East Rutherford NJ Auditions

Preliminary American Idol Season 6 auditions took place in East Rutherford, NJ yesterday.  Those who made it through to the second round will audition in front of producers today in Manhattan.

New Jersey Police estimated the crowd at the Continental Arena at about 16, 000.  Here are a few who made the first cut:

But Sabriena Stone couldn’t stop beaming. The 27-year-old blonde said the judges gave her a different message: Come back again. She said they complimented her on tone.

“It was pretty nerve-racking, ” said Stone, who sang “Oh Darling” after arriving at about 4:45 a.m. for the 8 a.m. tryout. “I felt confident for the most part.”

Sabriena is pictured here.

Scottie McLaughlin, 26, of New York City made the cut:

“Your audition was horrible, ” is a recording that plays frequently from a “Simon Cowell” wax figure at Madame Tussauds museum in New York, where McLaughlin works.

But that phrase wasn’t uttered to McLaughlin by judges on Monday. He made the cut, which means he will move on to a second round of auditions in Manhattan this week.

“I feel like maybe this time I’ll get through to Hollywood, ” McLaughlin said.

Lindsay Roginski of Fort Lee, NJ made it too:

“I am so excited. They had me sing, and they said, ‘Great.’ Go on and see our executive producers, ” said Roginski, who sang “Fame, ” and was clearly bolstered by the presence of her father and stepmom, who’d driven from Ohio to be with her. “I got to actually sing the whole first verse.”

For 23-year-old Roginski, who works at the front desk of New York Sports Clubs in Fort Lee, this is a possible dream come true.