Ourstage.com

Ok, For those of you who want a chance to break into show business, here is your chance. If you didn't make it on American Idol, you can take a crack at showing off your talent at OurStage.com

OurStage is the only democratic competition where the fans decide who's best in emerging entertainment. That means fans have the real voice - because our patent-pending judging system eliminates cheaters. Artists get a fair shot. The bottom line is, if you're really the best, the fans will drive you to the top.

How does it work?
As an artist, your first step is to upload your music or video and decide which channel competition to enter. Then, fans judge the work side by side with the work of others. Our unique judging capability (called Peer Relative Ranking, but don't worry about that) makes sure that each piece is judged fairly by the real audience no rigging, no cheating, no celebrity judges. At the end of each month, the top 20 and the top 10 in each channel go head-to-head in a special judging channels to determine the winner of that channel, and then a site-wide judging contest to determine our Grand Prize winner. For more information about that, see the Judging section below! As a fan, all you have to do is listen to some great music and give feedback about just how great you think it is. You can win prizes too for doing this - Check out http://www.ourstage.com/go/september

OurStage is a brand new and exciting way for you to succeed as an artist. Our site is designed to leverage the power of the Internet to connect fans to emerging artists. You get exposure to new fans through our ranking and judging system. You can track fans with a fan club and comments. There is a monthly cash prize of $100 for the top entry in each channel and two $5,000 grand prizes; one for music and one for video. You may also get additional exposure and prizes through our partners, such as NEMO, CMJ, Noisepop, Paste, the DV Show and many others.

Make sure you upload your video or music files to the right channel so that it can be judged fairly against others of the same genre.

Judging and competing are just part of the fun, you can also create promotional materials such as banners and other images that can link to your material, so you can promote them on your Facebook,MySpace or other content pages!

Promote yourself and your talent to the max. Competing at OurStage can really get your career moving!

Alexis - already famous

Alexis Says - "Hello i am famous and i don't think it is that great you never get any privacy and to much pressure"

I'm glad to know you are famous, but I think you should only be concerned with the pressure from within; especially as it concerns your performance, skill or expression of talent. Your greatest challenger should always be yourself, not the outside world.

Feeling the pressure of others (ie the press, etc) should be tolerated to some degree, but I hold that what is your private life should remain yours alone. Keep your private life private, live a good and honorable life, and let people talk. Good press and bad press is still press in some peoples minds, and both keep your name in the spot light.

If you no longer crave fame, then you should find a way to move on with your life and chose to do something different, or at least do things in a different way.

Privacy will come with time and patience, just don't let anyone control your feelings about things. Own your life, make good things happen for you and your loved ones and enjoy your good fortune.

Carla - Aspiring actress

One reader 'Carla' wrote "Hello i am in year 8 but i want to be a famous actress like Ashley Tisdale and Hilary Duff etc etc so how do i accomplish this dream of mine because i want to start my acting career right now so how can accomplish that."


It is refreshing to see someone so young have such ambitious goals! What you need to do is get out and audition. Talent can be recognized by chance appearances by agents at a local play, show, or even local TV, but you can also attend casting calls and get in front of the hiring agents directly.

Take a look at http://www.castingsociety.com/actors for some professional casting director information and resources.

Also, go to your local TV studios and check out when they have casting calls for local shows. While you are waiting for the next call, make sure you work on your presence, talent, confidence and self control (especially when speaking.)

Keep your goals in front of you and you can continue to advance your career.

Warmest Regards,

Robert