Lo and Behold!

Ashley and me, the auditioners from Uptown Church

Ok, this is from the line out front. We had to show up sometime between 5 and 6 in the morning to get in line... and wait. We were out there until 8ish. It was a LONG time, and Charleston is so freakin' humid that we were all pretty nasty by the time we made it inside. Thankfully, we were lucky ducks - the A/C was going full-throttle inside the coliseum.

Ashley, Julie, and me (Julie came as Ashley's tag-along)

We had registered already, and when we registered they gave us tickets with seat numbers on them. So once we got inside on Saturday, we split up to find our seats. the concession stands were open all day, which was good because when the day starts at like 4, you are hungry for lunch at like 10 am. Anyway, where we sat was what determined our audition order, but first came all the group things and announcements. We had to sing our group song ("Let's Get It Started" by the Black Eyed Peas) about 10 times, some a cappella, some with the music, once with jumping during the chorus. It was a good way to keep in mind that American Idol is first and foremost a television show, and only secondarily (very secondarily) a talent show. Which is fine.


There were an awful lot of folks there. Supposedly there were somewhere between over 8,000 and over 9,000 people who auditioned. The coliseum seats 14,000, and we certainly were concentrated, as you can see by comparing this picture with the one below it.


This was the basic set up. Thirteen, then twelve (they cut one) tables and booths were lined up like this. When your section was "on deck," you filed down to the floor and were divided into groups of four. Each group of four was sent to a line in front of one of the booths, and you got called up one by one to sing. The judges put up a hand when they wanted you to stop, and they usually gave you between 15 and 30 seconds, though I saw more and less done. Sometimes they stopped you after 5 seconds. Sometimes they asked you to sing another song. Or two. And then sent you home. Very rarely they sent you on. And the fact that there were people singing all around you definitely wasn't helpful to your performance - singing under plenty of pressure.

Leonard, Holly, Maddie, and me

This was my group of four. None of us made it past the first round. People with my level of talent were a dime a dozen - from a human perspective, it was sheer luck -} which judge(s) you got, what they were told to look for, when you hit them in the LONG line of folks, what you picked to sing, whether your smile annoyed them, how outrageous you were, etc. It was fun though, and I'm really glad I did it. I might even do it again... :-)