Ok, one more "election," people. I need your sage advice. What earrings should I wear? I plan to wear a red heart-shaped brooch, no matter what. I inherited a number of brooches from the family member who passed away during my training and I've decided that, should I actually make it on the show, I will wear a different brooch for each appearance... Anyway, you've given me such great advice, thus far. Keep up the good work and I promise to sing my best for you...
Without calling myself a "swan" (afterall, that would be a different Fox "reality" tv show...) I will say that my American Idol Auditioning Training has entailed shooting for full-body transformation. Part of this is because I've been insecure about my looks, part of it is because I am not normally a hair & makeup kinda girl, and part is also because I wanted to put myself through (and therefore examine closer) the process of trying to "become" a star... Today I'm doing some last-minute polishing. I got my hair cut & low-lighted (we decided I was too blonde since, afterall, there's only room for one Jessica Simpson in this world), which took forever (where does Paris Hilton find the time?!), fun as it was. Now I'm feeling 'almost famous,' after my hairdresser told me I looked like Nefertiti under all those foils! Speaking of polishing, I wanted to get a manicure, but I had to get to work, so I'll have to do it myself, at home... Talk about DIY adventures!
Download mercedes.WAV
The polls have closed and the votes have been tallied... Though it was the song about which I am most insecure, Norah Jones's "Turn Me On" actually came in as the surprise winner. But a number of people wrote-in a great suggestion, which is to begin singing it in the second 1/2 of the clip below (at "my poor heart"), which is a great idea, especially since I will have a limited time to sing anyway and that's my favorite part. Thank you so much for voting! Now there is one caveat, which is that there is an electoral college in this process... The producers. They ask contestants to sing up to five songs, sometimes, and they may ask me to sing a different one, for any number of reasons--the song will not be recognized by many people, the judges (should someone deem me worthy of their audience) don't like it, I sing another one better, or I sing another one worse and they think that will make for good tv... In any case, I've decided that, if my voice totally fails me, I'll sing Janis Joplin's "Mercedes Benz," which sounds best as a twangy screech, anyway...
Good morning, internet users. Did everyone watch the debates last night? Is everyone fired up to vote? The more time I spend thinking about American Idol, the more I think about voting... It strikes me that my generation is the demographic for the show--the group that votes in throngs to elect their favorite--but it's also the generation that does not show up to governmental elections. We will stand in audition lines but not in (much shorter) polling place queues. Since people have until 10/18 to register in time for the Presidential Elections, I've decided to bring voter registration cards with me to the American Idol Auditions. This is a totally non-partisan thing. I just want my peers to know that even if Randy, Paula, and Simon don't hear their voice, someone else will...
Whew. Sorry for the unexpected hiatus... I returned from New York with chicken pox!!! (And, yes, I did have them when I was a kid.) This is not good... It itches, it hurts, and it has put me in a sour mood. If the American Idol auditions were tomorrow, I'm afraid I'd blow it... In any case, I think I'm on the road to recovery. Thanks to all of you who posted comments & sent me e-mails, while I was in bed. For now it looks like I'll be wearing the puffy, polka-dotted shirt and the black pointy flats. Stay tuned for more wardrobe updates. And song-selection voting is on deck!
Download boots.WAV
I'm keeping the T-Shirt poll open a little later, to accommodate latecomers.... Meanwhile, please also tell me what shoes I should wear. I'll post the results early next week and then we can get busy making decisions about my jewelry... Thanks!
If you're reading this, then you already know about this blog. What you may not know is that you are not alone... To my delight, a writer at the New York Times took an interest in my training, and wrote a short article about it. (Artist Chris Gash even made this cool illustration for the piece!) The article called this blog "anything but stupid"! Now I'm anything but disappointed, as so many interesting people have contacted me over the last few days with amazing American Idol Audition tips and words of encouragement. (I promise to write you all back, asap...) My thanks to Lisa Napoli, for her interest, and to fellow Times scribe Matt Mirapaul for spreading the word on my endeavors.
Download tellmelies.WAV
Ok, my beloved electorate, you tell me... What should I wear to the audition? All the kind folks who have written in with their post-Idol Audition tips have told me the key is striking a balance between being myself & not going over the top, so I've decided I should wear a T-Shirt. I designed the ones you see here, fyi... (Yes, I really am that multi-talented!) You'll have a chance to vote on my shoes & accessories later (and, of course, my song), but for now, I'm counting on you to tell me what to do up top... Post comments or e-mail me to let me know what you think. I'm hoping for a big voter turnout, here. (Afterall, there's no electoral college!) I'll tally the votes and get back to you. Thanks!!!
Download INTERVIE.WAV
Download 2MIN_CRI.WAV
Big celebrities are used to being interviewed, but I've noticed that many of the instant-celeb Idolitioners (that's blogese for American Idol Auditioners) look like deer in headlights when they are being interviewed--say, by producers, by the megastar Idol host, Ryan Seacrest, and even in post-show interviews, on Entertainment Tonight, or the red carpets of TV land. As an art critic, I'm more used to interviewing other people, so I pulled in a pro to help me. Tabitha Soren has recently stepped out of the TV spotlights (in which she hosted MTV news, worked at the Today Show, won a Peabody Award, and accomplished many great things) to focus on her work as a photographer. Nonetheless, she's interviewed everyone from Yassir Arafat to Mariah Carey, so she knows what she's doing. Tabitha gave me a practice media Q&A and then critiqued my interview skills. You can download the interview & crit, above.
P.S. Special thanks to Tabitha and to the fabulous Binh Danh for taking these photos.
