[img]http://a414.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/29/l_0bb284b1612af8cf23273a9d539da28d.jpg[/img] i wrote about this on another forum post, so i thought i'd copy & paste
most of it here: i am the lead vocalist for my college's jazz band. i was paid to audition
for american idol because it goes against all of my morals, i just think
the whole show is stupid. but who could turn down $1000? money was
raised for me to audition in birmingham. of course, i didn't make it
past round one because one guy in my group decided he'd be the first
ever "black elvis" on american idol. they preferred him... but told me
to please come back next year with a "pop" song (i mistakingly chose
to sing an old folk/jazz song that is actually quite difficult to sing for
most vocalists, it was voted on by about 30+ people from my jazz band
and the rock band i'm in over in auburn). at least they let me sing the
whole song! they made everyone else belt out only 10 seconds of
whatever they'd come prepared with.... anyway, i watched about 10
other "crazy" people go through in a row before anyone who looked
normal made it on to the next round. [img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v242/katatoe/memphis/MemphisIdol090.jpg[/img] [img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v242/katatoe/AI/memphis02.jpg[/img] after birmingham, i took what was left of the money because i felt so
bad for the people who raised that money for me - and i went to
memphis to audition there. this time, i tried to find a "pop" song to
sing. i chose fiona apple's "criminal" at the last minute because during
the drive to memphis, i had been listening to "pink" and "jewel" and
"kt tunstill" but didn't like any of their songs. at the memphis auditions, i was shocked to see that i was standing in
front of the same judge that i'd had in birmingham! when it was my
turn to sing, she remembered me & asked if i came prepared with
a "pop" song (i hadn't). so i just busted out "criminal" because i
remembered all the words from nearly 10 years ago when i was so
young & in love with her voice. the judge told me that she loved me & wanted me to continue
persuing a singing career but that i wasn't right for this competition,
that i wasn't "poppy" enough. she said fiona apple isn't pop music &
that if i wanted to make it past the first round i needed something
new & edgy like "pop" or "rock". i smiled, said thank you, and moved on. in fact, "criminal" won her a GRAMMY for "Best Female Rock Vocal
Performance" while her most recent album got her a grammy
for "Best Pop Vocal Album". i guarantee that not one of the current contestants are better than
most of the voices i heard in that birmingham crowd. someone even speculated that AI didn't want anyone from alabama in
the top 24. i suppose it was true. obviously. [img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v242/katatoe/AI/Image001.jpg[/img] also, all of that video footage of the crowd cheering & screaming:
they're not really happy.. they're tired & miserable from being stuck
in line since 2:00 in the morning. [img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v242/katatoe/AI/Image002.jpg[/img] they tell everyone to stand up & everyone thinks they're actually going
somewhere so people start moving forward & smooshing each other
because in fact, no one is going anywhere. they just wanted to trick
everyone into standing up and getting smooshed so they could order
everyone to cheer because the cameras were about to pan down the line. [img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v242/katatoe/AI/Image003.jpg[/img] the same thing in the auditorium. we had to cheer for HOURS to make
sure they had plenty of footage for editing. we had to listen to "sweet
home alabama" for 2 hours straight to make sure everyone knew the
words. it was insane. [img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v242/katatoe/AI/Image004.jpg[/img]
(birmingham) [img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v242/katatoe/AI/Image005.jpg[/img]
(memphis) also, we were told we should bring food while we wait in line, so while
i had all of these healthy snacks like apples, bananas, granola bars,
and spring water; we were MADE to THROW AWAY all of our food so
that we would be forced to buy the unhealthy consession food (nachos
& hotdogs at $4.00 & PURIFIED water at $3.75). what about vegetarians
who have a strict diet? and where did all that good food go that got
thrown away? but i did get to meet NIGEL! haha when i took this camera phone picture, i yelled, "say cheese!"
he retorted: "cheese..... sex!" [img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v242/katatoe/AI/memphis04.jpg[/img] anyway... that was my experience. but it's funny, i'm 27 years old and
it's almost too late.. so chances are (i hate to admit it) i'll probably try
again next year - at least i'll be better prepared. i also want to add that i had the time of my life in memphis. i went to
the Memphis Music and Heritage Festival and visited graceland. i ate
at some amazing thai restaurants. the whole time was great; made
some new friends and acted silly the whole time. it was a blast! [img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v242/katatoe/memphis/MemphisIdol095.jpg[/img] [img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v242/katatoe/AI/memphis01.jpg[/img] [img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v242/katatoe/AI/memphis03.jpg[/img] [img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v242/katatoe/AI/memphis05.jpg[/img] i suppose that's my input. i honestly think that instead of a website,
though, that there should be a new show - something more sincere.
maybe take the time & effort put into this website & make a better show? just a suggestion. love,
kt [img]http://a329.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/42/m_e831ce71086bc5984204a9432688b050.jpg[/img] |
Could the show be turning down real talent? Could there be more to the audition process than we all think? Of course! Votefortheworst.com has known all about the ridiculous audition process for quite some time, so we’ve decided to do even more research to show you what really goes down at the cattle calls. If you think that American Idol is actually a talent competition, read on, and let us change your mind.
AUDITION MYTH #1: "The auditions take place over one or two days and everyone gets to see Simon, Paula, and Randy."
In actuality, the contestants are at the auditions for about a week before they even see the Loathsome Threesome. An MSNBC article explains:
So the wannabe Idols first have to try out in groups of four for a number of random producers. Then, they try out one-by-one in front of the executive producers. And finally, they try out in front of our favorite boozehound and her cohorts. This is why so many people lose their jobs to try out for the show; they have to attend auditions for a week before they even know if they’re going to Hollywood.
So what happens during these earlier auditions? Well for one thing, those obnoxious song montages that usually end the episodes are filmed then. It’s not a coincidence that all of the bad singers decided to sing the same song. Jennifer Sieminski, who made it to Hollywood during American Idol's fifth season, admits that those segments are not “even recorded in front of Simon, Paula and Randy.”
Apparently, each city has a “city song” that everyone must sing so that the producers can make the lame montages. The producers even force the people who audition to wear the same clothes to each audition so the viewers at home think the auditions all took place over the span of 1 or 2 days. They messed up with Crystal Parizanski, the overly tan girl who auditioned in Chicago for American Idol 5, who was wearing a completely different outfit during the “Lady Marmalade” montage at the end of the episode. This obviously showed that she had been there for at least a few days.
AUDITION MYTH #2: "We see a truthful depiction of each audition."
Obviously all television shows use editing to condense footage and tell stories. Reality TV, though, is particularly guilty of using editing to completely change the facts of a situation and craft stories that didn’t happen. The fact that so many rounds of auditions exist provide the producers with ample footage to cut and paste as they please. Robert Solomon (check out his MySpace), the movie projectionist who tried out for American Idol 4, was surprised to see himself singing “Dancing in the Streets” in front of the celebrity judges when his audition episode aired, because “Dancing” was the city song he was forced to sing:
So apparently, the show even goes back to record extra judge commentary that didn’t even take place. Obviously, the point of having week-long auditions isn’t just to weed out the singers the producers don’t want; it’s also to get extra footage to splice in at different points. Robert goes into more detail to prove his point for those who might not believe him, explaining that he “had also helped them out by wearing the same outfit to both auditions” as we pointed out. He also made the following valid points on why it’s obvious that the events didn’t happen the way we saw them in the show:
The producers must have found Robert’s “Dancing in the Street” much more amusing than his actual audition in front of the judges, so they used that instead. Of course, if Robert’s audition was creatively edited, it’s highly likely that most of the other auditions were as well.
AUDITION MYTH #3: "The bad singers are not encouraged by the producers."
Crystal Parizanski looked silly during her time on the show due in part to her excessive use of makeup. But was that her choice? Crystal talked to Mix 96 Montreal in a radio interview about her experience on the show. She had this to say:
Now Crystal doesn’t come off as a beacon of intelligence, but it does make it a little less funny when someone like her was tricked into looking stupider. Crystal also mentioned in the interview how her time on the show was edited and that the producers took clips from some of her auditions and put them together to make her look dumber.
AUDITION MYTH #4: "The good singers always make it through."
Even if there are many stages to the audition process, it seems like the good singers will always triumph and continue on in the competition. The producers only like to mess with the bad singers, right? Well, that's not correct at all either. In fact, the first judging process is so ridiculously random, we wonder why anyone even bothers to try out.
As we previously mentioned, the first round of auditions takes place in front of a group producers at a table, who likely aren’t even very qualified to judge a competition (then again, this never stopped Simon, Paula, and Randy). Each singer tries out with 3 other singers for these producers. After singing for a mere 15 seconds, you are told whether you’re moving on or going home. The producers are usually only on the lookout for people with stories that will sell on TV or people who will make incredible fools of themselves. One auditioner figured out that there are good tables and bad tables, meaning that it's possible that the bad tables just pass on everyone and won’t let anyone through to the next round. What if a good singer gets stuck at a bad table? Well, good luck next year! Blogger Matthew Paul David wrote about his experience at the Seattle auditions:
Of course, this sounds highly technical and very efficient at making sure all good singers get through to the next round… not. Afraidofpop shared her audition experience at the East Rutherford auditions this year:
Obviously if you’re going to cut someone who blows an entire room away, the process is either flawed or not really looking for good singers.
AUDITION MYTH #5: "Everyone has a shot at becoming the American Idol."
Jennifer also mentions in that interview that Katharine McPhee was acting like a gigantic bitch all week and that the two of them had a fight on camera.
This confrontation was obviously never shown because the show was painting Katharine as the humble girl with a beautiful voice. Of course, by the end of the show it was fairly obvious that Katharine was indeed a spoiled brat who forgot lyrics quite a few times because it’s tough to edit something out of a live show. But the producers got their “humble, sweet girl” contestant in Katharine for quite a while before her true colors came out.
Basically, the American Idol auditions are not actually auditions for a singing competition; they’re auditions for a reality television show. Why haven’t we heard more about this before? Well the people who make it to the finals are happy to have made it that far and have no bone to pick, and people tend to not believe the complaints of the contestants who were edited poorly. Also, all of the contestants (even William Hung and other people who don’t make it far at all) have to sign ridiculously long contracts that forbid them from revealing Idol’s secrets. Still don’t believe us? How about hearing it straight from the horse’s mouth? Idol producer Ken Warwick interviewed with Foxes on Idol last year. In one section, Kenny admits that the Austin auditions for season 5 were edited very creatively:
While this may have been about one isolated incident, the Austin auditions, Kenny said, “Clearly, that didn’t happen the way it is, we add things.” And if the producers have no problem leaving out that a giant hurricane made them bring certain auditioners to other cities, they certainly don’t have a problem changing smaller details as well.
__________________________So what advice do we have for the budding American Idol hopeful? First of all, don’t try out. If you’re actually talented, there are many better ways to get your name out there. But if you must try out, at least invent some kind of good story. Cry a lot on camera. Basically become a fame whore like Kellie Pickler. The producers love that. Most of all, don’t have a mind of your own like Taylor Hicks, who refused to sing his coronation song until a new one was written for him. It might make the producers mad that their puppet is talking back to them. Though if you’re willing to sell your dignity, American Idol may actually be the perfect venue for you! Just don’t say we didn’t warn you.