There and Back Again...An American Idol Contestant's Tale--Part 4

I left off near the end of my road to Hollywood.  I had auditioned for a series of judges in Chicago, concluding with a dramatic sequence with Paula, Simon, and Randy that ended in a golden ticket, a proud mom, and an exhausting train ride home.  Fast-forward about four weeks.

The way that auditions work in Hollywood is a bit complicated.  The week starts off with 400 hopeful contestants arriving at some grand hotel.  Woohoo- a lot of introductions with other contestants, checking in, trying to get over the surreal nature of everything, etc... We are gathered into a conference room for a dinner (which was not really dinner...more like fruit, with a side of more fruit, and then a pastry filled with some kind of fruit).  We are told that we are being divided into two groups: one group is to audition the very next day, and the other is to go on a tour of Santa Monica in a double Decker bus, and is not to audition.  Nice! I was on the double Decker bus the next morning with a lot of fun people.  We went to a lot of cool different places (cameras on and rolling), including that Chinese theatre, where famous people put their hands in cement while everyone claps and smiles at you.  We also went to the Santa Monica beach.  First time I can remember myself standing next to the ocean, which was pretty cool.  My mom, being the life of the party that she is, had the whole bus laughing all day, telling jokes and funny stories.  I was embarrassed for a bit, but then accepted that she is awesome :) All in all, a good day.  No pressure.  We're in bed by 10pm, alarms set, hopes high.

We arrive at the Orpheum Theatre sometime in the a.m., all ready to sing. There was a list sent out a few weeks before Hollywood with all of the audition songs that we were able to choose from (15 total) for our first audition. I had chosen Shai's "If I Ever Fall in Love Again," a soulful R&B tune.   Not many people sang it, which I was grateful for.  You have to think that if 400 people all were singing the same 15 songs over and over again, the judges might start to get a bit weary of them.  So, if there is a certain song that gets "underplayed," then there is a better chance the judges will respond more positively to it.  At least that's what I think. 

This is how the audition works.  You are given a number.  The numbers indicate the order of the auditions.  You sit in the theatre, watch the other auditions, and wait until it is your turn to sing.  We all sat down, and the judges began by announcing that the previous day's auditions were below par, and that they were expecting us to step up our game.  No pressure. 

The first twenty or so auditions were not great, but Simon was in a mood, so he was ripping into everyone pretty ruthlessly.  He said to someone that they sounded like an injured mutt. I was sorry for that person.  Eventually, it was my turn.  Backstage I took deep breaths, tried to remain calm, asked God to help me sing well, but if I didn't, whatever- this was fun, and then I walked on stage. 

I didn't really know how the judges were going to respond after I finished singing, but to my extreme surprise, they all really liked me.  Randy said musingly, "So...Frank does Shai, eh?" Paula smiled and winked, and Simon said that I was one-off (an English term for one of a kind), and then they sent me through to the next round.  I was SO happy.  I found my mom, who was equally, if not more, excited, and we hugged in celebration.  The day lasted from really early till really late- not sure on the exact times.  Needless to say, we were all completely exhausted and ready for bed.  That is when things got interesting.  The crowd had been whittled down to around 200 total (50% of the initial 400), and were all gathered together in the auditorium for some announcements.  If you've seen the show, you know what's next: the epic, sleepless, dramatic night of rehearsal.  We were slammed with the news that we must pick three to four other contestants to organize, harmonize, and choreograph one of seven songs.  Oh and by the way have it ready to perform by the next morning.  Goodnight.  What?!!! Panic mode ensues.  Five minutes ago I thought I was on my way back to the hotel to slip into by amazing bed, and suddenly I'm running around looking for people to sing with, trying desperately to match faces with voices, my head swimming with questions:  "Did this guy sound good today?" "That girl was a bit flat and has a cold if I remember correctly..." "Is this guy a contestant or a janitor??" Ahhh!!!! Anyways, I eventually found a group of three other guys around my age.  We chose "Fly Me to the Moon" as our song and began working on it immediately.  The first hour was a train wreck, but thankfully my mom stepped in and helped us choreograph and harmonize.  We went to bed around 3 or 4am to get a few hours of sleep.  We woke up, ate breakfast (fruit knish and bananas I'm sure), and started rehearsing again. 

On the whole, this was the worst day of auditions for almost everyone in the theatre.  The groups were tired and unfocused.  Harmonies weren't lining up, people were forgetting lyrics, and the choreographies were all jacked up.  Our group was set to go about mid-day, and so we kept rehearsing until about fifteen minutes before our call time.  We called ourselves "Il Dweebo," making a bit of a stab at Simon's group "Il Divo," hoping that Simon would think it was remotely funny.  Thankfully, he did.  We walked on stage, turned our backs to the audience, and waited for the band to give us our cue.  I was the first to sing.  The music started, we turned around in rhythm, and out came the beginning of one the best moments in my whole American Idol experience.  I started singing, and people stood up clapping.  It was incredible.  I don't know how we pulled it off, but we totally nailed it.  Halfway through I remember thinking that life was good- you know, that exhilarating "I'm on top of the world" feeling that everyone references from time to time? I think we were the only group that through.  It was amazing.

The next day was the last day of auditions.  There were about 80 of us left.  The audition was to be acapella, coming full circle from the original audition.  I sang, "Dream a Little Dream of Me," and it went fairly well.  I didn't feel great about it, but I didn't feel like I blew it at the same time.  After the auditions were all over, they put everyone in a small, cramped conference room and proceeded to turn up the heat before leaving us to sit for about an hour or so.  They did this, of course, so that the cameras could capture any remaining drama that had not already shown its face (nervous breakdowns, arguments, etc...).  After we all sat there for a while, the producers came back in and formed us into four different groups.  We were then escorted per group to a separate room where we were instructed to wait.  We were not told how many groups would be chosen or when we would find out; in fact, we really weren't told anything.  I must admit, though it was nerve-racking and all, I was not that concerned once I saw who was in my group.  Performers like Taylor Hicks, Elliot Yamin, and Chris Daughtry were all in my group.  The judges had been impressed with all of them throughout the week, and so I could not think of any reason to be severely worried.  However, after hearing the thrills and excited screams of two rooms down the hall, I began to wonder if I had miscalculated.  Eventually, Paula and Randy came into our room (Simon had some gig in London he needed to catch a flight for, no surprises) and tried to mask their speech in such a way that would lead us to believe that we hadn't made it and all.  "And so unfortunately, we have to tell you... you made it!!!!!!" Woohoo! :) I had made it.  I was thrilled, the contestants were thrilled, the contestant whom I thought was a janitor earlier was thrilled, and of course my mom was ecstatic. 

So ends the tale of the audition process.  I hope it caught your interest enough to read until the end.  In the last installment of this tale, I will recount my experience on the actual live show until I was voted off.  Till then, have a wonderful week!