Believe It or Not

My dear friends, don't believe everything you hear.

Carefully weigh and examine what people tell you.

1 John 4:1 [The Message]

Last night I was on Youtube trolling for any videos of the current crop of aspiring singers on Britain's Got Talent.  This is the show that "discovered" Susan Boyle after everyone including the judges laughed behind their hands as she walked onto the stage.  You would think that all of the judges, including Simon Cowell, would have learned that you can't judge a book by its cover.  Apparently not.

During the latest auditions, a young man - greatly overweight, long hair, unkempt look - and a striking young woman walked on stage as a duo.  As they approached the center, Simon leans over to the judge next to him and says, "Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse."  He then proceeded to question the two in a rather resigned manner with his trademark sarcasm.  After giving the go-ahead, the music started, the two teenagers opened their mouths to sing, and the place erupted into applauding bedlam.

The boy - Jonathan - is a 17-year-old opera singer with a voice that will astound you and bring tears to your eyes.  The girl - Charlotte - is a 16-year-old pop singer.  Together, they sang The Prayer.  The judges were stunned, the audience was riotous, and when Jonathan hit the final high Bb, the whole place went wild.  The girl was a very good singer; the boy was beyond belief.

Simon immediately honed in on the difference in their abilities, telling Charlotte that he was afraid she would hurt Jonathan's chances in the competition.  A second time, he said that if he listened to his head, it was saying that Jonathan should "...dump her."  Jonathan looked pained, she was stricken, but then Jonathan said, "We came here as a duo and we will remain as a duo."  The audience thundered their agreement.

I thought about the young girl, standing there listening to Simon's comments - knowing how much that had to hurt.  Just at the point when I thought she might show tears, one of the women judges spoke up and said, "Charlotte, I thought your voice complimented Jonathan's in a very positive way, so don't get discouraged over these other comments.  I wanted to stand up and applaud.  There are so many people in this world who would love to advise us, tell us how to live our lives, criticize our "puny" efforts.  John says, "think carefully about what people say to you."  Not all advice is good, even when kindly given.