History Main / GainingConfidenceSong

->''I usually hate singing in public\\
Yeah, I can't believe I'm holding a mic\\
Relatably\\
We're both off-key\\
But it's the part of the film\\
That everyone likes\\
It's our gratuitous karaoke moment\\
We sound really bad, but look! We're starting to sway''
-->-- "Gratuitous Karaoke Moment", ''Series/CrazyExGirlfriend''

* It's Anna's turn in ''WesternAnimation/Frozen2''. "The Next Right Thing" starts off with her despondent and alone after hitting her DarkestHour [[spoiler: with the deaths of Elsa and Olaf]], but she steels herself to finish the job that they started.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013}}'', Elsa sings "Let It Go" where she first laments how her power has led her becoming basically an outcast, but then she embraces her powers and basically declares "This is me? Deal with it." Played with, however, as her decision to avoid paying attention to other people leads to her creating a [[EndlessWinter magical unending winter]] over the ''whole'' kingdom without realizing it and hurting innocent people, and she herself is still isolated even after her big confidence boost.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013}}'', Elsa sings "Let It Go" where she first laments how her power has caused her to become an outcast, but then she embraces her powers and basically declares "This is me? Deal with it." Played with, however, as she's basically daring the world to "deal" with the storm she accidentally caused and is still isolated inside even after her big confidence boost.

* Possibly the prototypical example, ''Theatre/{{Gypsy}}'' has "Let Me Entertain You," (alternatively known as "The Strip" or "Gypsy Strip Tease") charting the transformation of Louise Havoc into Gypsy Rose Lee ''in a single song.'' Shy, tomboyish Louise, pressured into doing a striptease at a burlesque after her StageMom volunteers her for an open slot, starts out stiff, quiet, and awkward, but ends up starting to like the positive attention, ending the act by removing a single glove. As the act moves on to bigger and better burlesques, Louise, now Gypsy Rose Lee, becomes brasher and more confident, until finally, she ends the number at the high-class Minsky's burlesque, a true star (and fully naked).

* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'': In "Dude, We're Getting the Band Back Together", the brothers find Swampy, the former drummer of Love Händle who stopped making music after an accident left him without a sense of rhythm. However, everything he does is done rhythmically. Phineas tells him he does have rhythm, but Swampy insists "I ain't Got Rhythm". By the end of the song, the brothers have shown him that yes, he does have rhythm and the old Swampy is back at his drumset.

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': In "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E12PinkiePride Pinkie Pride", the song "Pinkie's Lament" begins with Pinkie depressed because visiting party pony Cheese Sandwich has made her party-planning talents irrelevant. But she reminds herself of the success of her past parties and finds the strength to prove herself as the best party planner.

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': In "Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E12PinkiePride", the song "Pinkie's Lament" begins with Pinkie depressed because visiting party pony Cheese Sandwich has made her party-planning talents irrelevant. But she reminds herself of the success of her past parties and finds the strength to prove herself as the best party planner.

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': In "Pinkie Pride", the song "Pinkie's Lament" begins with Pinkie depressed because visiting party pony Cheese Sandwich has made her party-planning talents irrelevant. But she reminds herself of the success of her past parties and finds the strength to prove herself as the best party planner.

* ''WesternAnimation/CentralPark'': Owen's and Molly's sections of "Own It" count as this. Owen starts out saddened that he is the only one who cares about Turtlehead (Flower) Day at the park, while Molly starts out wondering if it's weird how much she's stalking her crush. Both realize it's better if they own up to their passions and embrace them, a precursor to their character arcs for the rest of the season as Owen has to become more confident in order to defend Central Park from outside sabotage, and Molly has to face up her crush.

* In the 1965 film version of ''Theatre/TheSoundOfMusic,'' "I Have Confidence" has Maria start out afraid of the challenge ahead of her as she leaves her cloistered abbey for the first time to be a governess to seven children. As the song progresses and she gets closer and closer to the Von Trapp house, she assures herself she can handle the challenge. This song has since been added to the stage version.

Who doesn't love a good musical? While the songs are always fun, they usually often push the story forward in some way. One way they can do this is by revealing the emotional state of the singer- maybe they're [[BreakupSong angsting about their ex]] or [[IWantSong declaring their dreams]], or any other number of possibilities. The audience gets to learn about their feelings and beliefs with a catchy musical number.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013}}'', Elsa sings "Let It Go" where she firsts laments how her power has caused her to become an outcast, but then she embraces her powers and basically declares "This is me? Deal with it." Played with, however, as she's basically daring the world to "deal" with the storm she accidentally caused, and is still isolated inside even after her big confidence-boost.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Moana}}'': During the film's DarkestHour, Tala's spirit appears to the protagonist and starts singing the "Song of the Ancestors". The first few verses are soothing whispers, as Tala tells Moana to reflect on her journey and who she really is. However, the protagonist then sings about the hardships she has overcome, growing progressively more confident as she realizes how much she has accomplished through sheer determination, until she proudly proclaims "I am Moana!" and decides to resume her journey.

* ''Film/EllaEnchanted'': While at a bar, Ella ends up having to sing "[[Music/{{Queen}} Somebody to Love]]" for everyone. She's at first uncomfortable and isn't really into it, jerking around each time someone asks her to dance. However, by the end of the song she's enjoying herself and getting into it, going above and beyond.

** Charlie had been practicing his music for ages and even produced a CD with Shawn. However, when Shawn makes him go on stage at the MasqueradeBall, he's terrified -- his stepbrothers just had an underwhelming performance that ended up with booing, and despite being in disguise, he was still scared to mess up. Then, as the song progressed, it became obvious that the audience was enjoying it- and Charlie started to as well, with the song picking up strength and his energy heightening, ending up with a performance so good it lead Kadee to hunt for "Rags" and sign him up with the label.

* Possibly the prototypical example, ''Theatre/{{Gypsy}}'' has "Let Me Entertain You," (alternatively known as "The Strip" or "Gypsy Strip Tease") charting the transformation of Louise Havoc into Gypsy Rose Lee ''in a single song.'' Shy, tomboyish Louise, pressured into doing a strip tease at a burlesque after her StageMom volunteers her for an open slot, starts out stiff, quiet, and awkward, but ends up starting to like the positive attention, ending the act by removing a single glove. As the act moves on to bigger and better burlesques, Louise, now Gypsy Rose Lee, becomes brasher and more confident, until finally, she ends the number at the high-class Minsky's burlesque, a true star (and fully naked).

* ''WesternAnimation/CentralPark'': Owen's and Molly's sections of "Own It" count as this. Owen starts out saddened that he is the only one who cares about Turtlehead (Flower) Day at the park, while Molly starts out wondering if it's weird how much she's stalking her crush. Both realize it's better if they own up to their passions and embrace them.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013}}'', Elsa sings "Let It Go" where she firsts laments how her power has caused her to become an outcast, but then she embraces her powers and basically declares "This is me? Deal with it."

* {{Invoked|Trope}} in an episode of ''Series/{{Victorious}}''. To get revenge on two {{Alpha Bitch}}s who cheated Jade and Cat out of a singing-competition victory, they had Tori dress up as a HollywoodHomely nerd and get her chosen as their next competitor. Playing the role, Tori first started the song out as if she had no idea what she was doing, only to gradually remove her disguise and get more passionate as the song went on, easily defeating the antagonists and thrilling the audience.

* Possibly the prototypical example, ''Theatre/{{Gypsy}}'' has "Let Me Entertain You," (alternatively known as "The Strip" or "Gypsy Strip Tease") charting the transformation of Louise Havoc into Gypsy Rose Lee ''in a single song.'' Shy, tomboyish Louise, pressured into doing a strip tease at a burlesque after her {{StageMom}} volunteers her for an open slot, starts out stiff, quiet, and awkward, but ends up starting to like the positive attention, ending the act by removing a single glove. As the act moves on to bigger and better burlesques, Louise, now Gypsy Rose Lee, becomes brasher and more confident, until finally, she ends the number at the high-class Minsky's burlesque, a true star (and fully naked).

* Possibly the prototypical example, ''Theatre/{{Gypsy}}'' has "Let Me Entertain You," (alternatively known as "The Strip" or "Gypsy Strip Tease") charting the transformation of Louise Havoc into Gypsy Rose Lee ''in a single song.'' Shy, tomboyish Louise, pressured into doing a strip tease at a burlesque after her {{StageMom}} volunteers her for an open slot, starts out stiff, quiet, and awkward, but ends up starting to like the positive attention, ending the act by removing a single glove. As the act moves on to bigger and better burlesques, Louise, now Gypsy Rose Lee, becomes brasher and more confident, until finally, she ends the number at the high-class Minsky's burlesque, fully naked.

* Possibly the prototypical example, ''Theatre/{{Gypsy}}'' has "Let Me Entertain You," (alternatively known as "The Strip" or "Gypsy Strip Tease") charting the transformation of Louise Havoc into Gypsy Rose Lee ''in a single song.'' Shy, tomboyish Louise, pressured into doing a strip tease at a burlesque after her {{StageMom}} volunteers her for an open slot, starts out stiff, quiet, and awkward, but ends up starting to like it, ending the act by removing a single glove. As the act moves on to bigger and better burlesques, Louise, now Gypsy Rose Lee, becomes brasher and more confident, until finally, she ends the number at the high-class Minsky's burlesque, fully naked.

* In ''Theatre/{{Newsies}}'', Katherine's "Watch What Happens" starts out with her unsure how to write the newsboys strike article that she hopes be her big break. Her confidence wavers throughout the song, but she ultimately finds the courage to start writing not just for herself, but for the newsboys who need their story to be heard.

* In ''Theatre/Newsies'', Katherine's "Watch What Happens" starts out with her unsure how to write the newsboys strike article that she hopes be her big break. Her confidence wavers throughout the song, but she ultimately finds the courage to start writing not just for herself, but for the newsboys who need their story to be heard.

* ''Franchise/{{Frozen}}'': Elsa does this twice, in both films.
** In ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013}}'', she sings "Let It Go" where she firsts laments how her power has caused her to become an outcast, but then she embraces her powers and basically declares "This is me? Deal with it."
** In ''WesternAnimation/FrozenII'', she sings "Into the Unknown", which starts out by questioning a voice only she can hear, wondering whether it is [[HearingVoices all in her head]]. She also tries to deny the call of adventure. But by the end of the song she embraces that there are new challenges out there and that she wants to find out what that voice is all about.

-> ''I usually hate singing in public''
-> ''Yeah, I can't believe I'm holding a mic''
-> ''Relatably''
-> ''We're both off-key''
-> ''But it's the part of the film''
-> ''That everyone likes''
-> ''It's our gratuitous karaoke moment''
-> ''We sound really bad, but look! We're starting to sway''
--> - "Gratuitous Karaoke Moment", ''Series/CrazyExGirlfriend''

Sometimes a character won't be feeling very confident about themselves. They're having a rough go of it- insecurities abound. This may be the result of a failure or struggle that leads the character near the DespairEventHorizon, but it could also just be the character suffering from low-confidence or StageFright. When they sing, be it diegetic or non-diegetic, they'll start out being nervous about it. If they're performing in front of others, it's especially stressful, as they're being judged for skills they may not be very confident in. Even if it's just them singing alone, their nerves will get the better of them. The song starts out slowly and often stiffly, with the character not moving around much or putting much energy into it.

The intent here is to show the character slowly triumph over their insecurities, told through music. It may not be a permanent change, although it can be- the point is that the character starts to gain confidence and loosens up, symbolized by them starting to enjoy themselves, rather than be held back by the issues plaguing them, even if only temporarily.

[[folder:Films - Animated]]

* ''WesternAnimation/Frozen2013'': Elsa does this twice, in both films.
** In ''Frozen'', she sings "Let It Go" where she firsts laments how her power has caused her to become an outcast, but then she embraces her powers and basically declares "This is me? Deal with it."

[[folder:Films-- Live-Action]]

* ''Film/EllaEnchanted'': While at a bar, Ella ends up having to sing [[Music/{{Queen}} "Somebody To Love"]] for everyone. She's at first uncomfortable and isn't really into it, jerking around each time someone asks her to dance. However, by the end of the song she's enjoying herself and getting into it, going above and beyond.
* ''Film/TheGreatestShowman'': "This is Me" starts out slowly as Lettie and the other performers walk through a party of people who think they're embarrassing at best, as she tries to claim she's not bothered by it. Then the others join in, and the song starts to pick up speed and power as the performers are all singing about being ''proud'' of who they are, with it sounding far more honest than in the early verses.

** Charlie had been practicing his music for ages and even produced a CD with Shawn. However, when Shawn makes him go on stage at the MasqueradeBall, he's terrified- his stepbrothers just had an underwhelming performance that ended up with booing, and despite being in disguise, he was still scared to mess up. Then, as the song progressed, it became obvious that the audience was enjoying it- and Charlie started to as well, with the song picking up strength and his energy heightening, ending up with a performance so good it lead Kadee to hunt for "Rags" and sign him up with the label.

-->''I kick down the walls around me.''
-->''They don't know how strong I am!''
-->''I'm not defined by boundaries!''
-->''They could never understand,''
-->''I'm so much more than status quo.''

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