George: I never believed in American Idol [1]. I was one of those people who thought that the major singing talent contest in the world was nothing but a big play, with very little of "reality" and a lot of "show." Fortunately, I was wrong.
Despite my skepticism, I decided to give it a try. I wanted to see with my own eyes what it was like to audition for the show. I had been singing since I was five years old and, after graduating from high school I had earned a full music scholarship to attend the University of Oklahoma.
I was frustrated because my scholarship money was exhausted and I had to postpone my senior year. That was when I heard that American Idol was beginning its city-to-city tryouts. I thought "Why not?"
I didn't want to give up on my dream to pursue a career in music, and I saw American Idol as a valid option. So I gathered up courage and attended the first massive audition in Houston, Texas, at the end of 2003.
Jon Peter: The way I became an American Idol finalist was surreal. I always liked singing, but I had never been to a concert prior to my experience in this show. I didn't quite follow the TV program when it started up in 2002, but as soon as I watched a couple of episodes during the second season I decided I should take a chance.
I looked on the Internet to see where the auditions for the next season were. Without thinking it further, I cashed in my college loans and caught the next plane to Hawaii. I didn't want to be left wondering what "could have been."
I must say it wasn't easy to wait in line for a day and a half. There were about 3,000 other people there.
George: My initial experience was petrifying. There I was at the Minute Maid Park - the baseball stadium in Houston - with some other 10,000 people, dreaming of making it to the final.
As soon as I saw the amount of people waiting for their turn I thought I wouldn't have a shot. I mean, what were my real chances to be selected among all of them? I just wanted to go home. But I didn't. The image of my mother raising four kids all by herself and giving everything she could at any moment to see us succeed came to my mind. No. I couldn't give up.
I was nervous. My hands were sweating and my heart was beating fast. I knew everything would be all right as soon as I started singing. That's the way it has always worked. When I was a child I was a pretty nerdy kid. We didn't have money for the "right" clothes to wear and my classmates and neighbors would make fun of me. Whenever I was singing, however, none of that mattered. It has always been pure joy for me.
When it was finally my turn I did what I know best: I sang. I put all my heart and hopes on that moment, but it was not enough. I was sent home that day with a bag full of shattered dreams and a bitter taste in my mouth.
Luck was on my side, however. A few days later I received a phone call from one of the Idol producers telling me that that contestant Donnie Williams had been disqualified for a drunk driving arrest and I was the next on the list. Yes, I was in. At the very last minute, I was brought back to the show among the 32 semifinalists.
Then I suffered another disappointment when I didn't make it directly into the finals. But luck struck me for the second time. Judge Simon Cowell, by far the most feared and mean of the three judges, gave me his vote during the wildcard round. I made it to the Top 12.
JPL: In my case, I had to perform on a Wednesday at 7 o'clock in the morning. Yikes! Not exactly the best time of the day to sing. I did my best performing "Crazy Love" [2] by Van Morrison.
It was kind of like a dream, despite the fact that the first audition is the least personal. Essentially you stand in front of the producers and sing for them. If they like you, you go through one door and if they don't like you, you go through the other.
They liked me and, a couple of days later, I auditioned for the second time. After four consecutive days of auditions, the judges narrowed down the list of contestant to the 32 that would appear on TV. I was one of them.
George: Being an American Idol finalist is not easy. First, you have to be ready to assume that you might not be in the Top 12 just because of your singing skills. Some contestants are selected more on their personalities and the color they can bring to the show rather than because of their performances.
You have to be ready to have that fact thrown at your face from any of the judges or the media and accept it. There is no room for egos. Being an Idol finalist is a golden opportunity to live our dreams.
You also have to deal with a very tight schedule. People think that life at the Idol mansion is like an all-inclusive resort. They believe that you swim at the pool, eat and cruise all day. Truth is that we're almost never at the mansion. We're too busy with everything else.
The show is aired on Wednesdays, which is our live performance day, but every other day we are extremely busy. On Mondays, for example, we have rehearsal and practice the whole day. Tuesdays are for taped performances "as if" we were on the show and then we get to analyze the tape to see how we did and what we need to improve.
Wednesday morning is for interviews and other media affairs. After a quick lunch we spend the rest of the day on the actual TV shooting. Thursdays are the days we choose what we are going to sing the following week. It takes a lot of time and energy. Trust me on this.
Fridays are for rehearsal and practice again and then Saturday we go to the studio to record the music that we will use throughout the week. Finally on Sunday, when most people are resting, we have our busiest day. We'll be up from six in the morning to 8 p.m. taping promos, backup material, rehearsing and getting ready for another week.
JPL: Despite the stress, being an American Idol contestant is a great experience. It is not as glamorous as people may think, but you learn a lot. Apart from working under pressure, with tight schedules, you learn to deal with the not always favorable press and sometimes, with rude remarks from your fellow contestants.
Most of us wanted to get along as best as we could. While I was on the show there was some uneasiness in the air, but very little. Occasionally, there were a few comments from one contestant to another about one's look or one's song choice.
I know that after I left, things started to get down to the wire. The closer to the winning moment, the more tension there was among the finalists. But in the end we all remain friends.
George: I think everybody dreams of winning. Therefore, some tension is natural. I must admit that at one point I did believe I could be the season's Idol, but I always maintained a humble attitude.
Having being kicked out of the show twice and then brought back in, I knew at that point that anything was possible. I didn't want to be arrogant about my chances because you never know what the other contestants' situation is and what they are going through.
JPL: When I was a finalist my goal was very singular. I wanted to win. I was focused on what I needed to do in order to achieve my goal. I wasn't worrying about what other people were doing or saying. Maybe that's why I made friends. In fact, I'm still in touch with many of them, such as Mat Rogers and John Stevens.
George: I made great friends during the contest too. We helped each other a lot. For example, one would ask me which song I preferred for him to perform, or a girl would ask me which dress I thought she looked better on or how she should wear her hair.
I'd give them my honest answers and hope they'd do the same for me. Their attitude was more positive than I'd have imagined.
One of the episodes that did add some tension was when African American contestant Jennifer Hudson, whom I consider like my sister, got voted off the show. She felt robbed and told us that she didn't think the voting results were based on talent. She was not the only one who felt that way.
Randy Jackson called the voting results "nuts." Some viewers threatened to stop watching the show, blaming Hudson's loss on everything from a power outage in her hometown of Chicago, which prevented friends from voting, to a racist backlash caused by Ruben Studdard's win over Clay Aiken the previous year.
Other than myself, Jennifer was my favorite to win the season because she was not only a deep caring person but an extremely talented performer.
George: Pretty much everything you see on TV is what it is. American Idol is a true reality show. The spontaneity, the crying, the excitement, the disappointment. All that is real, but the media plays a huge role in making up stories, spreading rumors and doing whatever they can to sell.
I remember, for example, the controversy about the voting system. According to the press, tens of millions of votes were potentially lost because of the flawed system. We didn't care; we were way too busy to worry over a rumor.
JPL: I don't think it's safe to say that everything you see on the show is real. People are fake all the time, not only on TV. But most of the tears and the breakdowns you see on American Idol are real. It is a high pressure environment and everyone knows what this sort of situations cause to people and their emotions.
It'd be also foolish to think you are there only because of your singing skills. While it is hard to get into the final without some sort of vocal talent, it'd be naive to think that nothing else is taken in consideration.
The producers look for the right elements to have a great TV show. They cast people according to personality types and marketability so it shouldn't surprise you to hear some mean remarks about your aptitudes.
For instance, Simon Cowell told me I had a good voice, but that I looked "like a pen salesman with the personality of a mouse." To be honest, it didn't affect me in a negative way. I like Simon actually. I think he is candid and that's an admirable quality. I must say that -from all the judges- it is Simon who I trust the most.
George: Well, yes, the judges are another story. Contrary to what people may think, we don't get to spend much time off camera with them. Other than greeting each other if we happen to be with the hairdresser at the same time, we hardly see them.
I do believe though that their chemistry is true. They spend a lot of time together and they know each other well. I've seen shows where judges turn into performers. They go out of their way to be controversial and the audience doesn't like that. With American Idol people do feel like they're watching a real audition because Simon, Paula and Randy do their job.
How they do their job is their business. Everyone has a style. People and contestants know what to expect, for example, from Simon. One of the things he said to me was that I was old-fashioned in all possible ways - The way I looked, the songs I sang, everything about me was kind of "ancient."
His comments didn't affect me that much, because I knew how he behaved. I think he actually helped me by making me think about myself in a different way. Simon knows the industry and how to make a career in the entertainment sector, so I tried to extract the useful comments and let go of the rest.
That's the key for contestants: to take in constructive criticism and when it's not constructive, just let it go and move on.
Randy was nice, as he usually is. And Paula- Well, Paula was Paula. She behaved in a peculiar way, let's say. But I don't know how she is in her personal life. There are so many things the media have put out there that are questionable. Yet, during the time I was involved in the show I never saw anything extraordinary about her.
I believe that a good scandal keeps any entertainment newsworthy. Let's face it, there's a big market for American Idol controversy.
JPL: I agree. The media does play a role constructing a public image, but we can't deny that Ryan, Paula, Simon and Randy have a character of their own. All of them have the super Hollywood celebrity mentality, which is one of the things I hate the most of all things in life.
I live in Los Angeles and I see this sort of people everyday. I should be used to it, but instead I am quite tired of it. I can only hope that if I am ever famous I won't become like them.
George: Even when I didn't win (I was voted off in fifth place after two renditions of Fred Astaire's "Cheek to Cheek" and Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World") I didn't feel like a loser. I was happy to have made it that far.
I earned a place on both American Idol's yearly CD of its winning contestants, and its ensuing 50-city tour. Upon the tour's completion, I soon found myself with offers from four different major record companies.
Now I have the best of two worlds. I'm not bound by any contract, yet I keep being invited to be part of the show. I've been in every finale after the season I was one of the contestants and I love it.
I launched my second album "Miracles" [3]in October 2005.
JPL: Being a finalist was the fastest ticket to success. I got serious about the idea of becoming a singer/songwriter. Then, in 2004, my first original single "Turn to Grey" was released and, after that, another original tune "It's Christmas," quickly broke out from the album, climbing to number 13 on the Canadian airplay charts.
American Idol made me a quasi-celebrity. Short after I left the show I played a small "gig" at my college. I was expecting just a few classmates and friends, but people from 13 states showed up.
It felt great, but I still don't know what I did to inspire that devotion.
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Check out all the Orato.com special series:
Hell’s Kitchen Chopping Block [4]
Song Over For American Idols [5]
People In Peril [7]