Voice of the Ocean

[Elann]

Hello,

 

We are on the Ruby Princess to Alaska leaving from San Francisco on August 5th.  

 

My daughter is a vocalist and once she heard about the Voice of the Ocean - she was so excited!  Do you know if they will let teens participate and does anyone know if they are still having it?

 

Thank you!

 

Jennifer

[sirclean]

They had it on the Ruby in March, but I dont know the age limits.  So it was at least recently there, but I can not answer the other part of your question.

[coo359a2]

Was on Regal Princess last month. One week the winner was 16 years old and the 2nd week one of the finalists was 16 years old

[mtnesterz]

There is a substantial sized PDF you can download, Voice of the Ocean Competition Rules. Nothing I saw about age, but worthwhile to note that if winning on the cruise, there is a hefty entry fee for the Grand Prize competition. Have no idea if Princess is still doing this. 

[Deesquared]

When we did it, it was ages 14 and up. It was lots of fun, but just remember that it's JUST for fun! Two of the people who were in the show with me thought they they were going to get picked up by talent scouts and such. They made the whole experience surreal and a bit uncomfortable.

 

[capriccio]

On the Ruby Princess in 2018 contestants had to be at least 16. One younger girl (15 IIRC) didn’t qualify based on age but the host explained her situation and had her sing while the votes were being tabulated.  She had a lovely voice so it was a nice compromise.  

[skynight]

Just to note. Karaoke backing tracks of your choice are used for the initial tryout with passengers in the room voting for their favorite. The best singers may not be selected by the passengers. Be prepared for not being chosen. If selected to perform on stage you have to select a song from a list of approximately 150 songs. Song title and key is shown on the list. You can not change the key. Approximately half of the songs are normally sung by females and the other half males, but you are not limited and can choose any song on the list. The musicians have charts for the songs. All songs are shortened to around 90 seconds. There are a few rehearsals with the live band and coaches to help in singing with live musicians. Some do have difficulty with the transition from backing tracks to live. That is why the coaches are there to help.  I have been in performance groups with what appeared to be older teens.  

Edited April 6, 2023 by skynight

[Elann]

On 4/5/2023 at 3:08 PM, sirclean said:

They had it on the Ruby in March, but I dont know the age limits.  So it was at least recently there, but I can not answer the other part of your question.

Thank you!!

[Elann]

On 4/5/2023 at 4:31 PM, mtnesterz said:

There is a substantial sized PDF you can download, Voice of the Ocean Competition Rules. Nothing I saw about age, but worthwhile to note that if winning on the cruise, there is a hefty entry fee for the Grand Prize competition. Have no idea if Princess is still doing this. 

Thank you!

[Elann]

On 4/5/2023 at 4:31 PM, mtnesterz said:

There is a substantial sized PDF you can download, Voice of the Ocean Competition Rules. Nothing I saw about age, but worthwhile to note that if winning on the cruise, there is a hefty entry fee for the Grand Prize competition. Have no idea if Princess is still doing this. 

Thanks - I will look for this!

[Elann]

On 4/5/2023 at 4:35 PM, Deesquared said:

When we did it, it was ages 14 and up. It was lots of fun, but just remember that it's JUST for fun! Two of the people who were in the show with me thought they they were going to get picked up by talent scouts and such. They made the whole experience surreal and a bit uncomfortable.

 

LOL - my daughter attends an art's high school for vocal performance and applying this summer for music colleges.  I hope she is NOT scouted!!  I want her to have a normal high school and college experience.  I understand why you are saying that however.  People are insane.

[Elann]

On 4/5/2023 at 10:19 PM, capriccio said:

On the Ruby Princess in 2018 contestants had to be at least 16. One younger girl (15 IIRC) didn’t qualify based on age but the host explained her situation and had her sing while the votes were being tabulated.  She had a lovely voice so it was a nice compromise.  

That was nice!

[Elann]

On 4/6/2023 at 9:15 AM, skynight said:

Just to note. Karaoke backing tracks of your choice are used for the initial tryout with passengers in the room voting for their favorite. The best singers may not be selected by the passengers. Be prepared for not being chosen. If selected to perform on stage you have to select a song from a list of approximately 150 songs. Song title and key is shown on the list. You can not change the key. Approximately half of the songs are normally sung by females and the other half males, but you are not limited and can choose any song on the list. The musicians have charts for the songs. All songs are shortened to around 90 seconds. There are a few rehearsals with the live band and coaches to help in singing with live musicians. Some do have difficulty with the transition from backing tracks to live. That is why the coaches are there to help.  I have been in performance groups with what appeared to be older teens.  

Thanks for the info.  This is VERY helpful!!  I will let her know.  She attends a vocal performance program in an art's high school. She is classified as a mezzo-soprano but is often moved around by her choir director to boost sopranos or tenors as needed.  She is also in a gigging band for School of Rock so live shows are second nature to her.  That being said - you are right.  Music is very subjective and you never know what the audience is feeling that day!

 

[Elann]

On 4/5/2023 at 3:08 PM, coo359a2 said:

Was on Regal Princess last month. One week the winner was 16 years old and the 2nd week one of the finalists was 16 years old

Thank you!!

[Incognito1]

On 4/6/2023 at 6:15 AM, skynight said:

The best singers may not be selected by the passengers. 

^ This ^.  Was tons of fun when a member of our party did it, but like most reality shows, it was a complete set-up.  Worth it for the experience, but those initially chosen were often those from a large group who had many to vote for them (and do so loudly).  Some of the people are quite good; others are karaoke-passable.  It appeared that the winner had already been chosen as the envelope was in the hands of the presenter before voting.

 

On our last cruise, the winner was a justifiable choice - however, she was the last singer, they hyped her up a tremendous amount to the audience, and fawned all over her for several minutes.  I felt sorry for the other singers who did not have that "promotion."  

 

So, have her do it for the experience.  Go to the tryout and clam and woohoo and scream for her as loudly as possible.

 

ETA: She needs to pick a song that gets the audience involved, not necessarily the one that showcases her voice best.

Edited April 8, 2023 by Incognito1

[Elann]

2 hours ago, Incognito1 said:

^ This ^.  Was tons of fun when a member of our party did it, but like most reality shows, it was a complete set-up.  Worth it for the experience, but those initially chosen were often those from a large group who had many to vote for them (and do so loudly).  Some of the people are quite good; others are karaoke-passable.  It appeared that the winner had already been chosen as the envelope was in the hands of the presenter before voting.

 

On our last cruise, the winner was a justifiable choice - however, she was the last singer, they hyped her up a tremendous amount to the audience, and fawned all over her for several minutes.  I felt sorry for the other singers who did not have that "promotion."  

 

So, have her do it for the experience.  Go to the tryout and clam and woohoo and scream for her as loudly as possible.

 

ETA: She needs to pick a song that gets the audience involved, not necessarily the one that showcases her voice best.

Thanks!  Will do!

[snoozecrooze]

I can't speak to the degree to which the whole competition is set up or not, because I've never done the thing and never will lol, so you could either tell your daughter to treat it casually like so, or don't inform her of it at all so that she can feel like she's just in the zone.

 

What I will say is on the final day in which everything is done live in the theater, most of the time the winner really is the one that has either gotten the crowd going, put them in a 'feel-good' mood, or simply transfixed them through the power of their voice (there is an undeniable amount of winners who simply sing "You Raise Me Up" - sorry, not sorry to the spoiler alert for those out there). So then the whole show appears to finish with a good atmosphere. But on my most recent cruise, the vibe was actually the complete opposite; the theater almost quite literally uttered a gasp when one of the judges didn't choose who most all thought was a total shoo-in for the winner (this is before the audience gets to vote) and I overheard many comments reflecting this poor sentiment well into the rest of the night.

 

So, all of this is just to say, from my perspective, I still think you should give an earnest performance that reflects what you would really want to show, because I'd rather give a show that I want to leave feeling good about instead of forcing something I'm entirely uncomfortable doing to "coerce" the crowd (considering your "opponents" would have similar ideas anyways). But just don't get overly personally invested in the result because I would hate for that to affect your daughter's cruise if it might; in the end, it's still all for fun. I hope all of this made sense lol. 

[Elann]

On 4/9/2023 at 4:35 AM, snoozecrooze said:

I can't speak to the degree to which the whole competition is set up or not, because I've never done the thing and never will lol, so you could either tell your daughter to treat it casually like so, or don't inform her of it at all so that she can feel like she's just in the zone.

 

What I will say is on the final day in which everything is done live in the theater, most of the time the winner really is the one that has either gotten the crowd going, put them in a 'feel-good' mood, or simply transfixed them through the power of their voice (there is an undeniable amount of winners who simply sing "You Raise Me Up" - sorry, not sorry to the spoiler alert for those out there). So then the whole show appears to finish with a good atmosphere. But on my most recent cruise, the vibe was actually the complete opposite; the theater almost quite literally uttered a gasp when one of the judges didn't choose who most all thought was a total shoo-in for the winner (this is before the audience gets to vote) and I overheard many comments reflecting this poor sentiment well into the rest of the night.

 

So, all of this is just to say, from my perspective, I still think you should give an earnest performance that reflects what you would really want to show, because I'd rather give a show that I want to leave feeling good about instead of forcing something I'm entirely uncomfortable doing to "coerce" the crowd (considering your "opponents" would have similar ideas anyways). But just don't get overly personally invested in the result because I would hate for that to affect your daughter's cruise if it might; in the end, it's still all for fun. I hope all of this made sense lol. 

Yes it did, thank you!  She is a very good vocalist but it is very subjective.

[Crookshanks]

On 4/9/2023 at 3:35 AM, snoozecrooze said:

I can't speak to the degree to which the whole competition is set up or not, because I've never done the thing and never will lol, so you could either tell your daughter to treat it casually like so, or don't inform her of it at all so that she can feel like she's just in the zone.

 

What I will say is on the final day in which everything is done live in the theater, most of the time the winner really is the one that has either gotten the crowd going, put them in a 'feel-good' mood, or simply transfixed them through the power of their voice (there is an undeniable amount of winners who simply sing "You Raise Me Up" - sorry, not sorry to the spoiler alert for those out there). So then the whole show appears to finish with a good atmosphere. But on my most recent cruise, the vibe was actually the complete opposite; the theater almost quite literally uttered a gasp when one of the judges didn't choose who most all thought was a total shoo-in for the winner (this is before the audience gets to vote) and I overheard many comments reflecting this poor sentiment well into the rest of the night.

 

So, all of this is just to say, from my perspective, I still think you should give an earnest performance that reflects what you would really want to show, because I'd rather give a show that I want to leave feeling good about instead of forcing something I'm entirely uncomfortable doing to "coerce" the crowd (considering your "opponents" would have similar ideas anyways). But just don't get overly personally invested in the result because I would hate for that to affect your daughter's cruise if it might; in the end, it's still all for fun. I hope all of this made sense lol. 

I'm curious as to which cruise this was on.  

 

I was on the Ruby last month and the last singer was chosen by the judge, even though the other singer got the standing ovation from the audience.  Seemed rather staged, but I wonder if the judge just had a certain preference of song choice/style?

 

[Crookshanks]

To the original poster:

 

The competition is super fun.  If you have a large group, there may be more votes to become a finalist, but there are plenty of cruisers that are traveling on their own and truly vote as who they liked the best.

 

The finals are done with a live band and they only have a limited amount of songs they know, but they will speed up or slow down a song if needed.

 

The most talented will not always be chosen as a finalist, but that is the way of these kinds of competitions. 

 

If she's interested in trying out, she should totally get up there and have some fun!!

[Elann]

On 4/11/2023 at 1:18 PM, Crookshanks said:

To the original poster:

 

The competition is super fun.  If you have a large group, there may be more votes to become a finalist, but there are plenty of cruisers that are traveling on their own and truly vote as who they liked the best.

 

The finals are done with a live band and they only have a limited amount of songs they know, but they will speed up or slow down a song if needed.

 

The most talented will not always be chosen as a finalist, but that is the way of these kinds of competitions. 

 

If she's interested in trying out, she should totally get up there and have some fun!!

Oh she will!  She loves to perform in front of an audience!

[kasaba]

On 4/8/2023 at 5:44 PM, Incognito1 said:

^ This ^.  Was tons of fun when a member of our party did it, but like most reality shows, it was a complete set-up.  Worth it for the experience, but those initially chosen were often those from a large group who had many to vote for them (and do so loudly).  Some of the people are quite good; others are karaoke-passable.  It appeared that the winner had already been chosen as the envelope was in the hands of the presenter before voting.

 

On our last cruise, the winner was a justifiable choice - however, she was the last singer, they hyped her up a tremendous amount to the audience, and fawned all over her for several minutes.  I felt sorry for the other singers who did not have that "promotion."  

 

So, have her do it for the experience.  Go to the tryout and clam and woohoo and scream for her as loudly as possible.

 

ETA: She needs to pick a song that gets the audience involved, not necessarily the one that showcases her voice best.

Thanks for that reminder. I’m a professional vocalist, but I think I’ll leave this to the 16yo country singers.