Why does slam poetry all sound the same?

[Erthona]

Evidently she went to the Judy Garland poetry reading class (what's with those eyebrows, this is just painful to watch). There are many vocal trends in slam poetry, and slam can contain any style as it is not limited to any. Slam relates more to the format than to the expression, although as with anything it can get briefly stuck in a rut, and people can get haughty about if you don't do it this way, you just don't know what you are doing, but no, slam is open to all kinds of verbal poetry spoken by the author(although not written on the spot). It is a competition, watched over by an MC, who picks the judges from the audience. Depending on who is running the slam will determine how this is done, in terms of number of judges, rounds, and so on. Most people think of slam as an aggressive vocal style and often this is the case, and I think a legitimate criticism can be leveled at slam that it is often fooled, or taken in by the most showy, rather by the poem with the most depth. But then again, it is mainly judging the performance, and I think openly acknowledges that, so such criticism may not be valid. Personally I am not a fan as I think it has little to do with poetry, and much more to do with acting. A good actor with a mediocre poem will generally win (with an audience judging) over a mediocre actor with a great poem. I think it can be very entertaining for people that are into the performance aspect of it. In the end a much better name for "slam poetry" would be "performance poetry".
I've been thinking about that girl as I've been writing this (I'm wondering how long it will take to get that image out of my mind), and I am wondering if she just isn't on speed, or at least buffered up some by it. Oh well, overt egoism sprouts its head in many different ways, some just happen to be more unflattering than others, but I do think people should let the dead rest. Rest in peace Judy Garland.

Oh Yeah, nearly forgot. I used that line "I'm not afraid of dying I'm afraid of living", in a poem over 25 years ago, and even when I used it, it wasn't original. Just saying.

Dale