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Technician Versus Performer: Difference between revisions
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{{examples}}
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* ''[[Dragonball Z]]'': In a way Vegeta is the Technician to Goku's performer. Vegeta trains and fights to be the strongest fighter in the universe, he also never spars, pushes himself waaaay too hard and his pride won't allow him to ask for help. Goku trains and fights because he loves it and is willing to learn from and train with others. In the end Goku is the better fighter despite not taking his training quite as seriously as Vegeta.
** A better example may be Piccolo (post [[Heel Face Turn]] anyway) and Goku... Or, frankly, anyone else in the series that isn't a normal little human. While preternaturally strong, he usually ends up registering about a 7 or 8 while others spike at 10-15. But he's just so damn ''good'' and knows so many techniques (when it doesn't just come down to a planet-busting [[Beam-O-War]]) that he can hold his own with the best of them. [[The Worf Effect|Unless he's the one that gets picked on to prove "how much a threat" the new villain is.]]
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* ''[[Yuri!!! on Ice]]'' gives a thorough examination on this duality, given that it revolves around figure skating, a sport that has both artistic and technical feat components:
** One of the first things we learn about Yuuri Katsuki is that he got to his current level because he practices constantly, making people inside and out of universe initially believe that he has a Technician-type of skater... except that, actually, Yuuri's actual strengths are in ''performer-like'' type of moves, like step sequence and figures, as he tends to choke while doing jumps and other highly technical moves, with only his presentation points to save his score. As Victor points out, Yuuri is "capable to create music while skating" but is held back on his potential by his comparatively lacking technical points, so when Victor coaches Yuuri he specifically goes into ironing those kinks (read, improve his jumps and make his performing anxiety under control) to increase his chances to medal.
** Victor Nikiforov is so incredibly skilled (he regularly gets technical scores that in real life would give anyone who gets them a world record), that we could peg him immediately as a Technician. His actual mentality, however, is of a Performer, constantly pushing himself to give more surprising
** This also becomes the problem with Yuri Plisetki.
** On the extremes on Performer and Technician mindsets among the rest of the skaters, we have Pitchit Chulanont, which is described as "a natural crowd-pleaser" and deliberately chose a popular song from a famous movie because he wanted to overwrite every other skater that previously skate to that, and Lee Seung-gil, whose mental dialogue while skating is him calculating his score with each move he does.
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== [[Live Action TV]] ==
* Show examples, ''[[The Wire]]'' is the technician, removed, objective, and uninflected. ''[[The Shield]]'' is the performer immediate, subjective, and emotional.
* Tends to show up in ''[[Strictly Come Dancing]]'' and similar series - some of the competitors will be technically skilled, but not really able to sell a dance and perform - they tend to sail through the early stages. Others will struggle on technical skill early on, but be able to perform really well - as their technical skill increases through practice, they start to provide serious challenges to the technical dancers, whose skill has plateaued, and who still can't act. The case in point this season is Chris Hollins compared with Ali Bastian.
** John Sergeant in the 2008 series of ''Strictly'' was a Performer who eventually left the show because his popularity wasn't fair on the Technicians.
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** {{spoiler|Neither did the Nationals judges a season later.}}
** [[Your Mileage May Vary|For some viewers of the series]], Technician Versus Performer in some form kicks in within New Directions itself, particularly with regard to Rachel, who tends to be technically adept but an imitative and immature performer whose goal is winning approval and applause, and the rest of the girls (plus countertenor Kurt - they're in competition because they share equal ranges and song preferences), who sing with more originality, authenticity and emotion. However, it also applies in reverse to the boys. Finn, as by far the least accomplished of the male singers and dancers, looks like he should be an underdog Performer type - but he's resented for getting solos while other (far more accomplished and enthusiastic) singers such as Artie, Kurt and Puck, and dancer Mike, are undeservedly stuck in his shadow - largely because of Technician Versus Performer favoritism from Will Schuester.
* Often happens on ''[[So You Think You Can Dance]]'', especially with breakdancers. While technically wonderful dancers are often competent enough to stay on the show for a while even if their performance isn't too amazing, dancers like season 7's Jose sail through because they're fun to watch even if they don't dance very well.
** It also has a major part in deciding who wins- there's a reason the winner is '[Country's] ''Favourite'' Dancer'. People with bright personalities may well win over more technically gifted dancers.
* ''Top Chef'' is a strange case, since there's so many sides to it, but it qualifies. It's why people like Fabio and Carla were so well liked, since they more qualified as performers than technicians (while Carla was classically trained, her food was more soulful than anything else).
** Occasionally, competitions will play out where one side chooses to make food that isn't terribly suited for the occasion, but showcases some culinary skills, while the other makes food the audience will enjoy. The judges tend to prefer the former.
* Can happen on ''[[Project Runway]]'', too; the people with the most skill at sewing or the most experience in the fashion business aren't always the ones with the most creativity and innovation. Again can go both ways; a creative person who can't sew at all will probably be [[Elimination Catchphrase|auf'd]], but so will an impeccable seamstress whose designs are boring.
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== [[Music]] ==
* One word, Rap. From the technical geniuses that dominate the underground but don't have the charisma to achieve superstar status (Talib Kweli, [[Nas]], Common, [[De La Soul]], sadly, a lot of political rappers fall into this), versus the loud, dumb, party lyrics backed by incredible stage presence ([[50 Cent]], Flo Rida, [[Lil Jon]], basically all [[Crunk]]), there are those that can rise above this dichotomy, and they soak in money and critical acclaim, ([[Eminem]], [[Tupac Shakur]], [[The Notorious B.I.G.]].)
* Among guitarists too, just look at the top 100 as ranked by Rolling Stone. The top 10 are mainly remembered as performers who played with a focus on soul and feeling. Whereas, Technicians such as Steve Vai and Eddie Van Halen are considerably lower on the list.
* [[Robbie Williams]] (performer) and Gary Barlow (technician) from [[Take That (band)|Take That]], and more notably their solo careers. Most people agreed Gary was the better
* ''Pyromania''- and ''Hysteria''-era [[Def Leppard]] had co-lead guitarists Phil Collen (technician) and Steve Clark (performer). Collen has stated that, after Clark died, he almost wanted to quit the group over his frustration at the problems he was having with replicating Steve's guitar playing.
* Britney Spears (Performer) vs. Christina Aguilera (Technician). This had also factored on how their careers have developed: Christina, known as the best voice of her generation, seeks to prove her vocal capacity and as such she strays into different musical genres, which has given her acclaim for her experimental forays but have alienated her from the pop-loving fanbase she initially attracted; meanwhile, Britney had tried to be a more rounded pop performer by keeping with the trends, which has maintained her popularity and saved her career from the many personal life blunders that could have killed it.
* The [[They Might Be Giants]] song "[[XTC]] versus [[Adam Ant]]" asserts that the two bands represent "content versus form," ie technical performance versus style.
* An unusually common situation: An actor-who-sings tends to be much more successful than the reverse. Though both fields are demanding, singing is also [[Crippling Overspecialization|extremely focused]]; singers (Technicians) often lack the physical presence needed to connect to the audience, while actors (Performers) may not be the best singers, but know how to get reactions from audiences. Underlining the differences, many actors already ''are'' decent singers—but they view it as a fun way to kill time, while singers view acting as [[Serious Business]].
** Similarly, the animosity between career singers (particularly the [[Singer-songwriter]] type) and [[Idol Singer]]s is a variant of this trope. Idols, specially in Asia, are expected to not only sing and/or rap, but also dance (while singing, even!), act, model and keep a fan-pleasing persona, and as such they are seen as [[Jack of All Trades]], not particularly capable in a single area but all-rounder Performers, while career singers (even those in the pop spectrum) are seen as Technicians that only focus on developing their singing, with the spectacle merely as a support of their vocal abilities and not needing to add "gimmicks" to their art.
* This trope is the main reason why it's generally [[Internet Backdraft|not a good idea]] to try to discuss either [[Garage Rock]] or [[Progressive Rock]] with fans of the other.
* Despite his clear technical skills, [[Jimi Hendrix]] was closer to the Performer end of the spectrum. Had virtually no formal musical training, could barely even read music, but was blessed with natural talent and near-perfect pitch. Nobody taught Jimi how to play; ''he just know'', man...
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