She is talented, young, and the best at whipping her hair, but is she ready to be answering questions in an interview? No.

I am talking about 10-year-old Willow Smith.  I will be the first to admit that her song “Whip My Hair” is not only catchy, but it is on my iPod.  As always, I looked up this new artist on Youtube and realized, she may be good at singing, but she is not ready to be interviewed.

For example, when Willow Smith was on the Ellen Degeneres show, Degeneres asked her if she had wanted to sing and act or just sing.  Smith replied saying that she loves both but singing is “something I do like pleasurous.” Pleasurous is not a word.

Thankfully, Smith had recognized she had wrongly used the word, but it still sounded as if she was trying to be someone much older, resulting in a ridiculous response.  Part of having a record label is being able to be yourself but also being able to respond to questions properly.  In this case, Smith is only 10 years old, so I feel that she should still show off her youth and not try and complicate her responses, which prevents her viewers from taking her seriously.

I was then speechless when Degeneres asked Smith what advice her brother, Jaden Smith, had given her.  She responded by saying, “Whenever you don’t feel something, just feel it.”  This is when I made the realization that this interview was useless.

I was then just about ready to exit Youtube when I heard Willow Smith define whipping your hair as “the new ‘I’m me’.” At this point I was utterly disappointed. It is important for a celebrity to be able to deliver themselves well to keep his or her viewers entertained, a skill that Smith currently lacks.  Instead of wanting to hear Smith talk, all I wanted her to do was perform “Whip My Hair.” I was irritated because honestly, I felt Smith was a waste of a celebrity.  I mean, if I were given the opportunity to be a celebrity, that would not only mean I could show off my voice to an audience, but I would also be given the opportunity to voice my opinion publicly, show off my personality, etc.  Instead, a 10 year-old who has no idea what she is saying cannot even make the song she is presenting sound mature.

On the other hand, we have the one and only Raven Symone, who conducted herself unbelievably well on the Arsenio Hall Show at just 6 years old.  She delivered each of her answers with maturity even when she did not have a proper answer.  For example, Hall asked Symone where she got her outfit and she innocently replied, “At a store” and then said, “It’s very nice isn’t it?  I like it too.”  The way she talked with Hall was mature, inviting, and very conversational.  It kept me entertained but also showed that Symone was a special young artist, and was ready to be in the spotlight.

Essentially, I feel that Symone and Smith are both talented, but Symone was able to conduct herself in an interview better than Smith, which makes Symone all the more entertaining.  Smith is a talented musician, but hopefully she can prove through both her music and interviews that she too is ready to be in the spotlight.

Related articles

• Willow Smith ‘Whip My Hair’ Ellen Performance Video (binsidetv.net)