Taylor

Taylor
Genre: Wild
Points: 7
Focus: Wild

Who is Taylor to me?
To me, Taylor is so unique that they represent a little bit of everyone. The card itself reflects that. That’s probably the way it should be. While at first glance unassuming, the truth of the matter is Taylor would make almost any team instantly better. Everyone has more in common with Taylor than they think.

What do I have in common with Taylor?
Hopefully I have a lot in common with Taylor. I do try to put myself in other people’s shoes like I imagine Taylor would, especially when there’s conflicting points of views. I’m not always successful, I’ll admit. But I think it’s important that we find common ground with one another. Doing that can make the world a lot better place.

And that’s really the whole point of this whole exercise over the past few weeks. Finding common ground with people you never thought you’d have something in common with. It’s what brings organizations and teams together. Hopefully it’s something that can bring societies closer together. It is my hope that through Upstaged, people will find common ground in many ways, starting with lots of fun and a love for gaming.

Sunny

Sunny
Genre: Country
Points: 9
Focus: Image

Who is Sunny to me?
Sunny ain’t no shady character, even though her birth-name was Violet. However, her talent agent (who in this case happens to be my wife), convinced her to change her name to be more in line with her stage persona. It just didn’t make sense to have her name be Violet when everything about her Country persona screams the color yellow.

What do I have in common with Sunny?
Like Sunny, I have a semi-alias of sorts. Yes, my real name is Mike, but online, it’s sometimes easier to refer to myself as Myke. There are many reasons why I choose to go by Myke online. However, one of the reasons is that it helps me stand out in a crowd of Mikes. Sometimes it feels like there are a billion Mikes, Steves, Davids, Peters, Roberts, and Daniels in the board game industry, and then there’s everyone else in the minority. Haha. Okay. Maybe not that bad. But yes. Though I tend to like to meld in with the crowd in real life, sometimes you need to set yourself apart and stand out to make things work in your favor.

Sheila

Sheila
Genre: Pop
Points: 8
Focus: Talent

Who is Sheila to me?
Sheila is the diva with the thickness. She doesn’t let anything stop her. And she lets everyone know when she hits the stage, she owns it. But that doesn’t mean that she doesn’t work well with others. In fact, she instills that attitude of confidence in all those lucky enough to join her on stage.

What do I have in common with Sheila?
Besides also being the thickness, when I become passionate about something, I don’t let anything stop me. I don’t think anyone should let anything stop them from doing something they’re passionate about (well, as long as it’s not harmful to others). That’s the spice of life. And if they’re really passionate about it, they should share that passion once in a while with others and let it bring joy to their lives as well. Even if they have stage fright about it like me.

By the way, I think I’m just trying to convince myself at this point to be less shy about my passions. Haha. One day I’ll probably look back at this whole portion of the blog and turn into one giant goose bump (the bad, awkward goose bumps, not the good ones).

Samuel

Samuel
Genre: Rock
Points: 8
Focus: Talent

Who is Samuel to me?
Samuel was actually given his name by my nieces. I think one of them had a classmate named Samuel, to which I remarked, “So this is not your dad? (their father’s name is Sam).” At that point during development, we had 5-point singers, and Samuel was one of them. They promised that they would name another artist “Sam” after their dad and make him a  “10.” They forgot. Lol.

What do I have in common with Samuel?
If we are talking about the Samuel who no longer exists (the 5-point Samuel), then I can relate to a degree. When I went off to grad school, I felt like I fell off the map to most of my family and friends — I ceased to exist. But like Samuel, I had to do what it takes to make a career and life for myself, even if it meant leaving the area and my former life for almost three years.

If we’re talking about the Samuel who is my brother-in-law, then we have a lot in common! He’s in the board games too. But strangely we haven’t gone together lately to play much. All good. His daughters help me out with the game.

Orion

Orion
Genre: Hip-Hop/R&B
Points: 6
Focus: Image

Who is Orion to me?
Orion is that raw talent that doesn’t even know his talent is raw. He doesn’t care. He’s just reveling in the fact that he got on stage with a tank top and board shorts. He’s hooked on that image of keeping it real island-flavor-like. Orion is just a happy-go-lucky kinda guy.

What do I have in common with Orion?
Me and Orion used to have the hair in common. But then as I grew into my 30’s, I stopped growing my hair and instead buzzed it. I miss the hair. However, I do still try to wear shorts whenever possible. Probably because I’m always warm. I’ll even wear shorts in cold weather. In terms of talent, I think growing up I didn’t realize that my talents were as raw as they were as I do now. Though I learned classical piano and sang in the choir in school, my formal training was not conventional. Many would still consider my talent “raw.” All good. It’s still talent. Lol.

Mya

Mya
Genre: Rock
Points: 10
Focus: Image

Who is Mya to me?
Maya is a superstar who came from nothing and is now at the top of her game. Growing up, everyone pronounced her name wrong. She also was sort of a tomboy since she grew up around a bunch of boys. Both those things kinda toughened her up and put a chip on her shoulder. She turned that tougher attitude into music through songwriting and is looking to break into the big time through Upstaged!

What do I have in common with Mya?
I grew up around a bunch of girls, so in a strange way, I can relate to her. I think that helped make me a little more in touch with my emotions. I’ve probably channeled that into becoming a songwriter. I always tell people that songs are usually the exaggerated expression of emotions you feel and situations you go through. However, being a songwriter has never panned out as a career, but maybe it will for Mya.

Miguel

Miguel
Genre: Pop
Points: 8
Focus: Image

Who is Miguel to me?
Miguel is the unsung songwriter. He was actually named by my niece, who watched a certain movie over a dozen times and really wanted to name one of the characters in Upstaged after her favorite character.

What do I have in common with Miguel?
I wish I had that awesome Gumby haircut like Miguel. But I don’t. I do, however, feel like the unsung songwriter at times. I think it’s nuts that society puts DJ’s on such a high pedestal, but songwriters in general are relatively unknown even though the very core of hit songs starts with the songwriter. Then again, I’m sure many songwriters prefer the private life. That way they have a chance to keep their private riches to themselves as well. Lol.

Melody

Melody
Genre: Pop
Points: 10
Focus: Talent

Who is Melody to me?
Melody is the total package. Smart, talented, fun-loving and thoughtful. She connects to the audience naturally just by being herself. She’s effortless whenever displaying her talents, and though she knows it, somehow she’s able to stay grounded and humble. She’s thankful that she has this opportunity to shine and is excited to see what other doors open to her in the future.

What do I have in common with Melody?
Hopefully, a lot. This is because Melody is the name that my wife and I are leaning towards giving our daughter, if we are ever blessed with the opportunity to have a daughter. The way I describe Melody is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to everything I hope she can be, and how I hope she approaches life.

Marty

Marty
Genre: Country
Points: 6
Focus: Talent

Who is Marty to me?
Marty is that dude that just loves to be alive. He’s seen and done it all. Now, thanks to his natural creative talents, he happens to find himself on the musical stage. Early in his career he was more of an actor. Who knew that in the future he would become a musical star.

 What do I have in common with Marty?
I feel like I have many creative talents. I’ve always loved artistic things. And I can become pretty decent at a lot of them. However, like Marty, sometimes I end up on a big stage that I never really thought I’d be on or wanted to be on. Like those weird times I was pulled into acting. Thankfully, I haven’t let self-consciousness deny me the opportunity to explore those different things. And I don’t care if I am a lowly “6” at some of these artistic things. I’m just happy to be alive and doing them competently enough.

Maddie

Maddie
Genre: Country
Points: 8
Focus: Image

Who is Maddie to me?
To me, Maddie is that very talented young person that loves the limelight. However, she still finds it weird when she sees herself on TV, or even in the mirror. Being so young, she does tend to hide behind her guitar a bit when the limelight does get too bright.

What do I have in common with Maddie?
Like Maddie, I tend to hide behind my instrument when I perform. I think I’ve mentioned before that I have stage fright. As a piano player, there is a physical object between me and the audience, and that helps me a lot. I’m able to channel what I want to get across not just through my voice while I’m singing, but through my fingers. More importantly, I feel that my piano skills are much stronger than my vocal skills. So, whenever my voice begins to do strange things during a show, I know my piano skills will can still carry the performance. Usually. Haha.