Tonight, we have only one question to ask each artists. I was 43 years old when mine came into focus. We all have one to make and the size is irrelevant, but to not make one… a mistake.

So tonight we ask the question to Charles, Ned, Kelly, Oscar and Rebecca, the 5 Nominees still standing for Best Performance of the Year:

The Question

What is Yours?

*******

Oscar Alejandro Plascencia, La Puente CA, Poet

*******

*******

Rebecca Lemke, Lahoma OK mommy blogger

What is my contribution?

I’d say it’s nothing special.

I change diapers, clean spit up and negotiate nap times with my spawn (who I am convinced will be a lawyer someday, and he can’t even talk yet).

Oh, and I write the occasional story about my kid spraying the delivery man with milk.

My contribution is my story. An honest look into my everyday existences.

I’m “just a stay at home mom”.

My life is not glamorous or perfect, but it is real.

I write about my life as a 19 year old wife and mother.

I show what life is really like when you choose the unpopular path, the path that few people support because it isn’t “normal”.

I give a vulnerable, inside look about the struggles I’ve faced, like my challenging past, being pregnant in college and our time in the neonatal intensive care unit.

I’ve shown our everyday milestones and revealed the most hilarious and candid moments of raising my son.

On a timeless scale, and considering the whole wide world, where will your contribution find its home?

Initially I would have answered that its home is with other mothers, but I have been shown this to be too small of a range.

My contribution has found its home in the hearts of people who can identify with my story.

Other women of all ages, mothers and fathers, teenagers and those

Bubba

struggling with mental health and well-being. This isn’t an exhaustive list, and there is always someone who manages to surprises me with a follow or like that I would have never anticipated.

These are my thoughts, but ultimately I prefer to leave it to my audience to decided what my contribution is. I appreciate that so many people have found my writing worthy of their attention and time.

Thank you to everyone who has supported me!

*******

Kelly Lewis, Los Angeles Poet

Here I stand at a crossroads
Staring off into the distance,
As I wait patiently and listen
Loyally, for the next episode

Commanding are rules to role
I struggle with the instructions
It’s the bane of self-destruction
Governing beyond my control

I let the true stories unfold
Taking a path of insistence
Though there’ll be resistance
Accepted in confusions hold

Baring the secret of horrors
Twisting the preferred reality
Toeing the fine line of fantasy
Hidden behind each closed door

Extending around the globe
Reaching into hearts and souls
Where kindred spirits do roam
Together in a place called home

*******

Ned Hickson, Florence Oregon Humorist

Tonight is about being “RAW.”

Fortunately, this isn’t “Hell’s Kitchen,” so there won’t be any Chef Ramsey yelling at everyone about their under-cooked chicken or lamb. Tonight is about revealing ourselves in a way that is unrehearsed, real and raw. To get as close as I could to that, what follows are my answers — unscripted, unrehearsed and uncut — to the two questions each of us was asked about our art.

It’s not flashy. Or smooth. Or even that funny.

But it is real, honest and as close to being “live” as I could get.

Bloody hell…

********

Charles Okpere, Lagos Nigeria, Writer

All I am out to offer humanity; are moments of brilliance

I don’t think I would tag myself for the world to tag me …I feel mankind and humanity in whole does not care what and how you treat her.
That being said, I stand for only inspirational vibes; that does not basically need to come from me but from everyone and everything around me …and it compulsorily does not need to be from only humans and nature would also be where I get plenty of inspiration too.

You know that process of being mentally stimulated to feel or do something creative.  Inspirational activity coming in all forms; from originality, individuality, imagination, insight, innovation, inventiveness, artistry, creative talent, creative skill, expressiveness, vision, brilliance, wit, genius and the list goes on and on.

All I am out to offer humanity; are moments of brilliance given on a platter where every idea is put on the table and dissected properly, so something different from the status quo is created.
Working hand in hand with individuals who inspire and who do possess superpowers to carrying a force that inspires from every angle. And all we do together and for each other is; encouraging , motivating and influencing elements that gives every stimulus of creativity a lift or boost. We all have the ability to inspire, no matter what our background and ‘fights’ are.

As inspiration comes by genuine people, stepping out of their comfort zone and reaching for the stars, the most important thing is also having the ability to carry people along.  Whether it is trying to make the world a better place or being innovative with technology.  We all know someone who did at least one thing that inspired us. It could be someone who gives back to the community or a mentor providing genuine support.

It’s interesting to me how many interesting people suffer from not knowing what to do when knocked down countless times. I, as an interested participant of mankind and humanity, am very interested in helping people reduce the interestingly common cognitive distortion of labeling themselves “useless”.

Old debate goes on and one, still unanswered dark deeds still abound. Can good exist side-by-side with evil and neither be unchanged by the other?
As I ponder these and other unanswerable questions that should lead humanity to live on and not just exist alone; In the end I renew my pledge to serve, without compromise the values that uplift humanity and mankind, trusting that this world of ‘duality’ serves a Divine purpose, even at the end of my stay on it.
I don’t think I have to always repeat an obvious fact, but I would on this special occasion; “We don’t live in a world that is split into two halves, we are brothers that should be watching each others back; stop questioning my worth and let’s try build empires together.” I am not better than you so please stop trying to prove to me how you could be better than me in every way.

Life; Very simple I feel it should be, but this complications I see aren’t nature but hand works of humanity itself. Would there be solutions? Would there be peacemakers? Would there be life savers and lots of humorist and people that make us laugh instead of the unnecessary tears that humanity has suffered in recent times?

*******

The Polls are Now Open. VOTE up to 2 Artists that you Believe deserve to make THE FINAL FOUR. Polls Close Monday @ 10:00AM PST/1:00 PM EST and 7:00PM CET