Urgent: I have a singing audition tomorrow and I have a nasty cold, how can I get rid of it on time?

I bike a lot and when I feel a cough in the morning, my first thought is “I GOTTA BIKE TO WORK!!”

I figure the hard breathing is gonna blow the bad stuff outta my body.

YMMV

P.S.
Knock ‘em dead!

@jaytkay Good idea! Thanks. Oh I plan to knock ‘em dead. Even with this pesky cold!

Hot fluids and don’t talk. I knew this opera singer who would never talk before an audition… Well, she would whisper. Rest your voice. She was asked to audition for a lead at the Met so I guess she was pretty good.

By tomorrow? Not much. When you first feel a cold coming on, head straight to bed and get extra sleep. A little NyQuil helps if you can’t sleep. There are also various products, such as ColdEze which help to shorten the duration of a cold, but you have to start when you feel the cold just coming on. Once the cold is full blown, it’s too late for these to be any use.

Get some zinc, vitamin C and ecchinacea (I know that they say that echiinacea does not cut colds short, but it has an amazing effect in ending or lessening sneezing and drying up mucus). Mullein would help your cough.

Then get plenty of rest before the audition.

Just do your best. Sorry about the bad luck. You are not going to clear up a cold overnight.

Something that’s always worked for me without fail during a fever or a cold is working up a sweat. Now I know it’s not the norm and it’s against doctor’s advice so follow at your own risk but going for a run an sweating has always fixed me. Maybe sit in a sauna if you don’t want to exert.

Oh I also have a story of very recent times. A couple of weeks ago I had an event coming up where I had to do some dance routines. Rehearsals and all go great and just like you, the night before the event I catch dad’s cold. Headache, sore throat, nasal discharge, body aches etc. I also knew this was the start of it and it would only get worse. But I went, did my dances and of course sweat during them and when I came home I felt good as new.

Good luck for tomorrow..

I’ve heard that some opera singers warm olive oil, rub it on their neck, then wrap their neck with saran wrap. Here are some gargling tips from a professional singer

If you have salt and water, you can beat this! Gargling regularly with warm saltwater (about 3 teaspoons in a glass) should help ease the throat pain. You can also make a saltwater nasal spray to help with congestion (Google for instructions), or put salt in a bowl of hot water and breathe in the steam with a towel over your head (alternatively, put in some essential oils like peppermint).

I also recommend doing a good workout in the morning of your audition, and put lots and lots of honey on your toast. Good luck!

Not trying to sound like a jerk or something but you need to to push this or else you could end up with bunch of other problems.
Be careful.

Zicam lozenges can shorten the duration of a cold, but you must start taking them at the first sign of a cold. If it’s too late for that, here are some other remedies that will give you temporary relief:

1. Use saline nasal spray when needed to keep nasal passages clear.
2. Take a long hot shower in the morning. The steam will relieve congestion.
3. Drink hot peppermint tea with honey as close to your audition as possible.
4. Blow your nose frequently with soft tissues. This will be unpleasant, but it will keep your sinuses clear and relieve the postnasal drip that is so hard on the voice.

I hope you feel better soon. Good luck with the audition!

Take a mug, heat up some water. Take 2 thick slices of lemon and put it in the water, along with 4–6 heaping teaspoons of sugar, a teaspoon of honey, one peppermint stick. Swig it down as hot as you can stand then immediately get under 4 heavy blankets or 2 thick blankets and a comforter. By morning you should feel 68% (est.) better.

Thank you all so much for the suggestions.

I’m doing everything I can! I’ll let you know how tomorrow goes!

You need to medicate yourself to get rid of your symptoms for the audition. Before that get plenty of sleep. Take an antihistemine and decongestant combination pill. Decongestant makes most people sleepy, so take 4 hours before your audtion. The most tired you will be is about 2 hours after taking it if it is a 6 or 12 hour pill. Take it and try to still rest a couple of hours. If you are still congested take cough medicine. The cough medicine should be DM so it does not have additional medicines, cough medicine should only treat your cough. Take 2 advil 2–3 hours before the audition. It takes Advil about 50 minutes to start working. If you are still stuffy you can use Afrin nose spray to shrink the swelling in your nose, it will help you breath, but it might affect your vocal chords too, I am not sure. Oh, before you take your shower to get ready, go to the smallest bathroom in your house for the shower. Close all the doors and run the water very hot and fog up the bathroom. The steam will help loosen whatever phlegm is going on. After a few minutes turn the water to the temp you need it to shower. Continue to keep all the doors closed while you shower so the steam stays trapped in the room until you are finished.

Break a leg.

I’m sure you already know this, if you’ve gotten this far singing, but don’t tell the people you’re sick!! Show them through coughing, nose-blowing, and congested talking (even if you sound okay) so it’ll be obvious. They’ll admire you for not announcing it and they’ll also take it into consideration. Good luck!!!

Yes, go to bed like NOW!

Take a long, hot bath, some night time cold meds and sleep, sleep, sleep.

Have tea in the morning and, well….that’s about all you can do.

I slept 10 hours the other night with my cold and I woke up feeling better!

Good luck Kate! :-D

My answer is the same as @sliceswiththings

Avoid dairy like your life depends on it. Nothing will clog you up more than dairy. It’s like it puts your mucus producers into overdrive. Just avoid it and you’ll avoid an excess of mucus.

Do you have a Nettie pot? My son was a vocal major at the musicians institute and they told him not to use any of the meds. They only tighten up your throat. Salt gargles and a Nettie pot for your sinuses.

Just curious as to how it went . . .

It was horrible. :(

Sorry to hear that . . .

Oh no. :( Horrible because of the cold?

Oh no! I’m sorry to hear that. :(

@KateTheGreat Только скажите слово, я помещу мертвую главу лошади в их кровати, таким образом они дают Вам часть. В противном случае я использую провод фортепьяно на их шее, они будут петь различную мелодию.

@JLeslie Yes, it was pretty bad. I was so congested that I couldn’t reach the right notes and I ended up cracking.

@Hypocrisy_Central You’re bad, but holy crap I love you. Hahahahahahaha.

I still got a part though, not a very desirable part, but at least I get money.

I’m sorry. Just a few days ago I started to write a question that went like this “do you get paranoid before a trip or soecial event that you are going to get sick?” but, I had erased it before posting. I dread that sort of thing happening. I have a very important party coming up out of town, and last week I said to my husband, “you better not get sick, we are leaving soon.” He thinks I’m nuts.

@JLeslie That’s definitely not nuts. I am the same way. When I know I have to sing soon, I avoid people and try to stay as healthy as possible.

@KateTheGreat – I hope you can explain to them that you had a cold and would like another audition when you’re better.

@HungryGuy There are certain cutoffs for audition periods, so I will not be able to do that.