Ahhhh, the chance to be on the radio!

Hey guys,

Well it's been a while since I have written anything. The latest reason was due to an unsuspecting message on my FaceBook page telling me I had been selected to compete to be XM Emerging Artist of the month at Radio CKXS FM out of Wallaceburg, Ontario.
To win I had to enlist my friends, fans and unsuspecting family members to vote over and over for me, from Monday afternoon until this morning at 10am. Sounds easy right????
Well, are a few things that could be small problems. I am writing this as a bit of a journal, in case you (the reader) decide to do one of these competitions.
As a side note:
I have to say all of the music that was up for this competition is AWESOME.
I know it is silly for artists to have to compete against each other, but on the other hand...Sometimes, you just got to 'Getter Done'!
Thanks to Jay Smith and 99.1 FM for this, and take the rest of the blog with a grain of salt please! lol

Situations that MAY arise during an online voting competition:
 1) You will need to ask people you barely know to do things for you, ALOT!
As an artist, WHO does not want to be played on the radio, ALOT? ( I know there are some of you out there who have NO desire to play this industry game, I though, DREAM of these kinds of things..Sucker for punishment!)there is a problem with  constantly asking your friends to vote, and to make your desire, their priority. I was so excited with the possibility of High rotation radio play, that I had no problem asking, and in the end we had a fantastic team of supporters from ALL over the world voting nonstop for 3.5 days.  (****I am THRILLED to have made it to the number 2 spot, but I digress.)
2) It will be hard to complete life maintaining day to day activities.
 remember to have support with you at all times! (in my case, I had an Aunt visiting, she clicked ANY time I could not click. She has informed however, she is NEVER doing this again. EVER)
The other part that I didn't realize would cause such a challenge is the general need to do day to day things like...umm, feed your children, play with them, clean them, take them to school...REMEMBER to pick them back up...All of those things WILL cause challenges when you are trying to vote on a non-stop basis.Also, if anyone stops by your house, put your computer down, so they don't think you are voting all day and neglecting your children...Or you could just have a handheld device and put them to work!
3) Sleeping will slow you down and make you weak. 
drinking though does the same thing, not advised when trying to click for a LONG period of time. Often if you are drinking, it may trick you into liking the other competitors' music, or adding them as friends on FB, then chatting, setting up gigs together etc...all not good when competing!
Going to sleep is a killer, with the time zones, the enemy, or winning artists ahead of you (for the sake of this blog, they shall be referred to as "The Enemy"- I am sure they are really nice and make great music, but that IS beside the point when you are trying to WIN.) can literally 'click you while you are sleeping'....Luckily, I slept with my computer very close to my head, in bed. With my youngest still waking up 3-4 times in the night, I could EASILY click 15-20 times, before falling back asleep, each time I woke to get something for Sammy...Also could check my ~FB at the same time...win win...maybe I have a problem, but it WAS only for a few days.
4) No such thing as Marital Bliss during competition
Remember, your partner may love and support you. They may think you are a brilliant artist and SHOULD be on the radio, but I am telling you after 24 hours they will think you are crazy. They will pretend to vote, sitting beside you for hours while you are clicking away, but REALLY they are checking out their tweets, reading current events, listening to political podcasts and PROBABLY even thinking about other things...It's ok, it all resumes to normal after the competition ends.
5) Physical and Psychological injuries
Remember, no pain no gain...You could probably remind your fans of this too, if they start to fade, although, they may NEVER speak to you again, or worse,start voting for the artist that is 10,000 points ahead of you...SO I would not advise it.

Well I hope this has helped.
I probably will not do another one of these competitions. I didn't think I have it in me. I am thrilled however,to have done one and to have done it very very well, because of the people who support me. Thanks for that!
Much love,
Camille

I have learned a lot from my 3.5 days as an online competitor. The main thing that I got out of all of this besides a bit of Carpal Tunnel and a weeks worth of laundry to complete, is I have some FREAKIN' fantastic friends, fans and family. We did SUCH a great job, and I am really touched that everyone took the time, sunk their teeth into it and we Got'er Done