American Idol and Ryan Seacrest
Some of my co-workers asked if I would post something about being at the American Idol auditions on Thursday. At first I wasn’t going to since I wrote a story about it and about the Lake County contestant Jennifer Dobson.
However, in regards to the news that Ryan Seacrest could become the highest-paid reality show host in the world today, I think I’ll talk a little bit about the auditions and Mr. Seacrest.
Before I begin, I have to commend all of the contestants who tried out with serious aspirations in mind besides just wanting to be in the Worst of Worst Auditions list. To be able to get to Amway Arena at 5 am and then wait around for 9-12 hours to get the chance to sing, they have more endurance and belief in their singing capabilities than I ever could.
I watched as contestants got into the lines at 6:30 am Thursday morning, dressed in what they could to either stand out or fit in. Some contestants I observed singing as they went to their cars, walked around the arena and even while waiting in line for the Port-a-Potties. Yet all of them had the same hopeful expression on their face that they would leave the arena with a Golden Ticket to Hollywood in their hands.
LAKE’s photographer, Anthony, and I were able to stay primarily in the media section outside of the arena, jockeying with other television and radio station employees to get the best coverage. Talking with Jennifer Dobson was interesting as we heard how she became a singer, what she did to prepare and then seeing her give a live performance for our web site video.
Her on-air interview was cut short when Ryan Seacrest rolled up in his chaffeur-driven golf cart to film the opening segments for the Orlando audition broadcast. I know what you are thinking after hearing this about Ryan Seacrest, but bear with me through the rest of the blog.
Most of the contestants were herded up onto the steps of Amway to film the segments with Ryan standing in front of the contestants to give his opening intro. He had to do about 6 or 7 takes of two different segments which sounded exactly the same each time he did it; except for one when the producer mistook Ryan’s hand movement to mean he was done talking and the boom camera left him in mid-sentence.
What I found interesting was that during breaks in between tapings, Ryan would take the time to speak to contestants around him, sign autographs and even holding up the camera to take a picture with a contestant. I don’t know if it was due to the fact that all the media people were right there, but he could have just spoken with the AI crew the whole time and no one would have said anything.
Now whether he deserves all the money he will soon be earning for being on American Idol I’m not exactly sure, but overall he impressed me how he seemed to care about the contestants even though he would probably never see them again. He also took the time to do as many interviews and phone chats to area radio and television stations after contestants went inside the arena, probably enjoying the publicity but not acting like the “male” diva he could have portrayed.
What was also worth commending was how nice the staff of the arena and AI were to the media. We weren’t treated less because we weren’t a high-profile television or radio station like several others there but as people who were respected for the field we were in.
My experience at the auditions made me appreciate the show even more, even if there are conspiracies that it is fixed or that contestants are judged on popularity and looks, not singing. I will be one of the ones watching the next season of American Idol after the experience and guess I will be contributing to the bank accounts of Ryan and the four judges. Oh well, a small price to pay to help those realize a dream.
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