rayato Aug 7th, 2008 at 10:04 am

hey guys, first time commenting! I reading of all the people commenting on the anomaly of the PR auditions and no one knows whatà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s goings on. I do. I actually auditioned in the Puerto Rico auditions. Hereà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s what went down…

Thanks rayato!
Always better to hear from someone who was there!
So 1,000 people went, and 300 got to the judges?
Pretty cool.
Did they think that was a good turn out based on the population of the region?

We went to the Louisville, Ky tryouts (only 2 hrs away, closest we have ever gone to). She didn’t make this one…that’s another story :cheese1_ee:

she is considering NJ (10 1/2 hr trip) but doesn’t really feel it’s worth it….just might be smarter to use money for her CD :cool2_tb:

I am surprised that no one has commented on the PR auditions so I will.

I actually auditioned. There were roughly 1,000 people. 300 of which auditioned. I think it was just a poor number because most Puerto Ricans didn’t think they could sing in Spanish (which they could). I believe if in the promotions they would have specified that there would’ve been a LOT more people.

Anyways, the auditions started a hour earlier and everyone had auditioned by 11AM (I left at 10AM).I didn’t pass because they said my vocals weren’t strong enough but I pleasantly surprised when they said I was likable, good personality and GOOD STAGE PRESENCE (the last one actually shocked me :eek_wp:) The good thing was that since there were so few people the judges had more time and were more detailed in their critiques which was helpful for me.

While I met some really cool people (there’s this one girl I met whose a sweetheart from NC with a killer voice I’ll be watching out for, also there was a chick with a violin I really liked, and some dumb latino rocker who sucks but the judges “loved”).

I think that unforunately AI will never come back to PR due to such a poor showing (Hawaii had better numbers and AI hasn’t gone back either).

Overall, I really enjoyed my first American Idol experience, I met some cool people (which some of them passed), I got to see the process of selecting finalists and I appeared on TV singing!

I actually am gonna take some singing classes (I have only been singing for a month) and take the judges’ critiques to heart and hopefully I’ll be able to audition again for Season Nine! :smile2_ee:

Almost the entired Top 12 this seaon had either been signed by a major label and dropped (Carly, Johns) , already released an independent album (Brooke, Cook) or participated on a musical reality TV show of some kind (Archie, Syesha, Jason) Why would some kid whose entire experience was a h.s. talent show think they could compete with that crew?

The addition of instruments is not deterring me though. I don’t play anything, but I don’t think it’s a “must” for a contestant to play an instrument. Last year, regardless of who played them in the semi’s and finals, they weren’t allowed at auditions, and all the contestants had to make it through on the strength of their voice and appeal and “story”, anyway. And they’re not allowed at auditions this year, either, from what I understand. If I make it to Hollywood and beyond… well, maybe I’ll start thinking a little more seriously about the whole instruments thing and strategy then.

I think there were lots of people in the past,who in their hearts knew they didn’t stand a chance because they really didn’t have the talent. I think those people went for the experience, the chance to tell everyone they tried out, the fun of seeing everyone else there, and maybe meeting the person who would make it through. With the price of gas and with other economic realities, it’s an expensive form of entertainment. I don’t think the loss of those people will effect the quality of the contestants that make it through.

However I’m not optimistic this’ll mean less “bad audition” episodes. If the producers want them they’ll scrounge up the material for them. Hopefully they’ve just made a policy decision to cut down on those eps anyway.

Plus, with the addition of instruments this year (and their effect on who made it far in the contest) it does seem like AI just got a little harder than it used to be.

That could very well be a part of it. It turned from an image/singing competition into an image/arrangement competition this year. In the past, the Idols were expected to conform to the genres. This year they were expected to change the genres to conform to them. Whole different ball of wax.

And the addition of instruments means that the pure singers may be left in the dust. Out of the Top 5, only one never played an instrument on the show. And 10 through 6 never played an instrument (not counting Chikezie’s harmonica). Whether it really made a difference is open to interpretation, but the perception may be that it did. So it could be that there are really great singers that just don’t think the competition is for them anymore.

2. Last year’s ringer controversies. The serious singers might figure that the whole tihng is rigged anyway, so why bother? This could mean fewer real contenders.

3. Ratings down. Less hype overall = less motivation to audition. This could cut down on both famewhores and real contenders.

4. It’s all a bit long in the tooth by now. As each season passes, the aspects of AI that make it potentially fun/new/exciting diminish. The auditions have been done to death. We know the drill; a parade of delusional crazies can be fun for only so long. And even for the honest-to-goodness idols, as each new batch is added to the AI Collective Consciousness, they become less special. There’s a new crop every year! And if, as a fan, you’ve watched the show for several seasons, you begin to figure out the smoke and mirrors, and that makes the whole thing just less fun. So if being an actual idol isn’t seen in the same way as perhaps it once was, then surely people will be less likely to stand for hours and hours for the slim chance even to see Simon/Randy/Paula.

5. This one is a little fuzzy, but I wonder if potential auditioners were turned off by how the idols were treated last season. With all the manipulative BS that went on, it just seemed as if TPTB would “turn” on one contestant after another until their two favorites were left. If those who make it all the way to the top 24 are publicly treated like dirt, then why would anyone put so much effort into trying to get on the show?