My Thoughts on Standing Ovations and Encores
How and when did standing ovations get to be compulsory?
It used to be when an audience stood up and applauded right after a show, that was a rare display of mass appreciation reserved for only the most extraordinary performances. A standing ovation was the audience’s reaction to a moment of true greatness.
Now, it’s become a participation trophy. Standing ovations are meaningless.
Think of the shows you’ve attended. Every performer now gets a standing ovation. Everywhere. No matter who it is, or where the show takes place, or how good (or bad) the performance turns out to be, leaping to one’s feet and cheering as if the winning touchdown has just been scored is mandatory. Nearly every touring pop music act setlist concludes with a standing ovation. Every show on the Las Vegas Strip ends with a standing ovation. Every comedian gets a standing ovation. Even academic speakers and politicians are now lavished with standing ovations. Why? For what? For showing up and delivering what the audience paid for and expects?
This fawning mass adoration has grown terribly tiresome. Call it ovation inflation. Two Questions: If every act receives equal adoration, then how can anyone tell when the performer has really done something actually extraordinary? If the audience goes crazy after every song and stands up and cheers on the final note of every show, how does the band or singer know when they’ve really nailed it?
Answer: They don’t. It’s like feeding a starving animal — the hungry beast will devour anything tossed its way.
The same goes for encores. They’re also compulsory. Most acts now include an automatic encore bookended in the setlist. Please explain the point of this orchestrated fakery? What — 27 songs by Arcade Fire wasn’t enough already? What entitles the audience to three more songs after a two-hour show? Then, two more in the second encore.
Quit jerking our chains.
Perhaps crowds paying hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars for show tickets must somehow justify the outlandish expenditure by convincing (fooling) themselves the show they attended was unique, when 99 percent of all public performances pretty much mimic punching a factory time clock. I totally get it. We all want to feel special.
Yes, I know it’s a losing cause. The battle for an artistic meritocracy was lost a long time ago. Mediocrity won. But I’d still like to see praise that’s merit-based and not automatic. When a live performer goes that extra distance or something truly extraordinary happens, yes absolutely, those special moments do deserve an extended standing ovation. But not David Copperfield doing his typical schtick at the MGM on a Wednesday night.
Next time you see a show, the optimal message you can send might be just to stay seated.
