So, yesterday, Saturday July the 17th , I chose to try out for American Idol -- after everyone and their mother INSISTED I do so.
And I feel I must mention, I signed a release form. However, to my knowledge, I can divulge this because I won't be on TV -- and it won't ruin the show. No harm will be done; I'm sure it's been like this for all of its previous seasons. It was just new to me.
How different it is from the show! FOX lied to me, like they lied about everything else.
There was no Ryan. No Randy, no Kara, no Ellen. No cool auditions like that for 2 more weeks.
We had to be there at 5 in the morning (we were there earlier), just to be yelled at by some guy who wanted us to cheer repeatedly for like 3 hours on camera. It was fun.. for 5 minutes. The good news, is I might be on TV just for that. Dammit all.
After a while (some interesting characters appeared and disappeared), we were lead inside the Bridgestone Arena (where, besides American Idol, they were also advertising JUSTIN BIEBER.... TOM PETTY.... GEORGE STRAIT AND REBA... and others) to sit. After which, we spent ANOTHER hour or two cheering "NASHVILLE!" and "WELCOME TO NASHVILLE" and "IT'S MUSIC CITY" and "SEACREST OUT" and whatnot. (lol Ryan Seacrest). I'm sure he'll be digitally imposed onto us via greenscreen.
After that, they explained the rules. Turns out, these are the preliminaries to the PRELIMINARIES. Makes... sense? They promised to have us all judged by the end of the day, which was good. They had 12 tables with two judges each (the show producers and whatnot)... but they had us perform on the arena floor, where in any other arena the basketball and hockey teams played. Yeah, that made it slightly worse nerve-wise; at least we didn't have to perform with a mic.
But... the auditions were off. There were like 10,000 or so, so it went by fast... but slow, if that makes sense. If they got through, they'd get a golden ticket and go immediately to another room for their next audition, which would be more private. I sat there, nervous as shiiiiiit. I knew the songs (did I mention? We needed up to 3). I chose, besides my "signature," weren't going to show off my voice. And it was made worse by the fact that some AMAZING voices were being booted off.
Why?
Let me repeat myself.... Why???
There were two instances where the voices were so amazing that the crowd literally cheered and begged for the singer in question to get a ticket... and for one of THOSE (a note-for-note "I Will Always Love You"), the judge had to talk with the singer in question. Another judge put her line on hold to talk with that judge, and she was let in. (Strangely, someone with a HORRIBLE voice made it through... but I guess that's how the bad singers get on TV, huh?)
I made some good friends/acquaintances (only one that I put on facebook. But if NONE of them made it through, I'mma be pissed!). They were extremely good singers, and oozed confidence. One of them told me she was fired from her job because she was here (there). I... didn't feel so great. I knew my voice was good (hey there, ego! How ya doing?), but my voice... wasn't a lung-buster voice. I couldn't SSSSCCRREEAAAMM like some people, though I'm glad because that's all some people were doing. It reminded me of the "Band Geeks" episode in Spongebob, where Squidward advises "Maybe the louder we play, the better they'll think we are!" Seems some people took this to heart.
About 2 or 3 in the afternoon, it was finally my turn. We got in line (where 4 people would sing as a group, one at a time, before the judges decided). By this time, I had decided to change my 2nd and 3rd song, but would keep my first song the same. It was my turn. I whipped out "Sweet Child O'Mine" for this first performance, and started snapping my fingers. My voice chose (on it's own!) to almost "countrify" it, and I'm sure I looked horribly awkward. Ah well. There we stood, as our two judges whispered behind their notepads and boards. Then, in a few simple words, it was over.
"You guys have great voices, but it's just not what we're looking for for Season 10. Keep it up, and maybe you can try again next year."
Unusually kind, and I didn't care at that moment -- it was finally over. But I began to think to myself... all the great voices that I'd heard. They weren't what they were looking for? I thought it was a singing competition? Were they looking for more Justin Biebers? That would explain why they lowered the age to 15 as opposed to 16. But nonetheless... gah!
What made this entire experience worse (and what made me relieved to leave)... my pants ripped right below the zipper about when I got there. I felt uncomfy the whole day, even though it was easy to hide.
The best part was going home and sleeping for 16 hours. I thanked my mom for standing the day with me ("Now you can't say I don't love you," is what she told me -- and everyone she told the story to). I got home at maybe 5, ate a McDonald's salad and talked a bit, then slept until 11 the next morning (12 hours ago).
That's my story!