Another Day.

Posted by: amberhines on: July 18, 2010

• In: American Idol - Nashville
• 5 Comments

**WARNING: This will be LONG** Well…sorry I didn’t blog yesterday. When we got back to Laura and Joe’s we crashed and woke up 12 hours later. I can’t remember the last time i was that exhausted. It also didn’t help that I only got 2 hours sleep the night before.

Yesterday was the longest but most exciting day I’ve had in YEARS! It started off at 3 AM when our alarm went off. We went to bed around 12 AM after we straightened hair and chatted with our extended family awhile. However, if you’ve ever had to share a bed (must less an air mattress) with Brittany, you know why I say I only got 2 hour sleep. She’s like a bag of popcorn popping…ALL night long. Luckily, after I almost kicked her off the mattress, she offered to move to the loveseat. Isn’t she sweet?

We got up at 3 AM and started getting ready. We ended up leaving the house at 3:40 AM and arrived at the arena around 4 AM. We were told countless times that the doors would open at 5 AM, but that wasn’t the case. They started filming clips at 5 AM. When we had arrived at 4 AM there were already about 2K people in line. Which it didn’t matter when you got there because we all had assigned seats in the arena. We sat there for another 1.5 hours while they did the taping. Now, my hair is naturally curly (most of you know). Very naturally curly. Brittany straightened my hair the night before and gave me a poof before we left. It looked so cute. By the time we waited in line for 2.5 hours, outside, in Nashville humidity, the back and one side of my hair looked like and electrocuted sheep had exploded. It was not a pretty sight. I found a pick in my purse and “went to town” on it; trying to salvage what I could. It DID help a little.

I had totally forgot my water in the car so after an hour outside I was getting thirsty…and hungry. I found the cereal bar I shoved in my purse and ate it. Then, like Angels from above, the Coke Zero people set up a tent and handed out free cans of Coke Zero. I don’t normally drink soda but I was a little desperate at this point. Plus, at the time, I wasn’t paying $4.75 for a bottled water.
When the arena doors opened, it took us a good 30-40 minutes to actually get through the doors. We found our seats in the arena around 7 AM and plopped right down because we were tired and wanted to be sitting on something more comfortable than the nasty concrete. No one sat next to us for quite some time. They went through pulimonaries and played music while everyone was waiting. About an hour after we sat down we had two girls come sit next to us; Diane and Ashley. Diane was trying out and Ashley was her best friend who came for moral support. Diane was very quiet but very sweet. Ashley was very outgoing and we talked to her a lot during the day. So glad I got to meet those girls! They were awesome! And we’re now FB friends so we can keep in touch! 🙂

Auditions started around 9 AM and it took about an hour per 3 sections to finish the process of auditioning. There were about 20 sections and we were on the tail end of that total. So we had a lot of time to fill.

Around 11 AM we started getting really hungry. Brittany decided to go get some food from the concessions. She had to wait in line for an hour! The concession stands were insane. I will say though, that was the best hot dog I’ve eaten in ages. Probably because I was starving. I ate that thing with lightening speed and I was very sad when it was gone but there was NO way I was going to wait in those lines for another one! I also broke down and bought a $4 bottle of water cause I was so parched.

There were 12 tables sat up for auditioning. Each table had 1 or 2 judges. Tables 3, 6, and 9 were not giving away very many golden tickets. I was floored at some of the people they turned away. We listened to some FANTASTIC people get dismissed. Some cried, some begged, some got mad, and others just took it with grace and walked off. We had very good seats to watch the auditions so we saw everything. These first auditions are not actually taped so you won’t get to see us on TV for that part. 😦

Around 2:30 – 3:00 we were bored and my phone was dying so we went to the hallway to find a plug-in. We found some guys we had met, also from Arkansas, jamming with their guitars so we joined them. That was a lot of fun and helped pass the time. I decided after my phone charged that I’d better go back to my seat and wait because we were getting closer.

By 4 PM I was so sick of hearing people sing and seeing good people get rejected that I was debating on staying. But, I figured I had been there that long that I may as well see it through till the end. Plus, I just wanted to say I did it.

I started to pray for peace because my stomach was in knots. I also prayed and told God that he knows my future and he knows whats best for me so whatever plans he has for my life are the plans I want to follow. I can’t really decribe what happened next because most of you probably wouldnt understand. God has always had a way to confirm things with me when he needs to and I guess he needed to because what happened then, hasn’t happened in a long while. I’ve kinda missed it. Some of you may not even believe me but it’s happened so many times before that I can’t deny it’s accuracy. Call it a “flash of the future” if you will. I saw myself get dismissed and walk away. Now, there have been times I’ve tried to change the visual in my head when this happens but I know it’s not right because it just won’t fit and I won’t have a peace about it. I know…some of you think I’m crazy but that’s ok because this was for me and not you 🙂 It has always prepared my heart for the best or worst. I am thankful God let’s me in on his plan early sometimes.

Our section finally got called at 5 PM. We went downstairs and waited in line. Then, they split us up into groups of 4. The group in front of us got to PICK the table they went to but our group was assigned table 9. We watched as 2 groups of 4 sang and were dismissed. This judge, 1 guy, was completely bored, tired, and probably hungry. He rarely looked at anyone singing and his head was practically laying on the table! I was #3 of 4 to go. I got up and nailed the song. Seriously. I’m not trying to boast but I think I did very well. I even had a couple of auditioners behind me say “Great Job!”…which I was taken back by a little. Then Brittany sang after me and did a good job too. He called all 4 of us up to his table and said…you guys did great but you’re just not what we’re looking for on the show this year. With that, we got our bags and left. I didn’t feel rejected, sad, or mad. I felt relieved that it was over and I could eat and sleep.

We went and treated ourselves to a Mexican Dinner with fried ice-cream for desert (I’ll go back on my diet Monday, promise). And we went back to the apartment and crashed. It was such a long day.

This is not the end of my musical journey. In fact, I can’t go into a lot of detail, but this whole thing may have opened the door for me to record afterall. Details of that will come later. I will just say, God is so good and works things out for the good of those that love and follow him. His ways are not my ways and my thoughts are not his thoughts and I’m so glad for that at times like these.

I learned so much about myself yesterday. I learned that I can have patience and endure till the end. Even in tough situations, I can stand my ground. I learned that I can still be outgoing and that I haven’t lost myself over the years. I also learned that I can do anything I put my mind to. I’m pretty proud of myself for taking this chance to do something out of the ordinary. It did take courage that I thought I lost a long time ago. I met some great people and I really did have a great time. This is one for the memory books, that’s for sure. I’m ok with the outcome because God knows the thoughts he thinks towards me, thoughts of peace and not evil, to give me a future and a hope ( Jer. 29:11).

If you’ve been following I would love to know! Leave a comment on here if you’d like. I’m so grateful for those of you who take the time to read this…it means a LOT to me.

So this is the end of my American Idol journey. I doubt I will try out again in the future. It’s not just about talent to them, it’s about what’s going to bring ratings. It’s sad for those that really have the talent and personailty to make it big and it’s a little deceiving if you ask me (sorry for all you die-hard fans but in my current experience that is my opinion).

On a final note, I would just like everyone to know I did do it; I didn’t make it but, I tried out for American Idol.

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