When singers step on stage to perform live, they never know quite what will happen. A mic can go dead without warning. The sound system might abruptly cut out. An instrument could be flawed. Bad weather can blow up suddenly, wrecking an outdoor event. Part of the fun for spectators is the element of surprise. However, for an artist, it's nerve-wracking in the extreme. In fact, when singer Alex Warren ran into unexpected technical trouble at the Grammys this year, he feared that his whole professional future was doomed. The uncomfortable moment came when he was doing the song "Ordinary." He was nominated in the Best New Artist category but lost to Olivia Dean.
Videos by Wide Open Country
Warren shared with People that he "truly thought his career was over" because of the high-visibility foul-up. Mercifully, that turned out not to be the case after all. In fact, Warren found that the public was really remarkably forgiving.
Warren Was Shocked by the Kindness and Understanding He Received
He told the outlet, "I was really surprised by so many people coming up to me that day. I think when you're in these settings, and there's all these important people, you kind of just think ... I walk into that room, and I think everyone hates me for some reason."
The Difficulty He Encountered Sounds Nightmarish
Warren detailed what took place on stage that shook his confidence so badly. He spoke frankly to Alex Cooper on Wednesday, March 11 on the Call Her Daddy podcast. Warren's in-ear device seemed to be giving him problems, enough so he was out of sync with the music.
"We rehearsed it all week," he confided. "And to this day, I don't know exactly what happened." Furthermore, he added, "They're like, '30 seconds,' and I said, "I can't hear anything. I can't hear myself," and the guy's like, 'It's live TV, 25 seconds,' and I go, 'Guys, something's wrong,' Something gets blasted into left ear, and right ear I hear nothing, and I go, 'Guys, I can't hear.'"
There was no quick fix for the awkward aural stumble. Warren went on, "I start singing, and all I'm hearing is what's from the other room — like, a crowd mic is on or something. Once I start getting into the hallway, there's this hallway in the performance, I get the left ear blasting again, and so it's just the left ear."
His Earpieces Were Seemingly the Culprits
Warren kept going with his story as he related it to Alex Cooper. "There's no mix to it, so all I'm hearing is my voice super loud. I get down to the steps, and then immediately I start hearing echoing on the right ear, so I take it out, and then that made it worse — stupidly." Mind you, all this is happening in front of a huge audience at home. There was truly nowhere to hide.
However, it actually turned out okay for Alex Warren. "I was holding back tears 'cause I looked to my left and right and everyone's like, 'You did so good,' and everyone's screaming. I was like, 'Wow, this is really, really emotional.'"
