论文部分内容阅读
I have always loved Simon Cowell for his honesty—the way he tells people straight whether they are good or bad. To me， he has always been a bit of a god， someone who could get you anywhere， 1）music-wise. So last summer， aged 12， I applied for Britain’s Got Talent， with a dream： I wanted to make something of the harp.
In October I had my audition in front of the judges. In the 2）holding area I sat by an old man with a suitcase full of live cockroaches that he was eating for his performance， two 3）rollerbladers （one in swimming shorts）， some 4）line dancers and a man who was reciting lines from Gladiator.
It was scary waiting to go on， sitting 5）in the wings for hours while a guy warmed up the audience： he was getting them to 6）fever pitch and they were already shouting “Shit！ Shit！ Shit！” I was the second act. I was told that I would have five or ten minutes after the first act to get ready but the rollerbladers got 7）buzzed off in seven seconds and then Ant and Dec were saying： “Go， Hero！”
The crew had gone over and over with me where my head was to be when I played， and as soon as I was on stage I realised why. I was looking directly at Cowell， who yawned and rolled his eyes before I had even sounded a note. He kept it up the whole way through my performance. The trouble with a harp is that it’s difficult to move so I was stuck looking at him while performing in front of nearly 2，000 people. I had wanted to do one of my own compositions， which I’d played at the audition， but had been told I should do a cover， so I did Run by 8）Snow Patrol. I was lucky： the audience loved it. I got a 9）standing ovation and cheers all the way through. Alesha Dixon wiped away a tear， David Walliams said I was amazing， so did Amanda Holden， but Simon’s evil stare continued. I suspect he had made up his mind about me long before， as I could see him looking at notes when he gave me a “No” and said that the harp didn’t do it for him； it was old-fashioned. The audience started to 10）chant： “Harp up， Simon！” I tried to stand up to him and said that what I want to do is show that the harp can be used like a guitar for contemporary music.
I came off （the） stage wanting to cry， but I had got three yeses so had to leap up and down acting happy in front of the cameras， with Ant and Dec congratulating me on being through to the next round. But last month， the night before I was due back on BGT， the phone rang： I had been dropped. I had wasted half my 11）half term getting ready for that. Cowell shatters dreams and yet I so wanted to impress him. I still want the harp to be the new guitar； I hope I can do it.
我一直都很喜欢西蒙·考威尔，因为他的坦率直言——无论对方是好是坏，他告知他们的方式总是那么直接。对我而言，他就是神的化身，一个在音乐领域能将你推到任何位置的神人。所以去年夏天，十二岁的我报名参加了《英国达人》选秀比赛，怀抱着这样一个梦想：让竖琴在我的指尖绽放光彩。
十月份的时候，我在评委面前进行了试镜。在等候区，坐在我旁边的是：一位老先生，他带着一整个手提箱的活蟑螂，准备表演生吃蟑螂；两名轮滑溜冰者（其中一位还穿着泳裤），一群集体舞者，还有一个正在背诵《角斗士》台词的男人。
可怕的等待持续蔓延着，我们在后台干坐的好几个小时里，一个男人在调动现场观众的情绪，让他们狂热起来，但观众已经在大吐脏话了。我是第二个上场表演的。他们告诉我，在第一个表演之后，我会有五或十分钟的准备时间，但轮滑溜冰者在七秒后就挂掉了，于是安特和德克朝我喊：“海洛，上！”
工作人员之前再三和我确认演奏时我面向的方位，直到站上舞台，我才知道为什么。我直直地看向考威尔，而他在我甚至连一个音符都还没开始演奏前就已经哈欠连连、大翻白眼了。在我的整个表演过程中，他一直都是这样。因为竖琴很难挪动，所以在近2000名观众前，我只能被迫看着他来演奏。我想演奏一首我自己的创作——就是我之前试镜时弹奏过的曲目——但他们却要我演奏其他名曲，所以我演奏了雪地巡游者的《离开》。我是幸运的：观众们喜欢我的表演。一路下来，全场观众为我起立鼓掌、欢呼喝彩。阿丽莎·迪克森擦去眼泪，大卫·威廉姆斯说我令人惊艳，阿曼达·霍尔登也给了我很高的评价，但西蒙恶魔般的盯视持续着。我怀疑他老早就把我打入地狱，因为在他给我一个“淘汰”，并且说竖琴已经过时、不对他胃口时，我看到他正盯着笔记看。观众开始不停地喊着：“竖琴很现代，西蒙！”我试图与他对抗，反驳说我想做的是证明竖琴也可以像吉他一样用来演奏现代音乐。
我走下舞台，想要大哭一场，可我已经拿到了三个“通过”，所以当安特和德克在摄像机前恭喜我进入下一轮时，我得暴跳一番，一副开怀兴奋的样子。但上个月，在我原定回到《英国达人》舞台的前一晚，电话响了：我被淘汰了。我浪费了半个期中假来准备这个比赛。虽然考威尔粉碎了我的梦想，但我还是很想给他留下深刻的印象。
我仍旧想让竖琴成为新式吉他；我希望我能做到。
小资料
西蒙·考威尔（Simon Cowell，1959—）身上有许多头衔：现代流行音乐的开拓者、唱片及电视节目制作人、唱片公司老板、“西城男孩”的恩师，但让他扬名全球的恐怕是“选秀节目评委”这一身份了。作为包括《美国偶像》（American Idol）、《英国达人》（Britain’s Got Talent）、及《X元素》（The X Factor）在内的多个知名电视选秀节目的评委，西蒙发掘了不少人才。
西蒙·考威尔是个“臭名昭著”的评委，以尖刻严厉的“毒舌”著称，他对参赛者尖锐刻薄的评论常常引发争议。虽然西蒙在节目中评论尖刻，但他的确是这些选秀节目的灵魂人物，如果少了他，节目将会失去很多乐趣，很多人喜欢看这些节目也是因为他口无遮拦的点评。到底他有多“毒舌”呢？你一看便知——
1. It is a beautiful song when you’re not singing it.
你不唱它的时候，它是首好歌。
2. That was extraordinary. Unfortunately， extraordinary bad！
你的表演很特别。不幸的是，特别地差劲！
3. You have just invented a new form of torture.
你发明了一种折磨人的新手段。
4. If you had lived 2，000 years ago and sung like that， I think they would have stoned you.
如果你生活在两千年前，唱成这样，我想人们会向你扔石头的。
5. There’s only so much punishment a human can take. I can’t take anymore.
人类能承受的惩罚是有限的，我再也无法忍受了。
In October I had my audition in front of the judges. In the 2）holding area I sat by an old man with a suitcase full of live cockroaches that he was eating for his performance， two 3）rollerbladers （one in swimming shorts）， some 4）line dancers and a man who was reciting lines from Gladiator.
It was scary waiting to go on， sitting 5）in the wings for hours while a guy warmed up the audience： he was getting them to 6）fever pitch and they were already shouting “Shit！ Shit！ Shit！” I was the second act. I was told that I would have five or ten minutes after the first act to get ready but the rollerbladers got 7）buzzed off in seven seconds and then Ant and Dec were saying： “Go， Hero！”
The crew had gone over and over with me where my head was to be when I played， and as soon as I was on stage I realised why. I was looking directly at Cowell， who yawned and rolled his eyes before I had even sounded a note. He kept it up the whole way through my performance. The trouble with a harp is that it’s difficult to move so I was stuck looking at him while performing in front of nearly 2，000 people. I had wanted to do one of my own compositions， which I’d played at the audition， but had been told I should do a cover， so I did Run by 8）Snow Patrol. I was lucky： the audience loved it. I got a 9）standing ovation and cheers all the way through. Alesha Dixon wiped away a tear， David Walliams said I was amazing， so did Amanda Holden， but Simon’s evil stare continued. I suspect he had made up his mind about me long before， as I could see him looking at notes when he gave me a “No” and said that the harp didn’t do it for him； it was old-fashioned. The audience started to 10）chant： “Harp up， Simon！” I tried to stand up to him and said that what I want to do is show that the harp can be used like a guitar for contemporary music.
I came off （the） stage wanting to cry， but I had got three yeses so had to leap up and down acting happy in front of the cameras， with Ant and Dec congratulating me on being through to the next round. But last month， the night before I was due back on BGT， the phone rang： I had been dropped. I had wasted half my 11）half term getting ready for that. Cowell shatters dreams and yet I so wanted to impress him. I still want the harp to be the new guitar； I hope I can do it.
我一直都很喜欢西蒙·考威尔，因为他的坦率直言——无论对方是好是坏，他告知他们的方式总是那么直接。对我而言，他就是神的化身，一个在音乐领域能将你推到任何位置的神人。所以去年夏天，十二岁的我报名参加了《英国达人》选秀比赛，怀抱着这样一个梦想：让竖琴在我的指尖绽放光彩。
十月份的时候，我在评委面前进行了试镜。在等候区，坐在我旁边的是：一位老先生，他带着一整个手提箱的活蟑螂，准备表演生吃蟑螂；两名轮滑溜冰者（其中一位还穿着泳裤），一群集体舞者，还有一个正在背诵《角斗士》台词的男人。
可怕的等待持续蔓延着，我们在后台干坐的好几个小时里，一个男人在调动现场观众的情绪，让他们狂热起来，但观众已经在大吐脏话了。我是第二个上场表演的。他们告诉我，在第一个表演之后，我会有五或十分钟的准备时间，但轮滑溜冰者在七秒后就挂掉了，于是安特和德克朝我喊：“海洛，上！”
工作人员之前再三和我确认演奏时我面向的方位，直到站上舞台，我才知道为什么。我直直地看向考威尔，而他在我甚至连一个音符都还没开始演奏前就已经哈欠连连、大翻白眼了。在我的整个表演过程中，他一直都是这样。因为竖琴很难挪动，所以在近2000名观众前，我只能被迫看着他来演奏。我想演奏一首我自己的创作——就是我之前试镜时弹奏过的曲目——但他们却要我演奏其他名曲，所以我演奏了雪地巡游者的《离开》。我是幸运的：观众们喜欢我的表演。一路下来，全场观众为我起立鼓掌、欢呼喝彩。阿丽莎·迪克森擦去眼泪，大卫·威廉姆斯说我令人惊艳，阿曼达·霍尔登也给了我很高的评价，但西蒙恶魔般的盯视持续着。我怀疑他老早就把我打入地狱，因为在他给我一个“淘汰”，并且说竖琴已经过时、不对他胃口时，我看到他正盯着笔记看。观众开始不停地喊着：“竖琴很现代，西蒙！”我试图与他对抗，反驳说我想做的是证明竖琴也可以像吉他一样用来演奏现代音乐。
我走下舞台，想要大哭一场，可我已经拿到了三个“通过”，所以当安特和德克在摄像机前恭喜我进入下一轮时，我得暴跳一番，一副开怀兴奋的样子。但上个月，在我原定回到《英国达人》舞台的前一晚，电话响了：我被淘汰了。我浪费了半个期中假来准备这个比赛。虽然考威尔粉碎了我的梦想，但我还是很想给他留下深刻的印象。
我仍旧想让竖琴成为新式吉他；我希望我能做到。
小资料
西蒙·考威尔（Simon Cowell，1959—）身上有许多头衔：现代流行音乐的开拓者、唱片及电视节目制作人、唱片公司老板、“西城男孩”的恩师，但让他扬名全球的恐怕是“选秀节目评委”这一身份了。作为包括《美国偶像》（American Idol）、《英国达人》（Britain’s Got Talent）、及《X元素》（The X Factor）在内的多个知名电视选秀节目的评委，西蒙发掘了不少人才。
西蒙·考威尔是个“臭名昭著”的评委，以尖刻严厉的“毒舌”著称，他对参赛者尖锐刻薄的评论常常引发争议。虽然西蒙在节目中评论尖刻，但他的确是这些选秀节目的灵魂人物，如果少了他，节目将会失去很多乐趣，很多人喜欢看这些节目也是因为他口无遮拦的点评。到底他有多“毒舌”呢？你一看便知——
1. It is a beautiful song when you’re not singing it.
你不唱它的时候，它是首好歌。
2. That was extraordinary. Unfortunately， extraordinary bad！
你的表演很特别。不幸的是，特别地差劲！
3. You have just invented a new form of torture.
你发明了一种折磨人的新手段。
4. If you had lived 2，000 years ago and sung like that， I think they would have stoned you.
如果你生活在两千年前，唱成这样，我想人们会向你扔石头的。
5. There’s only so much punishment a human can take. I can’t take anymore.
人类能承受的惩罚是有限的，我再也无法忍受了。