My American Idol Experience

Have you ever been in a situation where you have said to yourself, "This is important and I need to write this down so that my children can know about this."? Well, today I had one of those days. You see, Otto and I visited Disney Hollywood Studios today, and while we were waiting at the turnstiles for the park to open, a bunch of people from the American Idol Experience came over and said that they were holding auditions for the American Idol Experience. Otto told me to audition and I didn't want to. He told me that I really should and I came up with a ton of excuses as to why I didn't want to, but then I finally just went and did it.
After my first audition, I got a call back to go to another audition. After that one, I got to sit in the red Coke Cola room and rehearse my song. I chose to sing "Colors of the Wind" because it was a Disney song and it reminded me of my girlies who were at home. Well, they they had me perform for the Executive Producer and then they played a video with Ryan Seacrest on it telling me that I had received a GOLDEN ticket to compete in one of the American Idol shows that was showing that day. My showtime was at 12:00 noon.
There were 2 other contestants that competed against me, and I thought that, for sure, one of them was going to win. I just thought that this was a cute little karaoke party and so I was just keeping things fun and having a blast. Then, right before we were about to sing, I heard the host say that it was a competition and the winner of the Finale Show (which was performed at 7 pm) would win a real golden ticket to audition for the REAL American Idol judges Randy, Paula and Simon. It kind of hit me then that this wasn't just a fun little thing, it was an actual competition.
It was really neat, because we had to arrive at the show an hour early where we got to practise our songs while listening to the ipods that also showed our lyrics. Then it was on to hair and makeup where I kind of felt as though they turned me into a Disney character with a TON of makeup and big big big hair! After that, I got to spend some time with a vocal coach who gave me some tips on how to better my performance, and then we got to go onto the stage for the first time where we got our pictures taken and we got to pracise singing our songs and learning where we had to stand and where we had to go.
After that, it was time for the show to start. After listening to the introduction music, running onstage to be introduced and doing a short interview with the host it was my turn to start the performances. I sang my song and then got judged by the three judges. It was fun, and I pretty much knew what they were going to say. It was great and I really had a blast.
After all three of us performed we got to dance while Jordan Sparks had a music video play and then it was time for the audience to vote. We all encouraged the audience to vote for us and then we got to hear the results. The host stalled and stalled and when he finally read the name of the winner, I couldn't believe that I had won!
I did NOT expect to win ANYTHING on American Idol, and I had actually WON!!!! I was so shocked and excited! I immediately found Otto and then we called my mom and Jenna and Kristin (my sisters). They are also in Orlando right now, but they were spending the day at a different park than Otto and I. I told them that I had won American Idol and that I was in the finale and I asked them if they wanted to come and sit in the VIP seats and watch me. OF COURSE THEY CAME!
When it was time for the finale we went through the same preshow things and then we performed again. This time there were 7 of us instead of only 3. I was a lot more nervous because before the show we were all talking and the producers told us that they get over 400 people a day auditioning to be on the American Idol shows and out of those 400, only 40 get to see the Executive Producers. Out of those 40, only 21 make it into the competition and then only 7 make it to the finale. So, that means that I was in the top 7 out of 400 people!!! PRESSURE!!!! After that sweet little tidbit of information, we all went around and said who we were, where we were from and what our musical background was. It turns out that only me and one other guy hadn't actually come to the park wanting to be in the show. Everyone else had rehearsed for months to get ready for the show and get their songs perfect so that they could compete. I had just stood in line and was clueless as to what was going on! I was actually competing with professional singers (and very talented ones, at that) and they were all there to get exposure. I was just there on vacation and so that I could tell my kids that I had tried. I never expected to make it to the finale, and I really didn't want to win because I would NEVER be able to sing in front of the REAL American Idol judges.
So, I didn't win the finale (whew), but I sure did have a lot of fun. It turns out that the other guy who also hadn't planned on auditioning for American Idol was the one who won and I was sooooo glad for him. This experience was soooo great for me because it taught me a few things. It taught me to put myself out there a little bit more because I just don't know what I can do. It taught me that to believe in my singing a little bit more because there were so many people who were so nice to me today and who complimented my singing. It taught me that people are genuinely nice. I had TONS of people stop me in the park today to congratulate me and tell me that they had voted for me. I even had a group of boys who wanted to pose with me and take pictures with me. I had some of the staff at Disney World sign a card for me to say "Good Luck" and I had others who would just come up and talk to me because they had seen me on the big tv's.
It was such a great experience, and I am so grateful that I have such a wonderful husband who pushed me to audition and then who patiently listened to me talk about my worries, fears and doubts all day long and obsess over it all day long. We did do a TON of other things at the Disney Hollywood Studios today, and we had a BLAST together! I am sooooo glad that Otto and I took this trip together and I can't wait until we get home so I can show the pictures and videos to my kids.