It Started with a Promise
Now that the American Idol Austin episode has FINALLY aired, I can talk a little more about our adventure into the crazy unreality reality of American Idol.
Where to start? Every year that I can remember, my sweet Ma has wanted my brother JB to try out for American Idol. Seriously.. she planned it every year. She called us, told us where the auditions were, what she read in the paper, who she heard was going.. and every year. JB said "No way!" So to make a long story short, JB finally gave in. Ma promised to pay the way and take him; so she and I got to cooking up the plans. We found out they were auditioning in Austin so JB, Ma, & Dave hit the road headed our way.
The first auditions were held at the large arena in Austin. The way it works is you show up some time in the first 2 days and get a random armband. Showing up first, doesn't mean you sing first. That was Mon-Tues. Then Wednesday they have a huge cattle herd audition. Basically several rounds of screeners and producers .. they do interviews of those they choose and invite friends and family back for taping later that week. JB breezed.. seriously.. breezed through the Wednesday audition.. in and out. There were over 5000 at the first rounds.
Now the rest of the troops were called in. The family (Mom, Dad, Ma, Dave, Me, Justin, & Boys) headed to Austin to the Barton Creek Resort for filming. At this audition there were 2 rounds... And tons of craziness! We got there really early - I think line up was at like 7am or something.. don't you love the boys shirts?
The golf course was gorgeous.. we watched the sunrise while standing in line.
And in all craziness ran into someone from Opp Alabama that our family knew. Small world this is. After standing in that line, the contestants went into a holding room.
We all went through security and there we were. The contestants all learned a group song and the producers went on forever about branding, blah, blah, blah.
Did I mention that we had Sly (his dog with him?) Well, in his interview he mentioned that Sly travels with him and the producers asked him to bring him. Little did we know that Barton Creek wouldn't allow dogs. So Sly rode all the way out to Austin with my parents and then had no where to go. Here is the funniest part - Justin tells Ma & Dave that he is going to take him to the car but secretly he is smuggling into the resort and into their room. He puts Sly in a back pack and covers him with a blanket and makes it in. After a few hours, we are all standing outside waiting on JB.. and here comes a security card with Sly! He is asking everyone if this is their dog. Ha! So much for sneaky :-) Apparently Sly had hooked his paw over the handle of the door, opened it, let himself out and prowled the hallways.. all of this was caught on security cameras.. Like father, like son :-)
Anyway, he passed the first round and we were loaded into a hotel van and taken to another building for the 2nd round taping which involved another few hours waiting in a hotel ballroom. Here we are in the van on the way there..
Finally, we were called to the door. No Seacrest, just a bunch of producers.. and out comes JB with a GOLDEN TICKET. Now at this time, we (nor American Idol I don't think) had any idea what they were doing. No contracts had been signed by judges so basically they gave him a golden ticket, told him he was going to Hollywood and we will call you in a few weeks.
Well, few weeks go by and he gets the word to come back to Austin "wearing the exact same clothes from the first audition". Now he sees the judges. Weird right? I mean we were all pretty much thinking he was done, through, and headed to the big show. So all these things that you see on TV that show it happening like the same day .. now way. That is 3 different tapings over the course of 3 months. The "reality" of American Idol and TV. Now that I have watched the show.. the editing!!
Here we go again, back to Austin, same resort. This was stressful. It was very unorganized. They filmed interviews in the same room that we stayed in the whole day. And they wanted it to be dead quiet. Now, Beckett & Eli were with us. Do you think they were quiet? In fact, we put Eli on the floor and he crawled under the chairs and got into a ladies hot coffee. Screaming, the poor guy had burns on his face and hand. He screamed and screamed. The hotel doctor came and checked. American Idol sent staff to check (and to make sure we weren't suing or something)
It was very slow moving. I did catch a good break though. While I was outside by myself rocking sweet Eli - the 3 judges made their grand entrances. Steven Tyler arrived first - the only one in a limo, followed by Randy (Escalade) and Jennifer Lopez (Escalade). Jennifer Lopez was followed by her husband Marc Anthony and tons of big ole security guards.
I missed the judges coming in to talk to the contestants and wish them well. I did catch the speech where they advised you to not sing a Jennifer Lopez and do not refer to her as J. Lo. :-) And I caught Marc Anthony on a smoke break!! Ha!
This day was strange. So you could tell that so much was predetermined. All these little interviews and snippets and stuff you see... they don't do that for everybody. They choose. Is it coincidence that they happen to get that much video and background story on "the ones the put through?" After a terribly long day, we finally got our turn. We stood outside (all but Justin & the boys.. poor babies were exhausted and throwing fits!) and talked to Seacrest. He interviewed us. He was very short and looked exactly like he did on TV. We were nervous, didn't really say much. He interviewed us .. but really.. compared to all these clowns we were very bland. And then out came JB.. no ticket. We all stood there in silence for a few minutes. I think we were all just in shock because I for one felt 100% sure he would make it through. I mean seriously. But in the end, he did not. I think you can immediately see that we loved on him. They basically told him that he just wasn't what they were looking for this year.
Of course there was hurt and disappointment. I think no matter what that always comes with rejection. However, unlike a lot of contestants there with this lifelong dream of American Idol, JB did it for fun. He did it for Ma, so that he can never look back and say "what if?" American Idol will be looked back as a HUGE part of American pop history and its really cool that he is a part of it. And that he let us tag along on his journey.
As he sat outside the room, I could tell that he was getting nervous. Its hard when all the "opinions" and expectations start getting in your head. I sent him a text to forget those nerves. The Lord has an amazing plan for his life and its already decided. Now it was just up to him to have fun.. do what he loves. Sing!
I texted him one of my favorite verses -
Isaiah 40:31
But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
Little did we know at that time, the HUGE plans and changes God had for his life. I know that this was just another step in that journey. I am so proud of my little brother.. he is truly my American Idol. (oh.. and the judges are crazy. Yep. crazy)
Love,
The Riley's
Where to start? Every year that I can remember, my sweet Ma has wanted my brother JB to try out for American Idol. Seriously.. she planned it every year. She called us, told us where the auditions were, what she read in the paper, who she heard was going.. and every year. JB said "No way!" So to make a long story short, JB finally gave in. Ma promised to pay the way and take him; so she and I got to cooking up the plans. We found out they were auditioning in Austin so JB, Ma, & Dave hit the road headed our way.
The first auditions were held at the large arena in Austin. The way it works is you show up some time in the first 2 days and get a random armband. Showing up first, doesn't mean you sing first. That was Mon-Tues. Then Wednesday they have a huge cattle herd audition. Basically several rounds of screeners and producers .. they do interviews of those they choose and invite friends and family back for taping later that week. JB breezed.. seriously.. breezed through the Wednesday audition.. in and out. There were over 5000 at the first rounds.
Now the rest of the troops were called in. The family (Mom, Dad, Ma, Dave, Me, Justin, & Boys) headed to Austin to the Barton Creek Resort for filming. At this audition there were 2 rounds... And tons of craziness! We got there really early - I think line up was at like 7am or something.. don't you love the boys shirts?
The golf course was gorgeous.. we watched the sunrise while standing in line.
And in all craziness ran into someone from Opp Alabama that our family knew. Small world this is. After standing in that line, the contestants went into a holding room.
We all went through security and there we were. The contestants all learned a group song and the producers went on forever about branding, blah, blah, blah.
Did I mention that we had Sly (his dog with him?) Well, in his interview he mentioned that Sly travels with him and the producers asked him to bring him. Little did we know that Barton Creek wouldn't allow dogs. So Sly rode all the way out to Austin with my parents and then had no where to go. Here is the funniest part - Justin tells Ma & Dave that he is going to take him to the car but secretly he is smuggling into the resort and into their room. He puts Sly in a back pack and covers him with a blanket and makes it in. After a few hours, we are all standing outside waiting on JB.. and here comes a security card with Sly! He is asking everyone if this is their dog. Ha! So much for sneaky :-) Apparently Sly had hooked his paw over the handle of the door, opened it, let himself out and prowled the hallways.. all of this was caught on security cameras.. Like father, like son :-)
 |
| How cute is my Ma with the sign I made!!! |
Anyway, he passed the first round and we were loaded into a hotel van and taken to another building for the 2nd round taping which involved another few hours waiting in a hotel ballroom. Here we are in the van on the way there..
Finally, we were called to the door. No Seacrest, just a bunch of producers.. and out comes JB with a GOLDEN TICKET. Now at this time, we (nor American Idol I don't think) had any idea what they were doing. No contracts had been signed by judges so basically they gave him a golden ticket, told him he was going to Hollywood and we will call you in a few weeks.
Well, few weeks go by and he gets the word to come back to Austin "wearing the exact same clothes from the first audition". Now he sees the judges. Weird right? I mean we were all pretty much thinking he was done, through, and headed to the big show. So all these things that you see on TV that show it happening like the same day .. now way. That is 3 different tapings over the course of 3 months. The "reality" of American Idol and TV. Now that I have watched the show.. the editing!!
Here we go again, back to Austin, same resort. This was stressful. It was very unorganized. They filmed interviews in the same room that we stayed in the whole day. And they wanted it to be dead quiet. Now, Beckett & Eli were with us. Do you think they were quiet? In fact, we put Eli on the floor and he crawled under the chairs and got into a ladies hot coffee. Screaming, the poor guy had burns on his face and hand. He screamed and screamed. The hotel doctor came and checked. American Idol sent staff to check (and to make sure we weren't suing or something)
It was very slow moving. I did catch a good break though. While I was outside by myself rocking sweet Eli - the 3 judges made their grand entrances. Steven Tyler arrived first - the only one in a limo, followed by Randy (Escalade) and Jennifer Lopez (Escalade). Jennifer Lopez was followed by her husband Marc Anthony and tons of big ole security guards.
I missed the judges coming in to talk to the contestants and wish them well. I did catch the speech where they advised you to not sing a Jennifer Lopez and do not refer to her as J. Lo. :-) And I caught Marc Anthony on a smoke break!! Ha!
This day was strange. So you could tell that so much was predetermined. All these little interviews and snippets and stuff you see... they don't do that for everybody. They choose. Is it coincidence that they happen to get that much video and background story on "the ones the put through?" After a terribly long day, we finally got our turn. We stood outside (all but Justin & the boys.. poor babies were exhausted and throwing fits!) and talked to Seacrest. He interviewed us. He was very short and looked exactly like he did on TV. We were nervous, didn't really say much. He interviewed us .. but really.. compared to all these clowns we were very bland. And then out came JB.. no ticket. We all stood there in silence for a few minutes. I think we were all just in shock because I for one felt 100% sure he would make it through. I mean seriously. But in the end, he did not. I think you can immediately see that we loved on him. They basically told him that he just wasn't what they were looking for this year.
Of course there was hurt and disappointment. I think no matter what that always comes with rejection. However, unlike a lot of contestants there with this lifelong dream of American Idol, JB did it for fun. He did it for Ma, so that he can never look back and say "what if?" American Idol will be looked back as a HUGE part of American pop history and its really cool that he is a part of it. And that he let us tag along on his journey.
As he sat outside the room, I could tell that he was getting nervous. Its hard when all the "opinions" and expectations start getting in your head. I sent him a text to forget those nerves. The Lord has an amazing plan for his life and its already decided. Now it was just up to him to have fun.. do what he loves. Sing!
I texted him one of my favorite verses -
Isaiah 40:31
But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
Little did we know at that time, the HUGE plans and changes God had for his life. I know that this was just another step in that journey. I am so proud of my little brother.. he is truly my American Idol. (oh.. and the judges are crazy. Yep. crazy)
Love,
The Riley's