When did we collectively decide to hate people for having big dreams?
If you try to become an artist or entertainer… and fail, you’d better not show your face in public again. Your reputation’s ruined. You’re a laughing stock. You might as well fall in a hole and die.
This might seem hyperbolic, but if you’ve ever dipped your toe even close to the entertainment industry, or announced dreams to that effect, be prepared to be ripped apart by jackals. How dare you try to work in entertainment! Even if you’re talented, you’d better not. Who are you to think, or hope, that you might succeed?
This is the ugly face of chasing stardom. There are very few other times that I see so much hatred and vitriol thrown at someone just for having dreams. “You like to sing and dance? You want to write a book? Become an actor! What a delusional, sad loser you must be. Come on, everyone! Let’s point and laugh!”
It’s depressing. As someone who likes to think of myself as a writer, I find it difficult to watch someone have their dreams crushed. I get it; entertainment is competitive, and yes, there are some people who will never make it no matter how hard they try. Yet, life is short, and I really don’t see an issue with chasing a dream. So, why do people find this so threatening?
There’s a difference between throwing your life away on a pipe dream and putting your all into trying to make something happen. As long as you’re being realistic (i.e. paying your bills) then what’s the harm in writing a novel in your spare time? Making music in your bedroom and releasing it?
This is no different from a hobby… but boy, do people have a lot of opinions about it.
The reason I’m talking about this is because I recently had the song “Outta Here” by Esmée Denters pop up on my YouTube feed, and feeling nostalgic, I watched it. It’s as much of a bop as it’s ever been and reignited my interested in her as an artist. I remembered she’d been on The Voice UK and so I went down a bit of a rabbit hole.
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Why Esmée Denters?
For anyone who doesn’t know, Denters is a dutch singer-songwriter, who became popular on YouTube in the mid-00s for her music covers and was later signed to Justin Timberlake’s label, Tennman Records, and subsequently dropped due to soft album sales.
She’s undeniably talented, but it seems she’s become the target of nasty mockery purely because her career hit a snag. Just looking at the YouTube comments section for The Voice UK you see people saying awful things about her.
Denters has “no stage presence”, “she can’t sing”, “thinks she’s above the other contestants”, “talks to Tom Jones like he’s… God forbid, a human and not the resurrected lord and saviour that he is!”
Any stupid and trivial complaint you can think of is directed at this poor girl. It feels like they’re literally trying to find any excuse to explain why she didn’t make it the first time. A case of “you’ve had your chance, love. Piss off back into obscurity”.
I find this mentality so incredibly weird.
So, basically, you’ve got one shot to make it in entertainment, and if you wash out (regardless of whether it’s your fault), you’re supposed to just give up? Imagine if people followed that logic anywhere else in life.
“Oh, you failed your English test? Sorry, rules are rules, you’re never allowed to talk again.”
Seriously?
She’s not the first and won’t be the last…
Before Esmée, there was Jojo Levesque, that singer we also remember from the mid-00s with the big voice and the even bigger dreams. She’s the ultimate girl who “fell off” due to absolutely no fault of her own. One of the OGs to be diddled by a record industry slave contract (back when those were still all hush hush and hidden behind smoke and mirrors).
Jojo is without doubt one of the most incredible vocalists of this generation (possibly ever), who, while fighting for her life against Blackground Records to regain the rights to her OWN VOICE, was told to just give up on her dreams and mocked for trying to fight against a giant. She even wrote a song about it.
Lucky for us, Jojo didn’t give up and has gone from strength to strength ever since she freed herself from that terrible bondage. Although, it’s incredibly sad to think how much traction she lost in her career over those years. She deserves to be one of the main girls in the industry, and I really hope one day she reaches the same level she did when she debuted.
A star isn’t made overnight…
Similarly, Denters lost her shot at the big time (no thanks to the Grand High Master of exploiting-women-for-personal-gain himself) and subsequently became a punchline. When she applied for The Voice UK, the public had already made their decision about her.
She was a failure and a fantasist, and therefore, deserving of our derision.
Except, it took Charli xcx and Sabrina Carpenter over 10 years for their hard work to pay off. Lizzie Graham (AKA Lana Del Rey) and Katy Hudson (AKA Katy Perry) had several false starts before finding their feet. Both of whom are now huge influences in the music industry.
In fact, Katy Perry is the second person ever, and only woman, to attain 5 number one singles from the same album. You need to fail and pick yourself back up to learn what works for you. Life is about taking risks.
There’s literally no such thing as an overnight success, and just because Denters’ attempts have been more public than most, it doesn’t make her a fantasist. It makes her someone who’s willing to chase a dream. I find that extremely admirable.
If a businessman fails a venture, and tries again, everyone applauds him for “never giving up”. Yet, when a young girl wants to be a singer and stumbles on the way it’s “OMG, what a try hard!” or “Honey, if it was going to happen for you don’t you think it would by now?”.
So, you’re telling me if I write one book, and it does badly, I should never write anything ever again? That’s sad.
To achieve a big goal, you have to have delusional confidence. You have to have the gumption to rock up to a casting office with a runny nose and greasy hair to beg for a role because you really want it. It’s not something you can half-ass or shy away from.
Which is why I find it so odd that people are so reluctant to even let us try.
Why you shouldn’t give up, even when you fall
People have pushed me away from writing most of my life, mocking my dreams, telling me I’ll never succeed, and that I should be “more realistic”.
I don’t understand why I’m not even allowed to try.
What about this is so threatening to you? Let me put my all into it and if I still don’t get anywhere I’ll “get realistic”, but sometimes you’ve just got to scratch an itch.
It appears the mockery did get to Denters, as she's gone quiet across most of her social media channels. Her last official single release being Moon Child back in 2019 (which, BTW, is another certified bop), but I personally hope that isn’t the last we hear from her.
I can’t imagine how hard it is to think you had your big break, only to be chewed up and spit out, and when you try again, be torn apart by the public. Those bullying comments on The Voice UK in regard to Denters make me want to cry.
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The public has done what they intended, they chased a girl away from her dreams.
Honestly, it might be a case that Esmée Denters just isn’t temperamentally fit for the music industry, even if she is talented enough. Esmée, I doubt you will ever read this blog post, but if you do decide to pick up your guitar again, I’ll be here to support you.
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