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enamouredI know, I know--shortly =/= three days after the fact that I mentioned it. But it's taken a long time for me to write this up.
Re: American Idol audition.
I'd been thinking about going since I heard that they were having one at Texas Stadium, and that was back in June or so. I've wanted to audition for Idol since the second season (I begged my mom to let me go to the one in Austin for S2 and got shot down because I was still in high school; I briefly thought about flying down to San Antonio last year to audition), and considering that Irving's about forty-five minutes away, I figured what the hell?
I almost didn't go, though. Because A.) morning traffic is a bitch and B.) even though I woke up at 5 A.M., I didn't have an armband (you had to have an armband to audition, and they had started distributing those on Saturday and the papers kept reporting that they were going to stop giving those out at 8 A.M. on Monday) and I was going to follow my dad there (as he works near the stadium), and he wasn't up yet... and if he left at 7, that'd give me an hour to get there, get an armband, and get in line. And with the traffic possibility? That was gonna prove to be testy.
So after waffling on going, I figured the worse that could happen would be that I would get stuck in traffic.
It took FOREVER to get to Irving. My dad takes this back road way to work, because he likes to avoid the highway in the morning. And considering rush hour traffic in the DFW area, I don't blame him. But seriously, it took a while. By the time we finally arrived in the area of the stadium, it was 7:45. I pulled into the parking lot at 7:50, and I had to park on the southern (back) side, but the entrances they had open were up and around front.
I start to run.
But, for some reason--I guess I was all, "I'M IN THE PARKING LOT, JUST LET ME GET THE ARMBAND; I GOT THIS FAR ALREADY WAUUUUGH!"--my legs started shaking so I kind of speed-walked and ran head-on into a crowd of people. It was one of the lines. I asked where I could get an armband. Someone points towards something off in the distance that I can't see and tells me that they should be at a table. After squeezing my way through the crowd (and surprisingly not getting smacked, because I'm pretty sure some people might've thought I was trying to skip in the line), I got to the table where two women decked in red shirts with the show's logo were, and after showing two forms of ID (my driver's license and my CVC ID) a green wristband with the show's logo was wrapped around my right wrist and I was given a ticket that looked like it'd come from Ticketmaster.
After this, there was about an hour and a half of waiting in line. People talked, the media filmed (this one guy from FOX chose to converse with a busty blonde in a sparkly halter top and a black cowboy hat), news helicopters flew around, a plane from the local country station with a banner reading "GOOD LUCK" sailed through the skies... and it got hot. It was a combo of the weather and the people all compressed in. They were letting in a small stream of people at a time, but it felt like FOREVER. On my end of the line, every time they let more people in the gate, someone would yell, "PUSH!" and we'd all shuffle forward like manic lemmings.
I finally got into the stadium around 9:30, and proceeded to sit in the wrong section. My ticket said Section 15, but I wound up in 14. Fortunately someone pointed out the error of my decision. I also almost lost the white and blue plaid delivery hat I was wearing (so that, you know... I could stick out in the crowd or whatever, plus my hair looked awful and I needed to conceal that).
Before they started doing warm-up type activities, one of the producer-types was talking over the PA system and said we had 15 minutes before they started doing things. I went on a bathroom run, only to find girls who were already in there arguing. If you've ever seen Hollywood Week of Idol, you know what I'm talking about. [rolls eyes] Back inside, they had us sing "Listen to the Music", especially the chorus. At least fifty times. After that, they filmed a bunch of takes of the crowd yelling stuff like "WELCOME TO DALLAS!! WHOOOOOO!!", "EVERYTHING'S BIGGER IN TEXAS!! WHOOOOOO!!", and "I'M THE NEXT AMERICAN IDOL!! WHOOOOOO!!"
After that, we got the run through of how the auditioning would go. They would start bringing people down from section 118, and they would go down onto the field and then to one of the thirteen tables where producers would be sitting. If you were selected to advance to the next bout of auditions, you got the Golden Ticket and went to the right. And if you didn't? Your green arm band got clipped and you were sent to the left.
Since I was in section 115, there was a bit of a wait. They let down the first group from 118 at about 10:15 or so. I talked to the girls who were next to me (one was seventeen or so, the other nineteen) and this one guy behind me who was cracking us up. There was a guy in section 117 who had his hair in a Sanjaya-like ponyhawk with a sign that read "DANJAYA" (prompting some girls in my section to scream "WE LOVE YOU, DANJAYA!"). I went back and forth over which song I wanted to sing.
But the best part was watching to see who would go through. Every time we'd see someone get a Golden Ticket, someone somewhere in the stadium would start cheering or applauding. While I was there, I saw a lot of guys going through, and maybe five, six girls tops. There was this one guy, a kind of bigger black dude, who got his and as he was walking towards the exit took a bow. Half the crowd started clapping like he'd won or something, which was kind of cool.
Finally, at about 12:30 or so, my section started going down on the floor. IT WAS SO FRIGGIN' NERVEWRACKING. I have been on that field twice in my life, both for concerts, and I'm still amazed at how friggin' big it is. But anyway, the guy who was behind me (I think his name was Demietrius? I can't remember) caught up to me. Once we were on the field, we were told to line up in a group of four people, and we would then walk onto the field and audition with these people. Demietrius and I ended up with a blonde girl named Taylor from Arkansas and another guy named Luis.
When it was our turn to audition, we ended up at table 10. This is when the nerves started kicking in. The table we were at had a youngish female producer (maybe in her late twenties/early thirties) and a fortysomething male producer. As we waited, a few people who got Golden Tickets walked by. We watched each group in front of us go... and not a single one get a Golden Ticket. Now, I don't know if it's true or not, but I recall someone at TWoP (home of the craziest damn reality show conspiracy theorists EVER) saying that at the auditions, some of the tables are deliberately set up to pick out the "bad" singers, so they pass over the marginally talented and/or genuinely great people in favor of them. Not to say that I think that's what was going on here; but considering that no one was going through, I was kindasorta thinking it. So anyway, our group goes up. Demietrius sings some song I didn't recognize. I went next, and I sang "Sunday Morning" by Maroon 5 (up until even then, I was still debating on that one and "For the Love of You" by the Isley Brothers, opting to go with something the judges probably hadn't heard done a squillion times, and besides, a girl singing a song sung originally by a guy would be bound to stick out a little, no?). The male judge didn't say anything, but the female judge commented, saying that she "[loved] that song." Luis sang a bluesy song that I didn't recognize, and Taylor sang a folk song of some kind.
Once we were done, all four of us went up to the table. Female Judge said, "The bad news is... we're going to have to pass. But the good news is that you guys made us smile." So lo, we did not break the curse of Table 10, and we had to go on to have our green wristbands snipped from us and make the Walk of Shame.
So that's where it ended for me. However--I don't know if it's a sure thing (no one does, at this point), but watch out for the following people in January (like you'll remember this, but I'll probably bring it up, as you know how I am about AI):
--on the way out, I heard (and saw) this one guy (white, blonde or light brunette) singing "Nice and Slow" by Usher. Don't know if he made it, but I hope so. He was good.
--at Table 11 (to my right) there were these two guys (one white, one black) who I later saw on the news... they're friends, and they ended up singing a duet after the judges there asked them to sing another song together. They got through.
--according to the local paper, Fantasia Barrino's brother auditioned there too, and he got through to the next round.
--me (as they filmed the non-Golden Ticket'd going out), wearing a blue and white plaid delivery boy hat and a black polo shirt, probably talking on my cell phone.
But overall? It was totally fun (even with the heat and the not getting through part), and I would totally audition again. And go with the Isley Brothers song.
And because this happened today: news about Healthwatch 2007.
I have to go to the county health clinic for further screening. My mom is either in denial or unconvinced and says I should get another chest x-ray. Me? I got the call from the doctor while I was in Borders buying Fourth Comings, so naturally I went from "I am not going to have any money after this weekend" to "...well, I'm gonna end up in quarantine with that guy who went to Europe even after being diagnosed with TB" in .5 seconds. I don't even know how to feel about that.
Re: American Idol audition.
I'd been thinking about going since I heard that they were having one at Texas Stadium, and that was back in June or so. I've wanted to audition for Idol since the second season (I begged my mom to let me go to the one in Austin for S2 and got shot down because I was still in high school; I briefly thought about flying down to San Antonio last year to audition), and considering that Irving's about forty-five minutes away, I figured what the hell?
I almost didn't go, though. Because A.) morning traffic is a bitch and B.) even though I woke up at 5 A.M., I didn't have an armband (you had to have an armband to audition, and they had started distributing those on Saturday and the papers kept reporting that they were going to stop giving those out at 8 A.M. on Monday) and I was going to follow my dad there (as he works near the stadium), and he wasn't up yet... and if he left at 7, that'd give me an hour to get there, get an armband, and get in line. And with the traffic possibility? That was gonna prove to be testy.
So after waffling on going, I figured the worse that could happen would be that I would get stuck in traffic.
It took FOREVER to get to Irving. My dad takes this back road way to work, because he likes to avoid the highway in the morning. And considering rush hour traffic in the DFW area, I don't blame him. But seriously, it took a while. By the time we finally arrived in the area of the stadium, it was 7:45. I pulled into the parking lot at 7:50, and I had to park on the southern (back) side, but the entrances they had open were up and around front.
I start to run.
But, for some reason--I guess I was all, "I'M IN THE PARKING LOT, JUST LET ME GET THE ARMBAND; I GOT THIS FAR ALREADY WAUUUUGH!"--my legs started shaking so I kind of speed-walked and ran head-on into a crowd of people. It was one of the lines. I asked where I could get an armband. Someone points towards something off in the distance that I can't see and tells me that they should be at a table. After squeezing my way through the crowd (and surprisingly not getting smacked, because I'm pretty sure some people might've thought I was trying to skip in the line), I got to the table where two women decked in red shirts with the show's logo were, and after showing two forms of ID (my driver's license and my CVC ID) a green wristband with the show's logo was wrapped around my right wrist and I was given a ticket that looked like it'd come from Ticketmaster.
After this, there was about an hour and a half of waiting in line. People talked, the media filmed (this one guy from FOX chose to converse with a busty blonde in a sparkly halter top and a black cowboy hat), news helicopters flew around, a plane from the local country station with a banner reading "GOOD LUCK" sailed through the skies... and it got hot. It was a combo of the weather and the people all compressed in. They were letting in a small stream of people at a time, but it felt like FOREVER. On my end of the line, every time they let more people in the gate, someone would yell, "PUSH!" and we'd all shuffle forward like manic lemmings.
I finally got into the stadium around 9:30, and proceeded to sit in the wrong section. My ticket said Section 15, but I wound up in 14. Fortunately someone pointed out the error of my decision. I also almost lost the white and blue plaid delivery hat I was wearing (so that, you know... I could stick out in the crowd or whatever, plus my hair looked awful and I needed to conceal that).
Before they started doing warm-up type activities, one of the producer-types was talking over the PA system and said we had 15 minutes before they started doing things. I went on a bathroom run, only to find girls who were already in there arguing. If you've ever seen Hollywood Week of Idol, you know what I'm talking about. [rolls eyes] Back inside, they had us sing "Listen to the Music", especially the chorus. At least fifty times. After that, they filmed a bunch of takes of the crowd yelling stuff like "WELCOME TO DALLAS!! WHOOOOOO!!", "EVERYTHING'S BIGGER IN TEXAS!! WHOOOOOO!!", and "I'M THE NEXT AMERICAN IDOL!! WHOOOOOO!!"
After that, we got the run through of how the auditioning would go. They would start bringing people down from section 118, and they would go down onto the field and then to one of the thirteen tables where producers would be sitting. If you were selected to advance to the next bout of auditions, you got the Golden Ticket and went to the right. And if you didn't? Your green arm band got clipped and you were sent to the left.
Since I was in section 115, there was a bit of a wait. They let down the first group from 118 at about 10:15 or so. I talked to the girls who were next to me (one was seventeen or so, the other nineteen) and this one guy behind me who was cracking us up. There was a guy in section 117 who had his hair in a Sanjaya-like ponyhawk with a sign that read "DANJAYA" (prompting some girls in my section to scream "WE LOVE YOU, DANJAYA!"). I went back and forth over which song I wanted to sing.
But the best part was watching to see who would go through. Every time we'd see someone get a Golden Ticket, someone somewhere in the stadium would start cheering or applauding. While I was there, I saw a lot of guys going through, and maybe five, six girls tops. There was this one guy, a kind of bigger black dude, who got his and as he was walking towards the exit took a bow. Half the crowd started clapping like he'd won or something, which was kind of cool.
Finally, at about 12:30 or so, my section started going down on the floor. IT WAS SO FRIGGIN' NERVEWRACKING. I have been on that field twice in my life, both for concerts, and I'm still amazed at how friggin' big it is. But anyway, the guy who was behind me (I think his name was Demietrius? I can't remember) caught up to me. Once we were on the field, we were told to line up in a group of four people, and we would then walk onto the field and audition with these people. Demietrius and I ended up with a blonde girl named Taylor from Arkansas and another guy named Luis.
When it was our turn to audition, we ended up at table 10. This is when the nerves started kicking in. The table we were at had a youngish female producer (maybe in her late twenties/early thirties) and a fortysomething male producer. As we waited, a few people who got Golden Tickets walked by. We watched each group in front of us go... and not a single one get a Golden Ticket. Now, I don't know if it's true or not, but I recall someone at TWoP (home of the craziest damn reality show conspiracy theorists EVER) saying that at the auditions, some of the tables are deliberately set up to pick out the "bad" singers, so they pass over the marginally talented and/or genuinely great people in favor of them. Not to say that I think that's what was going on here; but considering that no one was going through, I was kindasorta thinking it. So anyway, our group goes up. Demietrius sings some song I didn't recognize. I went next, and I sang "Sunday Morning" by Maroon 5 (up until even then, I was still debating on that one and "For the Love of You" by the Isley Brothers, opting to go with something the judges probably hadn't heard done a squillion times, and besides, a girl singing a song sung originally by a guy would be bound to stick out a little, no?). The male judge didn't say anything, but the female judge commented, saying that she "[loved] that song." Luis sang a bluesy song that I didn't recognize, and Taylor sang a folk song of some kind.
Once we were done, all four of us went up to the table. Female Judge said, "The bad news is... we're going to have to pass. But the good news is that you guys made us smile." So lo, we did not break the curse of Table 10, and we had to go on to have our green wristbands snipped from us and make the Walk of Shame.
So that's where it ended for me. However--I don't know if it's a sure thing (no one does, at this point), but watch out for the following people in January (like you'll remember this, but I'll probably bring it up, as you know how I am about AI):
--on the way out, I heard (and saw) this one guy (white, blonde or light brunette) singing "Nice and Slow" by Usher. Don't know if he made it, but I hope so. He was good.
--at Table 11 (to my right) there were these two guys (one white, one black) who I later saw on the news... they're friends, and they ended up singing a duet after the judges there asked them to sing another song together. They got through.
--according to the local paper, Fantasia Barrino's brother auditioned there too, and he got through to the next round.
--me (as they filmed the non-Golden Ticket'd going out), wearing a blue and white plaid delivery boy hat and a black polo shirt, probably talking on my cell phone.
But overall? It was totally fun (even with the heat and the not getting through part), and I would totally audition again. And go with the Isley Brothers song.
And because this happened today: news about Healthwatch 2007.
I have to go to the county health clinic for further screening. My mom is either in denial or unconvinced and says I should get another chest x-ray. Me? I got the call from the doctor while I was in Borders buying Fourth Comings, so naturally I went from "I am not going to have any money after this weekend" to "...well, I'm gonna end up in quarantine with that guy who went to Europe even after being diagnosed with TB" in .5 seconds. I don't even know how to feel about that.
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no subject
Date: 2007-08-11 05:33 am (UTC)Also, if you get stuck in quarantine with the TB guy, you'll be pretty lucky, cause he looks like Jim Halpert.
Did you read Fourth Comings yet? I need to discuss it.
no subject
Date: 2007-08-11 05:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-11 05:38 am (UTC)And, congrats on the audition. A friend of mine went, too. I'm not sure what happened with her yet.
no subject
Date: 2007-08-11 05:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-11 07:57 am (UTC)At least you did it, though! Which is an accomplishment itself! I couldn't be that brave to sing in front of people. Oh dear. *hides face* lol
no subject
Date: 2007-08-11 08:32 am (UTC)of course
That's song's a good audition choice.
At least you tried!
-hugs-
no subject
Date: 2007-08-11 11:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-11 02:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-11 04:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-08-11 04:41 pm (UTC):3
no subject
Date: 2007-08-13 05:10 pm (UTC)In other news, if you get quarantined with TB dude, you'll be here! In Denver! Yay?