Ok, if you have not done it, at some point in your modeling career you will… the infamous “ENTERING A CONTEST” *listens for the sound effects*
I will say I have entered my share of contests. It’s actually what got me started in modeling (but that’s a story for another day.) No todays subject is a bit more important. I have seen so many lovely ladies just fall from SL when there is a loss, or they do not win this or that. So what I thought I would give some ‘real’ input into the subject matter.
I’ve had my share of ‘trips’ on the runway. My top one was in 2009 when I learned quite the vital lesson that you do not add your DVC back to an outfit should you happen to lose it during a high lag show. Seems if you do well… you can lose much more than just a hud. Oh yes, picture it Center Stage, packed house, DVC comes back on and you see in local chat “does anyone else see Michelas clothes rezzed?” continued with various things like “No I just see her ruthed” “I don’t see anything except her, no hair or anything” “she is nude to me”
Ok at that point I cam to my ava (rather than trying to align for my walk as I should have been doing) realizing oh yes… it was true. There I stood in all my glory. No attachments to speak of (clothing, hair, walk animation, shoes) and when you stop laughing please do continue. Its ok, I laugh now but at the time.
On to my point, and more recently. I entered the I am Fierce contest. Rather large prestigious contest put on by Opium, BOSL and other SL greats. I was excited to know I’d made it past the first phase which meant I got to interview with a live walk. A fierce walk down the runway of my choice. How much easier could it be? Right? PPPFT
I went through hours of styling, getting everything just right, poses that really just went “WOW.” I felt good and was ready to rock it. UNTIL (mistake upcoming) I’d stayed up ‘perfecting’ things. As the morning led up to ‘the walk’ I was exhausted and began to second guess my initial style. So 2 hours prior to the event, my Albert Einstein moment, I redid EVERYTHING. Yes, I realize how stupid that sounds now but sleepless, exhausted, stressed, excited, and probably somewhat on the brink of being half silly it sounded logical at that point.
Spent quite a bit of Ls on an outfit that got 3rd or 4th vetoed and ultimately as the time clicked away I went back to a gown I’d initially thought of for the contest. 2 minutes left and I tp’d to the site of the walk. Got in line and awaited my turn. So many important people in SL judging the event sitting , sat patiently at the end of the runway and the fierce competition surrounding me made for quite an intimidating moment. My heart was beating a mile a minute.
Then it was my turn
my walk
I stepped out, the first stop went off without a glitch. Great! Yes!! I was there. All downhill from there right? NO….it was more like a snowball…rolling downhill… as the avalanche began. The big ones like on the old cartoons where even houses were molded in the whirlwind. As I made my way to the end of the runway and the phone rings RL causing my arms to jump due to my on edge nerves….the jump which luckily (or I don’t think but at this point this was merely a small point in the day) caused any issue in my walk. As I said, I would not know now anyway because moments after that was when the true fun started.
My darling little dog ( a miniature weenier dog) decided the phone scared her too, so she needed to jump onto my lap and keyboard. That did cause my ava to do a little zig vs zag. In short, she probably looked like Otis the drunk walking a ‘straight line’ not to mention I am almost sure turned on voice as I was fussing at her to get down in a panic.
Trying frantically to recover from that chaos (yes I know there is NO recovering from that but hey lol I tried) I realigned my camera only to realize that in my ‘restyle’ I’d forgotten a “small” thing. A girl can never be sure, but I hear shoes are rather important when you are on the runway in a couture gown? Yes, I had forgotten to put on shoes with the gown! Well I knew then my ship had hit titanic sinking speed at that point and I was not very shocked when the list came out and my name was not on it.
So why do I tell you this? Yes its funny, and hey if you can not laugh at it, you should not be inworld. Life happens, mistakes are made, and we should live grow and be stronger from it. Even when things go perfectly or if they go as they did for me this week, we cant all get that valued spot. Dont give up though. In every contest there will only be a single winner, that doesn’t mean the rest are losers. It simply means you get another chance to do things differently. Failure is a wonderful opportunity to try again, and try that different approach. Work on your weaker facets and one day you will share in that winners circle. Just know there will always be more chances to try again, and never give up. Next time, I’ll sleep, I wont second guess, and I’ll make sure I have shoes (hopefully matching ones on the right foot!)
And to those who made the finals of the I am Fierce contest, Congrats and Good Luck this weekend :O)
Michela Benazzi Miss VW USA 