start until next year but this weekend we have another reason to turn on the TV. On Sunday, the Finnish version of America’s Got Talent starts on Nelonen, one of our TV channels.

In case you’re wondering, it’s the show that brought us Paul Potts:

This time you’re already late from the auditions but I’ll still give you some tips in case you’d like to try entering next time.How do you survive the show without becoming one of the poor people that are used to make the show funnier?Find your talentsPaul Potts didn’t go for pop, he sang opera.

He doesn’t look like a pop star so if he’d gone with pop he had been laughed out from the stage. But he chose his passion, his talent. And won the whole thing.

Find your own talent. Don’t just try to copy a winning formula.

Practice

So you have found your talent. But hold it! Don’t go to the auditions just yet: in order to be the best at something you need to practice.

Use your talent a lot. Use it with one goal in mind: to be so good in this thing that people will vote for me when I go and show it in America’s Got Talent.

If your thing is joggling, you need to learn how to use the balls like a pro. And to become a pro you need to practice every day.

Find your own style

If you suck, people will laugh out of the competition.

If you’re really good but your performance doesn’t have personality you won’t be shown in TV at all.

To be on TV and get good comments from the jury you need to not only master your talent but also put your heart and soul in the process.

When you are practicing, be open for ideas. Think about your own style. Try to do something a bit crazy that others haven’t done before. Something that will make people care about you and your performance.

And then

they

w

i

l

l

vote for you.

Good luck, and if you’re in Finland, don’t forget to turn on your TV at 8 PM on Sunday!