trouble with diction and dynamic contrast

I well be singing at a music festival coming up in only FOUR DAYS (gasp!). I feel prepared for it, except for a couple of things. First, I'm not very expressive. I'm singing a very emotional piece, but I don't have much dynamic contrast, and I'm scared to mess with it in case I mess with the tone or go out of tune or something. Second, my diction is crap. It always has been, from the first time I sang. I've tried to work on it, but it doesn't seem to get any better. I don't know if there is anything special I can do about problems like this, but any advice would be very welcome.
Thanks bunches,
Sparrow

Well, about diction, the most important rule is simple : long vowels and very very short consonants, you should practice that

thanks, but the problem is actually my consonants. i tend to not hit them hard enough and they end up being inaudible, so all anyone hears is vowels. i guess its just something i have to work on.

Sparrow wrote:thanks, but the problem is actually my consonants. i tend to not hit them hard enough and they end up being inaudible, so all anyone hears is vowels. i guess its just something i have to work on.

Well, try singing with waay to much emphasis on the consonants for a while, and then try singing without worrying about it at all, hopefully this will make you automatically use more of the consonants