American Idol Audition 2002
The first audition was at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA. Me and my friend Eulis from music school went together to take a chance on our “big break”. We were two of thousands of people waiting in line to be heard and hopefully chosen for the show. The energy in the line was buzzing! People singing their hearts out, dance circles and chants. We saw Ryan Seacrest as he went into the stadium and I yelled, “I love you Ryan!”
We eventually made it onto the field where a line of about a dozen interns stood - using their thumbs to let auditioning singers know if they were excused or invited to the second audition. After ten seconds of singing, right thumb over the shoulder meant, go get info for the next audition, and left thumb over the shoulder meant goodbye.
Both Eulis and I got right thumbs and went to get info for the next audition - which was the next day at a hotel in LA.
At that audition we got numbers, like marathon runners. We were put into groups of five and called into a small room with three people at a table- the next tier of judges, perhaps low level producers or high level interns.
For me, the second audition at the hotel was disappointing. I belted out Jewel’s “Foolish Games” for the second time. My gaze shifted away from the judges and into the corner of the room. One of the judges followed my eyes to the corner, made a face, and wrote something down. Out of the five of us in the room only one got the green slip. The guy who wore a fedora and did dance moves with spins and hat tricks.
After 2 days of being around the other singers auditioning, it became apparent to us who the great singers were and who was most likely to be sent home for lack of talent. To our great surprise, we saw many participants leave with green slips (invites to the third audition) that were clearly not qualified, and singers with mad chops cried in the bathroom because they were not selected. It was a lesson in what the industry is about - entertainment. American Idol is not a real contest it’s a TV show. The folks you saw on there who were torn apart by Simon and clearly not good singers, were there to be made fun of and provide a good laugh and entertainment for the average American. Sad really.
To the best of my recollection, the third audition was with higher up producers and you didn’t actually get into the room with the TV judges, cameras and all, until the fourth audition. It appears on the show as though everyone waiting at the Rose Bowl met Paula and Randy and Simon. Not so.
Although there are a few successful graduates of that show, how many American Idol winners can you name from the last 5 years? Not even Kelly Clarkson could name one in a recent interview.
Anyhoo…