American Idol

Here is an inside look at the AI Season 8 audition process, from my point of view. I of course didn't make it very far, but that's just fine by me. I've had enough line waiting to last quite a long time thank you very much.

HERE'S WHAT I WORE, BOTH AT REGISTRATION AND AUDITION DAY. Yes, it really does say "Simon's Baby".


So I obviously made no secret of the fact I was expecting. As if I could hide it at this point. I thought it might be enough of a gimmick to get me in front of the judges and on TV, but no it didn't work. Oh well, it was still a big day with some really cool stuff that happened.
Registration began Sunday morning at 8 AM, I arrived at 8:10 or so. And it actually took less then an hour for the whole thing, there were less people there then I'd expected. A few hundred maybe. Later on in the day Sunday I heard on the news there was a longer line, with several hours waiting (and that's pretty much all outdoors!Yikes) so I'm glad I showed up near the front. Registration estimates I heard on the news were between 7,000 and 10,000 people.

Here's a picture of some people at the registration tables Sunday morning.....

And when you register they just look at your ID, then give you a sheet of instructions and a ticket with a seat number and this nifty wristband you cannot remove or destroy or anything. You have to have both those things to audition, it saves your place in line. Here's my wristband.

And then I went home to rest for the next few days. Auditions were Tuesday. Although they were not opening the doors until 8, the suggested time of arrival for the lineup was 5 AM. I could have arrived anytime before 8, but I was very obedient and arrived just before 5 with my bag of supplies (mostly food and water), a folding chair, and a small pillow for the much-needed lumbar support I require at this point if I'm going to sit at all for more then 20 minutes. The folding chair actually was supposed to be a prohibited item to bring inside this arena, but I got through security anyways. I think people were being a little nicer to me since I was doing this so pregnant.

So I arrived at 5. On the grass next to the line gates I tripped and fell on my face in front of tons of strangers, since it was so dark and there was a small hole in the grass I unluckily stepped into. I guess I was just trying to "break a leg", and I'm glad that was unsuccessful. I was just fine, got a place in line, and had to sit for 3 hours surrounded by noisy people practicing, gabbing about how awesome they were and how this show was going to propel them to fame but if they were not accepted they would be famous anyways because they don't need this show, etc. I just sat silently, feeling crabby that I wasn't in my bed and also SO glad I wasn't sitting on the concrete or standing for hours like everyone else there. I couldn't have done that.

Here's a random crowd picture from then. I sent it to Mike that morning, with this quote "Ugh. Who are all these people? What the world needs is a good plauge."-Dwight Shrute.

Then at about 7:00 when the sun was up, things started picking up. News stations and the papers and stuff were doing interviews with these people in the lines, and the energy was picking up some. Several of the former AI contestants have gone on to different jobs in the media, such as for the AI Extra show on cable or anchors on the TV Guide channel. Jon-Peter Lewis, who placed somewhere in the top 10 in Season 3(I think) was there with his mic doing interviews. I recognized him but didn't rush to him and gush or anything, I just laughed a bit and snapped this picture.

Then just a minute later I heard someone say,"Oh my gosh. That's Justin Guarini from Season 1." Now that to me is a big deal. I rushed a few feet over and saw it was really him, with that famous afro and everything. I made sure to get his picture also, and then I shouted,"JUSTIN! I VOTED FOR YOU!!!!" which was a total lie but whatever. Justin kinda looked over in the direction my shout came from and grinned appreciatively, unsure of who had said that. Back then I actually did watch a bunch of the 1st-3rd seasons, I had more time back then for TV watching w/ my husband, but I only occasionally voted for anybody. But Mike liked him a lot, and had said that if Season 1 had been a radio-only competition Justin would have beat Kelly Clarkson. I do not agree, but I could see the appeal of both of them. And I am one of very few people who saw the movie musical released the next summer, From Justin to Kelly. And then when it came out on DVD... no I didn't get it right away. But I did purchase it when it got thrown into the $5 bin at Walmart. And it was worth every penny and nothing more,I say! It's truly a "so awful it's awesome" type of movie. I was just so sad I didn't carry that DVD with me that day, on the off chance he'd be there interviewing. If I would have had it there and a Sharpie, I'd have run up to him and asked him to autograph it. And from something I read years ago, he'd have not been pleased. He does not really acknowledge that movie as something he's proud of doing, and doesn't really want to discuss it anymore. Yes it really did that poorly. Yes I still would have asked him anyways, I'm sad I had it at home. Still it was funny to see him.


A girl in the line told me she'd talked on the phone to a friend further back somewhere in line, and Kelly Clarkson was also doing interviews and walking around. That I do not believe. She's actually been very successful since the show, is currently reported to be recording CD #4, and is I think touring with Reba right now in a concert that comes to Utah next month. So I don't think so, sorry.

So then the line began to move, and they had a whole bunch of auditioners on the steps on the NW corner of the arena together for filming some of the group cheering/ chanting shots they do. I will hopefully be in one of those, they put me in front with my funny shirt on so maybe. I thought that would be fun, but actually it's really cheesy. You have to stand on the steps and cheer when they tell you to and stop when they tell you to so your voice doesn't get wrecked before you even begin. And they came up with all these cheesy things, like having us all count down from 8 and count up to 8 (since this is season 8) or yell as a crowd "Simon, don't be mean!" or "This is American Idol! Woo!" It gets annoying real fast believe me. Then you go inside and they move the cameras inside and have the whole arena of people do more of that same stuff. And they want shots of the whole crowd singing together "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and "Get Ready", just in case they decide to air those. Such cheese. But whatever, maybe I'll be on TV for a millisecond. Look for me and that shirt I wore in January when it airs, and it'll only be in that type of shots since I didn't audition for any judges.

There were lots of crowd-control and direction assistants around, all wearing these bright orange AI shirts.

After we did those shots inside they began auditions at 6 tables, 4 contestants at a time in each line, continuously moving them through as fast as they could get them through. They said which order they would go around the arena in, which sections would be 1st and which would probably be there all day. Many who would obviously be a while left for the restrooms and food and stuff. Then an hour or so later the officials said there would be an audition break, and everyone needed to be in their seats right now, especially in Sections __ and ___ and___. They gave it a while but then seemed to get frantic, saying if those people didn't return within 10 minutes they'd lose their places in line so any freinds/family who came along with those empty spots better CALL AND TELL THEM TO RETURN NOW!! They waited a while more, gave away a few seats so there was no empty chairs, then announced an AI star was going to come in so "everyone cheer for RYAN SEACREST!!" It was kind of exciting to have him there, but he still wasn't very close to where I was.

He is really a good looking guy, I knew that already though. I don't however think he's into women, and something happened to confirm that. He was walking across the arena, willing to take a bit of time to shake hands and have his picture taken with some people who were close by. He walked by a woman with an infant, held the baby for a second and posed for a picture like a politician. I don't think he realized his mic was on yet, and he said to this woman, "Aw,cute. Well, this isn't really my type of baby though. My baby's got a English accent. And he's not here today." And I just need to say I SO KNEW IT!!!! Those jabs him and Simon are always throwing at each other are so very flirtatious.

ANYWAYS. It was kind of exciting to have him there, and he came to be filmed with the crowd for more of those cheering shots. It took 1/2 hour or so, then he bid farewell to the crowd with a "Good luck to you all, and I'll see you when we're in Hollywood!"
Now that they had that done, they could clutter up the floor with more tables, and increased it from 6 to 10 tables at once. The line started moving faster, but it was still about 90 minutes later until I could make my way down to the floor for my audition.

You get to line up in rows of 4 people and walk towards the tables, and audition for one of these producers. If they like your sound or image or whatever criteria they use, you get the yellow paper to pass into the next round, which involves another audition round or 2 and a pile of additional release forms. Hardly anyone got through. I don't believe all I heard from other auditioners in line, but one said they were only giving away 200 of those today in this round, and then there were more audition round(s) today which would cut the 200 down to 100, who would audition for the 3 'real' judges. And this part I didn't want to believe at all, but several people acted like it was true and just common knowledge even though I didn't like it, and then it was confirmed to me on the news with this clip, http://www.myfoxutah.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail;jsessionid=F82C8CF9D3F04055408FB51424E34572?contentId=7088279&version=5&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=1.1.1&sflg=1. I don't think the anchorwoman was supposed to reveal this on camera, but there ya go.

The 100 or less who get to audition for the 'real' judges are given a letter to come back downtown in September, when the judges will be there. They were not even there that day, or even anywhere in Utah at all! They try hard with the editing on the show to not give that impression, but that's the way it is. That really kinda wrecks the 'magic' of the show, with them trying to make it appear that the kids that get in front of the judges have just gotten out of being in lines all that day and spent the night outside and everything. Bah Humbug, American Idol.

So I auditioned about 12:45 with "Unchained Melody" after saying it's reported as Simon's favorite song, it took about 90 seconds, and they of course they sent me and the other 3 home. No more line! I was glad,it'd been quite a long day for me, I was having some excruciating back pain at that point and I just wanted to be able to say I did it. So I did it! It was kinda fun, it had its highlights. My gimmick wasn't over-the-top enough I guess. And it doesn't take a genius producer to realize that by the time the 'real' judges could see me for an audition in September, the pregnancy gimmick will be over with. That's just fine, all I wanted to do was try out, and that's what I got to do. I thought it would be great to perhaps have the chance to be offered a slot in Hollywood. I'd be probably the first person to be offered that chance that declines, and says,"No, I absolutely cannot go. I need to be at home taking care of my children and getting my husband through school. But thank you for offering!" I don't think that's ever happened on the show, that TOTALLY would have gotten me on TV.

So that's that! We'll see if I am on TV at all.

Cheesecake!

I did the AI auditions yesterday.... I'll get back and write a post about it later maybe today. But the day cannot pass without a FREE FOOD BULLETIN! OK this isn't free, but it's $1.50 cheesecake day at Cheesecake Factory. Linc and I are totally going to hit on that today. We both like to eat like pregnant ladies lately..... I can expound on that later too.

(Thanks for the heads up about this Jessica!)

AI audition pictures soon! Bye.

what's going on with us

Well, just normal stuff. I don't want to take Lincoln out much because it's so very hot, and he tends to throw tantrums if things are not going exactly his way. It's just not usually worth it. So I've been organizing, getting all the stuff out for the baby. Cleaning a lot. Nesting instinct. You get the idea.
But the other day I got a haircut, enough of one to donate my hair and everything! Let's see, here's the before picture...

Wow it's hard to believe it was seriously that long. Since Linc's birth 3 years ago, I've only gotten bangs cut, and I got one minor haircut when he was 18 months old due to his hair-yanking phase. So this is almost 3 years of growth here! Here's some after shots.




Oh yeah and you can see how giant The Belly is also. What a big, healthy boy I am gestating! This haircut will make me less hot, stay out of my face in the Labor&Delivery room, and takes not much work to make it look decent. I'll be sending a bag of 10 inches of hair to Locks of Love, so I also did a good deed. Awesome.

So on to the next news....American Idol auditions are coming to Salt Lake next week, and I'm totally gonna do it! Just for fun, so I can say I've done it. I think this show is a big enough deal that people will remember it in 20-30 years, or at least know what it is when it's referenced in conversations. I'll be able to tell my kids and grandkids that I tried out, and tell them about whatever happens there. (I met Ryan Seacrest and/or the judges, I got on TV, while in line I talked with the person who eventually won the whole thing. Whatever happens.) I've been planning this since I was watching those wretched audition episodes they air in January/February, andby then I knew I'd be very very pregnant when AI audition season would happen again. I also thought at 27 this is the last summer I would be eligible to audition. Well, the age is actually 28, but I'm doing it this year anyway. I decided I'd take a trip in the summer to do an AI audition, whichever audition location would be most convenient. I've been planning what to do and say and sing since then, but I'll disclose that to all of you later, I don't want to spoil it. And I told Mike I was doing it, and that we'd have to work out childcare for Linc somehow when the time came. He owes me a big favor, so he resigned himself to it months ago.

Lucky for me, I don't have to make a long road trip 8 months pregnant. This trip will be taken entirely on TRAX. :) It's gonna be really a lot of fun, and I'll take pictures and write all about it here. I am way excited about this.

And in conclusion I have a random picture of Lincoln. What a cutie he is! He's carrying something he got for his birthday here. It's a Thomas-shaped case for his metal takealong trains, and he likes to carry it around like a businessman with a briefcase.


What a great kid he is! Got him signed up for a real cute preschool too. I think he's even more excited about it then I am, if that's possible. More on that when it actually starts in September.

Oh gosh and I keep leaving Mike out of the blog updates. He's great, very sweet how he is so enthused about Baby #2 preparations. Finals for his E.E. class are next week, and he's excited to take 2 classes in the fall and graduate probably after Spring Semester with his Associates. Yay for him! And Linc's preschool is right by the SLCC campus, we planned Linc's and Mike's schedules together so Daddy will be dropping off and picking up Lincoln, giving me a bit of alone time with the baby twice a week. I think it'll be great.
Gotta go but I'll read your comments when I can. So leave some please!
bye!

Cold Turkey, and Fantasia!

Hi! I'll let you know how I'm doing first. You all left so many concerned comments last time, I don't want anyone to worry.:) KIDDING.

My backache is ok today, it actually seems to come and go this time. Unlike last pregnancy, when it was consistently there all the time. One of many reasons I thought I was having a girl, since this pregnancy has seemed so different from the beginning. But no, it's another boy, just a different pregnancy with different symptoms.

Alright now I explain the title. No, Cold turkey isn't one of my recent cravings. I hope I don't jinx this by posting on the blog about it (as has happened in the past) but things seem to be going a lot better for Lincoln. Last week we just took some advice and packed up all Lincoln's diapers and pullups, took them all away from him. He cried a little at first, but we explained he's gonna have to be a big boy and use the potty. His little brother is coming soon, he'll be using all the diapers and there will be none left for Lincoln is how we explained it.

And this part was funny, but a bit alarming as well. Lincoln sulkily pouted and crossed his arms and said,"Chase wears diapers." (Remember in my last post I put a picture of Mike's very pregnant cousin Diana? She also has barely 2 year old Chase, and him and Linc are best buddies.) So Lincoln remembered that Chase was about to become a big brother also, and remembered that Chase wears diapers, and he was arguing with me! At 3 years old! He's awful young to be such a sass-mouth, don't you think?! My mouth just dropped open in astonishment, and I said,"Well, Chase is a lot younger then you are. And..... hey, I'm in charge here! No more diapers for you. You're a big boy now." Sometimes that boy is too smart for his own good. Nothing but trouble!

Luckily, this way seems to be working well. He tells anyone who asks (or sometimes if they don't ask he'll still tell them) "Diapers are all gone!". Accidents are still happening but decreasing, he is going potty a lot more often now, and today and a little bit yesterday he will yell "I need potty!" and run in and go by himself. BEFORE he wets himself. That's a great improvement! I am really cautiously optimistic about this! This is a good way I think. When I told one of my aunts about this, she said,"That's the way to do it. At some point you just have to hide all the diapers, or I swear if I hadn't done that my kids would still have been wearing them at nights and a bit in the daytimes, until they were 12."

So that's going much better. And.... oh yeah, my son loves the movie Fantasia.The old one, not Fantasia 2000 yet. He's just starting to pay attention to it now when I play it. At first it was because he wanted to see Mickey Mouse, and he knew Mickey is in it because he's on the cover. But I've gotten him to watch some of the other pieces also. He loves the 'Rite of Spring', if I FF to the part with the dinosaurs. He loves dinosaurs lately. He loves all the babies and horses in Beethoven's Pastorale Symphony. And the Russian Dance in the Nutcracker Suite always makes me want to jump around and dance when I hear it. Lincoln is a shameless 3 year old, and he actually did follow his urges and jumped around screeching and ran in circles during that movement. Two times. It was fun to watch.

I've not taken pictures lately. Maybe next time. Bye!

Lincoln turns three and stuff. Also, check it out. Huge, squared!

It's not as cool as the picture of me and Jeanine together, since we had due dates really close together. But this picture from Linc's birthday party last week is me at.... 27 weeks along and Mike's cousin Diana was 40 weeks or maybe 39, I'd seriously not be surprised if she's done today. Her due date was a few days ago. Lucky her!!!

So that's how big I am now. I don't know if I'm gonna be posting a lot the next few months, we'll see how it goes. All I wanna do lately is lay around eating watermelon and try to not get too hot in the daytime. And the pregnancy back pain I expected is tardy, but now is here and I don't want to sit for very long. It's that incredibly annoying lower backache I had for five of the nine months last time, and I guess this time it'll be just the last 2 1/2 months. So I'm not gonna sit at the computer much, but I'll try to leave short updates about the most important stuff. Then when I'm done this pregnancy (Ohhh what a nice thought....) prepare to be bombarded by newborn pictures! :) I really wish this baby had the same birthday as Lincoln or something close to it, cuz I'm so ready to be DONE!

Oh yeah, so last week on the 5th was Linc's birthday. I had a party for him on the 3rd at a park in Sandy for some friends and Mike's family. Then on the 5th was Linc's actual birthday, and my mom had a little lunch party for him at her place before we went to little Elaine's party in Provo. So Linc's totally partied out, got lots of toys and stuff and is excited to be 3!

Linc was so very excited for his Cars cake! As soon as I picked it up from Walmart that day he wanted to eat it immediately. Silly kid.

Well, the theme was officially Cars, with the cake and napkins and decorations, but I bought this pinata a week before my mom and I settled on that and the kids didn't care. They loved the baseball pinata. Look at that grin on Linc's face! So cute.

Oh and just because I like to tease Lincoln's beloved "Uncle Diss!", here's a funny picture of him wearing the demolished pinata like a hat. The kids all laughed about it, and I thought it was quite humorous too. I think he looks like a character from Spaceballs but Mike thinks Chris more resembles a Smurf because of the blue shirt.

Well that's all the blogging I can handle for now. Linc's in some pictures on Scott&Annie's blog from Elaine's party, even one of him opening presents, go check that out if you'd like. But I'm so done with sitting at the computer. Adios!

What Do You Do All Day?

So I found this on another blog, and I just have to put it up. Because it's awesome, and also because Linc is back to being as healthy as a horse, albeit a sometimes grouchy and demanding one. :) Having that post up for almost a week when he's back to healthy is retarded, but I've been busy.

Well....lucky for me, my sweet husband hasn't had the audacity to ask his beloved wife and mother of his child (soon to be plural, children) this impertenent question! I usually volunteer enough information that he gets a glimpse of how frantically busy I usually keep. He can also see it in my bleary eyes when he comes home. If I happen to be awake when he gets home. Here's a random picture to accurately illustrate that point.

Lincoln couldn't have been more than a week or 2 old here.... I'd fallen asleep while nursing him on the couch(again) and as you can see, it hadn't put him to sleep and he wanted MORE! See his little hands futilely groping at my shirt? And that's how Mike found us that night when he got home. This picture always reminds me of the way I hazily remember hearing him come in, laughing, and it seemed like an hour or so later(probably more like 2 minutes) a flash of the camera went off and made me groan. Mike asked,"Hey, do you want me to make him a bottle?" I muttered "Yes please...." and felt Lincoln being lifted away from me, making more room to stretch out on my couch. Ohhhh so comfy after such a long day.

Oh, and there's some typos in this I'm not gonna bother to fix.

What Do You Do All Day?

A man came home from work and found his three children outside, still intheir pajamas, playing in the mud, with empty food boxes and wrappersstrewn all around the front yard.The door of his wife's car was open, as was the front door to the houseand there was no sign of the dog. Proceeding into the entry, he found aneven bigger mess. A lamp had been knocked over, and the throw rug waswadded against one wall.In the front room the TV was loudly blaring a Cartoon channel, and thefamily room was strewn with toys and various items of clothing.In the kitchen, dishes filled the sink, breakfast food was spilled onthe counter, the fridge door was open wide, dog food was spilled on thefloor, a broken glass lay under the table, and a small pile of sand wasspread by the back door.He quickly headed up the stairs, stepping over toys and more piles ofclothes, looking for his wife. He was worried she might be ill, or thatsomething serious had happened.He was met with a small trickle of water as it made its way out thebathroom door. As he peered inside he found wet towels, scummy soap andmore toys strewn over the floor. Miles of toilet paper lay in a heap andtoothpaste had been smeared over the mirror and walls.As he rushed to the bedroom, he found his wife still curled up in thebed in her pajamas, reading a novel. She looked up at him, smiled, and asked how his day went. He looked at her bewildered and asked, 'What happened here today? 'She again smiled and answered, 'You know every day when you come home from work and you ask me what in the world I do all day? ''Yes,' was his incredulous reply. She answered, 'Well, today I didn't do it.'

The reality behind this kind of stories is why Mike and I are most definetly gonna be maxed out at 3 or 4 kids. Wow.