The Reality Behind the American Idol 2008 Audition
Posted by Belle on 20 Jul 2008 at 09:34 pm | Tagged as: Americal Idol audition 2008, music
Without our knowledge, my daughter took some time off from her job to audition for the American Idol. She opted not to let us know about her plans because she knew that we were totally against it. Why? First, Steffi isn’t the type that would be in the limelight day in and day out. She likes simplicity in life, away from the hustle and bustle of the city. I couldn’t envision her giving gigs every day or every weekend. Heck, she couldn’t even take cigarette smoke because of her asthma.
She is more of an artist or a composer. Melody and lyrics abound inside her head at any given time. She probably has penned over 100 songs to date. But I would like to see her get a nice stable job after college and pursue music on the side, sort of a respite when things at work get dull and boring.
Anyway, just for the curiosity, she auditioned for American Idol along with her friend, Linds. She had to wake up in the wee hours of the morning so she could be at the Cow Palace in San Francisco at a decent time to beat the line. In other words, she didn’t get any sleep at all and when that happens, her voice is very much affected. If I remember it correctly when she mentioned in one of her interviews that her voice is dependent on the amount of sleep she gets.
Not only that, she was starved during the audition because they took away her food. Over fatigue, hunger, and sleeplessness took a toll on them and to make the story short, American Idol is pretty much out of her system.
Here is a photo essay of their whole ordeal.
Linds, her friend, with her beautiful smile at 5 AM.
The Cow Palace where the American Idol audition was held. Apparently, it used to be the arena for rodeos.
The line at 5 AM is longer than what her camera could capture…crazy!!
The camera crew was already on the scene before most of the auditioners.
they were not looking forward to staying in that crazy line, so they approached it cautiously and slowly.
This was taken after 3 hours standing in line.
they felt more like a herd of cattle in line.
and who is that??
is it Justin Guarini, apparently doing some kind of show for American Idol audition.
cheering and singing for the cameras in the stadium.
“cheer as a team, not as individuals,” the producer says.
they still look happy despite the annoying girl next to them that kept singing at the top of her lungs!
12 judging stations were lined up on the stadium main floor. this is pretty much where everybody’s journey ended.
Omg .. we don’t see this on camera, do we? And why would they take away their baon? Dahil the lines will get messy with food leftovers and wrappings? So harsh ha.
Oh, but I can’t help but wish she stayed on, somehow. She would assuredly get that yellow slip. (or is it pink?) It should have been green, for “go” di ba?
It would have been wonderful to have another Fil-Am to cheer for … and who (I verily believe) just might win AI.
Tsk.
If a lot of people get cut at this stage (and I imagine a lot of good ones do), then how do bad singers get a chance to sing in front of Simon et al as shown every season? Are they allowed to get through since they’re so bad and it makes for good TV? Methinks so.
it’s an american dream, a fi-american dream! but then, it’s AI’s loss. she would have been another that we filipinos would have cheered for. did she enjoy the experience?
So Belle, how was the audition going? How many days did they have to stay there before they got their turn for audition? The number of the youngsters participated in this contest is outrageous, isn’t it?
Hi Ate Belle,
AI is really a test on stamina too! My goodness, I didn’t realize that they take away the food too. I have seen that contestants actually camp out on the streets.
It’s quite a learning experience for Steffi. I’m sure that if she was able to withstand the fatigue, she has a great chance.
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Has she gone fishing with Dad yet? Congratulations on the boat. We have sold ours and hopefully it will be off our hands by the end of this month when the buyer pays the rest of the balance. We had to sell it because it takes too much money to maintain not to mention guzzles gas(counting gallons per mile)! We haven’t used it since last year.
Grabe, why do they have to do that? Take the food away?
Maybe they were cheering and singing because they were able to get to the arena, after all the time waiting outside.
They still looked gorgeous kahit they look tired na.
Look at the crowd, that’s even more scarier than Justin’s scary hair. hehehe.
i don’t know about the food policy, but basically that’s the system in the idol franchise. i have a kababayan who auditioned for the Pinoy Idol, and according to him, he waited in line for three hours, got to sing for 2 1/2 minutes in front of the (his term) “eliminator” and that’s about it, with all the preparations and waiting, his dream of making it (at least for this year) was cut by those 2 1/2 minutes.
at least she had a blast with linds. for sure, andaming sidelights dyan!
I have the same sentiments as yours when it comes to my son’s intended music career.
Wow, that’s a long queue. I could imagine how difficult it was to wait for so many hours and to sing on an empty stomach. I agree with the others, it’s indeed AI’s big loss.
Thanks for sharing these photos. It’s nice to see Steffi and her friend with all smiles. It must have been a memorable experience for them.