My twin sister Meg and my older sister Ashley and I went to try out for American Idol. Meg and I thought it would be fun, but we honestly thought that my sister Ashley was a shoe-in to make it thru. So we wanted to support her.
Ashley auditioned for American Idol in San Francisco last year, so she had been thru the process once before. Here's how it went:
On Sunday morning Meg, Ash and I lined up at the Energy Solutions Arena (can I just say that I've ALWAYS hated that name and I still do. It's not catchy, it's not concise, it's not fun...I don't like it) at 4:30 AM. We waited in line until 7:45 AM and then we got wrist bands and reserved seats for the Tuesday morning auditions.
We went to bed at 3:00 AM on Saturday night/Sunday morning, so being in line by 5:00 AM was quite the challenge (we just couldn't sleep. We were all too excited, kind of like the feeling you get when you try to sleep on Christmas Eve, though we weren't going to get presents when we got up, we were going to sit in line). Anyway, the story goes on...
Yesterday morning, Tuesday July 29, 2008, we went to the Arena at 8:00, they filed us into the building, we sat in our reserved seats, and then Ryan Seacrest came out. He doesn't go to all of the audition cities, but he came here. It was fun to see him. I think he is probably the best host there has ever been, on any show. I am not necessarily a huge fan of his personally, but as a host I think he's fabulous. From 8:00-9:30 we did a whole bunch of camera shots. Ryan would say, "This is American Idol" and we'd all scream, the camera would pan around, then we'd do that exact same thing 5 times and then we'd move on to his next line, then we'd scream, then we'd do it again 5 more times...and so on and so forth. It was fun, but it got old after a while. I sure am glad that Ashley brought coloring books!
After that we started to audition. There were 3 "Utah Idols" that got to audition in front of everyone first. These 3 people had done different competitions in Utah to be the first to audition and they had won those competitions, so I really thought all 3 of them would make it thru to the next round (there are 3 rounds of judges before you see Paula, Randy, and Simon, and you don't see Paula, Randy and Simon until November, if you make it past the first 3 rounds). But only one of the 3 "Utah Idols" made it thru. I thought they were all AMAZING, so to see that only one of them made it thru helped us realize that we had a very slim chance of making it thru. So the next 100 people go and only 1 person got a "golden ticket" to move to the next round. The odds at best from that point on were 1/70 to get a "golden ticket". Meg, Ash and I were up in front of the judges about 2 hours into the auditions. We went to a table that only had one judge sitting there (you obviously want two or three judges to watch you because your odds of at least one of them liking you are much greater, but the other 2 people who were supposed to be sitting there had gone on break, so we only had one judge). She stared at my chest the whole time. No joke. No eye contact, no looking around, nothing. It's VERY hard to sing to someone who isn't looking at you, but to have a WOMAN staring at my chest the whole time I sang was extremely awkward. Meg went after me (and I thought she ROCKED her audition) and then Ash (who was perfect, as always). The lady told all three of us after we had auditioned that we all had amazing voices, that we should keep singing, but that none of us had the "IT" factor they were looking for. She said they want girls this season who will make everyone forget about Kelly Clarkson, Jordan Sparks, Kerri Underwood, and all of the other female American Idols from the past.
After you walk away from the table someone walks up to you, cuts off your wristband in front of the thousands of people in the stadium, and then you walk across the stadium floor to the "non-winner" exit. (I thought "non-winner" was so lame...honestly people, we are adults. You cut off our wrist bands and make us do the walk-of-shame, so let's call the exit what it is, the "loser" exit).
Now, let me just end by saying I had a blast doing this. I am extremely exhausted. The lack of sleep has caught up to me. But I think it was very fun, very random, and very daring of us to audition. Why not? When else will we get a chance like this? I had a fun experience with my sisters, did something not everyone will get a chance to do, and had a blast doing it. I honestly knew my chances of moving on were slim, but I am glad I tried. I am glad that I didn't suck during my audition (I was so scared my nerves would get to me) and that I left feeling like I had done my best and that I was pretty dang cool for giving it a shot. But, if you ask me if I would do it again I will definitely have to say NO. Good times were had but I would never put myself thru that much sleep deprivation and cattle-call-like crowds again.
It'll be interesting to see who DOES make it thru though. I wonder what they'll have to say about Salt Lake City...
Oh, one last thing...sorry this is turning out to be so long...Desert Star called me while I was in line waiting to audition and they asked me to come in and audition for "Scary Poppins" which is the show they will be performing in September and October. So I went and auditioned last night (exhausting having 2 auditions in one day, but why not get them both over with?!) and I felt very good about my audition. Who knows when I will hear from them, but whether or not I make it I know that I did my best and now it's up to the directors to see who exactly they are looking for. I'll keep you posted!
Ashley auditioned for American Idol in San Francisco last year, so she had been thru the process once before. Here's how it went:
On Sunday morning Meg, Ash and I lined up at the Energy Solutions Arena (can I just say that I've ALWAYS hated that name and I still do. It's not catchy, it's not concise, it's not fun...I don't like it) at 4:30 AM. We waited in line until 7:45 AM and then we got wrist bands and reserved seats for the Tuesday morning auditions.
We went to bed at 3:00 AM on Saturday night/Sunday morning, so being in line by 5:00 AM was quite the challenge (we just couldn't sleep. We were all too excited, kind of like the feeling you get when you try to sleep on Christmas Eve, though we weren't going to get presents when we got up, we were going to sit in line). Anyway, the story goes on...
Yesterday morning, Tuesday July 29, 2008, we went to the Arena at 8:00, they filed us into the building, we sat in our reserved seats, and then Ryan Seacrest came out. He doesn't go to all of the audition cities, but he came here. It was fun to see him. I think he is probably the best host there has ever been, on any show. I am not necessarily a huge fan of his personally, but as a host I think he's fabulous. From 8:00-9:30 we did a whole bunch of camera shots. Ryan would say, "This is American Idol" and we'd all scream, the camera would pan around, then we'd do that exact same thing 5 times and then we'd move on to his next line, then we'd scream, then we'd do it again 5 more times...and so on and so forth. It was fun, but it got old after a while. I sure am glad that Ashley brought coloring books!
After that we started to audition. There were 3 "Utah Idols" that got to audition in front of everyone first. These 3 people had done different competitions in Utah to be the first to audition and they had won those competitions, so I really thought all 3 of them would make it thru to the next round (there are 3 rounds of judges before you see Paula, Randy, and Simon, and you don't see Paula, Randy and Simon until November, if you make it past the first 3 rounds). But only one of the 3 "Utah Idols" made it thru. I thought they were all AMAZING, so to see that only one of them made it thru helped us realize that we had a very slim chance of making it thru. So the next 100 people go and only 1 person got a "golden ticket" to move to the next round. The odds at best from that point on were 1/70 to get a "golden ticket". Meg, Ash and I were up in front of the judges about 2 hours into the auditions. We went to a table that only had one judge sitting there (you obviously want two or three judges to watch you because your odds of at least one of them liking you are much greater, but the other 2 people who were supposed to be sitting there had gone on break, so we only had one judge). She stared at my chest the whole time. No joke. No eye contact, no looking around, nothing. It's VERY hard to sing to someone who isn't looking at you, but to have a WOMAN staring at my chest the whole time I sang was extremely awkward. Meg went after me (and I thought she ROCKED her audition) and then Ash (who was perfect, as always). The lady told all three of us after we had auditioned that we all had amazing voices, that we should keep singing, but that none of us had the "IT" factor they were looking for. She said they want girls this season who will make everyone forget about Kelly Clarkson, Jordan Sparks, Kerri Underwood, and all of the other female American Idols from the past.
After you walk away from the table someone walks up to you, cuts off your wristband in front of the thousands of people in the stadium, and then you walk across the stadium floor to the "non-winner" exit. (I thought "non-winner" was so lame...honestly people, we are adults. You cut off our wrist bands and make us do the walk-of-shame, so let's call the exit what it is, the "loser" exit).
Now, let me just end by saying I had a blast doing this. I am extremely exhausted. The lack of sleep has caught up to me. But I think it was very fun, very random, and very daring of us to audition. Why not? When else will we get a chance like this? I had a fun experience with my sisters, did something not everyone will get a chance to do, and had a blast doing it. I honestly knew my chances of moving on were slim, but I am glad I tried. I am glad that I didn't suck during my audition (I was so scared my nerves would get to me) and that I left feeling like I had done my best and that I was pretty dang cool for giving it a shot. But, if you ask me if I would do it again I will definitely have to say NO. Good times were had but I would never put myself thru that much sleep deprivation and cattle-call-like crowds again.
It'll be interesting to see who DOES make it thru though. I wonder what they'll have to say about Salt Lake City...
Oh, one last thing...sorry this is turning out to be so long...Desert Star called me while I was in line waiting to audition and they asked me to come in and audition for "Scary Poppins" which is the show they will be performing in September and October. So I went and auditioned last night (exhausting having 2 auditions in one day, but why not get them both over with?!) and I felt very good about my audition. Who knows when I will hear from them, but whether or not I make it I know that I did my best and now it's up to the directors to see who exactly they are looking for. I'll keep you posted!
Meg and Ash waiting outside of the Energy Solutions Arena on the morning of July 29, 2008 (wasn't it so nice of me to make them face the sun?!) Oh, and can I add how dang cool I think Meg is? Who can pull off that '80's punk look? She definitely can. She really is so dang cool:
Me & Meg sitting in our fabulous seats in the Arena. Ryan Seacrest was doing his little schpeel at the time, but he is so short I couldn't get a good picture of him...
Here's a picture of the floor of the arena. We all had to sing at tables right next to each other...it was VERY noisy and it was very hard for the judges to hear you...you'd think they'd have a better way of doing things...(sorry about this horrible quality picture. I used my phone and it was very bright in there. But you can see the black curtains down on the floor. The curtains "separated" the tables):
And finally, here's the poster for the Desert Star Playhouse show I auditioned for on the very same day:
No, I am not joking, that is it. Notice that it is in the middle of a big ol' empty field. Well, that's what Ibapah is. A big desert. Population of approximately 100 people. Now, my first year there I didn't have the greatest time. It was over 100 degrees every day, I didn't know many people (Jesse and I had been married for a little over 6 months, so I wasn't very close with his siblings and parents(yet)). I am not an avid dirt biker *note the sarcasm* and thus I sat in a chair in the blazing sun for 3 days. My Harry Potter book's binding melted as I read it...no joke, I still have it as proof. It completely fell apart. I was trying to look like I was having a good time, but I honestly wasn't.
Now look at Jesse's facial expression! That is priceless. He really couldn't believe I was jumping off. I love that...I love to be cool like that...hahahah...I am so just kidding! How cool can I actually be when I have to have my husband climb up the tree to give me a pep talk? Man, I just need to grow up...
Please note Jesse's facial expression again...how priceless is that?! He can't believe Meg is doing this with him either. He is just learning of Meg's obsession with water. That is one of our MAJOR differences. Meg will do anything she can to get wet. And I will do anything I can to stay dry. She is always hot. I am always cold. And therefore she is always trying to cool off and I am always trying to stay warm. 
Sorry if this was a boring blog for any of my fellow bloggers, but I had to say that I finally truly enjoyed myself at Ibapah and am looking forward to next year. I never thought I'd get to that point, but I have!!!! Yea! And I will post again later with some pictures of Meg and her new best friend Copper...
