This earlier post about budding British tenor Paul Potts generated quite a bit of interest, particularly the difficulties that the humble Potts has had in overcoming a lack of confidence to perform on stage. This link from that earlier post discusses how common such insecurity is among opera singers, and this International Herald Tribune article reports that even established opera stars struggle mightily with the manifestations of insecurity:

[Opera] insiders agree that heightened competition, unyielding sponsor demands and the weight of stardom are leading to excesses that invite comparisons of opera to sports tarnished by doping scandals.
Some attempts to stay on top are relatively harmless, like popping a beta blocker to soothe the butterflies before stepping on stage. But others are more alarming.
Singers often overuse steroids in the form of cortisone to control inflamed vocal cords ó sometimes in amounts that can permanently impair their abilities, say performers and their doctors. Others drink too much. Still others snort cocaine, according to insiders.
Inability to cope sometimes turns into tragedy ó as in the case of American tenor Jerry Hadley, who killed himself last month after what friends said was a prolonged bout of depression and reported financial and drinking problems. [. . .]
To deal with the pressures, “soloists are taking beta blockers to control their angst, some tenors take cortisone to push their voice high, and alcohol is everywhere,” [Tenor Endrik Wottrich] said. “The real pressure is no longer good old stage fright but comes from a new dimension that has penetrated opera ó it now lives from glamour, and normal human mistakes are a disruption in such an environment.” [. . .]
In the past 50 years, stages have grown in size, orchestral instruments accompanying singers have become stronger and opera seasons have lengthened. Adding to the pressure, singers get paid by the performance ó no money for no shows.
Good singers are now in demand all year round, globe-trotting from one hemisphere to another. And even those who avoid long-distance travel often have little time between the late spring end of the subscription season, the start of rehearsals for summer festivals, and tours promoting their own recordings. [. . .]
Still, physicians who treat singers urge them to resist the temptation to perform at any cost. Some, they say, overdose without knowing it, as they travel from gig to gig in one city after the another without keeping track of cortisone treatments that ó if overdone ó can destroy a voice.

Read the entire article. Along the same lines, see “It wouldn’t by Opera without an outrage.”

I’ve never watched even one episode of American Idol. However, my nephew Rich passed along this four minute excerpt of an episode from the British version of the show, and it’s truly about as inspiring as anything I’ve seen recently from television. There is some speculation around the Web that the performer was a ringer, but this critic makes a good case that he is legit. Take a look. It might just make your day.

I’ve heard about The Texas Water Safari, but didn’t realize quite what is involved:

The Texas Water Safari begins in San Marcos with a gunshot that sends 200 paddlers madly thrashing across a murky pond.
Multicolored boats, ranging from six-seated scull-like canoes to single-seat kayaks, barrel into each other, tipping and tossing their occupants into the water. The bigger boats slam into the smaller ones, driving them toward rusty pilings.
Once the paddlers traverse the pond, they jump into the mud and drag their boats through thick brush to portage a dam churning with whitewater. They twist ankles and skin knees as they carry their boats down an incline of sharp rocks to the mouth of the San Marcos River near the center of Texas.
And that is only the beginning of the 262-mile endurance test that takes most entrants two to three days to complete and has enough danger lurking along the way to give Indiana Jones nightmares.
Poisonous water moccasins fall from trees. Wasps and fire ants are constant threats, mosquitoes and mayflies swarm at night.
In fast water, logs turn into torpedoes and trees tumble like boulders. In high water, hanging limbs snatch water jugs and knock competitors unconscious.
Paddlers navigate rapids in the first half of the race and cope with the broiling heat of the Texas summer in the daytime, then fight off hypothermia at night.
There are 12 classes for boats entered in the race, but competitors can use any kind of craft, as long as it is human-powered. No sails or motors are allowed.
No wonder it is billed as the worldís toughest canoe race. [. . .]
Remarkably, no one has died in the raceís 44-year history.
But many have come close.

Read the entire article. Golf, anyone? ;^)

All you folks who enjoy swimming in coastal bays and inland waters close to the Gulf, take a look at what was caught in one of those over in Florida.
Meanwhile, when you have 8 minutes or so, watch the remarkable YouTube video below about a very tough buffalo calf’s difficult day. HT to Jane Galt: