Hundreds of singers line up to audition for ‘American Idol’
‘American Idol’ hopefuls descend on Chattanooga in hundreds for tryouts
Hundreds of superstar hopefuls lined up outside the First Tennessee Pavilion in downtown Chattanooga for “American Idol” auditions Tuesday morning.
Auditions for the ABC network’s singing competition series didn’t start until 9 a.m., but that didn’t stop some from showing up early, aiming to be first in line.
Michael Cook had been waiting outside on the concrete sidewalk since 8 p.m. Monday, he said.
“[It] was pretty uncomfortable, but I was singin’ to get through,” he said.
The 25-year-old drove in from Jeffersonville, Indiana, with his girlfriend and was planning to sing Tom Petty’s “You’re So Bad.”
He’s been singing since he was 11, he said, and hoped to “make it big and have fun.”
Cook said a group of about five or six people
joined him in waiting outside the pavilion Monday, and they harmonized to Beatles songs as they waited for the sun to rise.
“American Idol” crews began arriving at around 4 a.m., a spokeswoman said, and about 40 people were already lined up at that time.
One of those early birds was 23-year-old Alex Smith. He’d been there since 2 a.m., and was standing in line with two other family members, Jemell Smith and Jiana Barnett, who also were getting ready to audition.
The three of them, born and raised in Chattanooga, have been singing since early childhood, sometimes in
church choirs and sometimes in school choirs.
“I’m a teeny tiny bit nervous,” Barnett said. “Anxious. Ready to get it over with! … It’s going to be a learning experience.”
Another hopeful who got there early was 15-year-old Alyssa Folds and her cousin, 16-yearold Jasmine Buice.
The two, who were auditioning separately, are from LaFayette, Georgia, and have been singing together in school talent shows for “as long as [they] can remember,” they said.
“I’m so excited but so nervous,” Folds said. “It’ll hurt a bit if we don’t make it, but we’ll just keep trying.”
By about 10 a.m., producers had already chosen their first winner. Brie Capone got her yellow sheet of paper after singing Kesha’s “Praying” and Lady Gaga’s “A Million Reasons,” and walked over to a table in the far corner of the pavilion where producers finished her registration.
“I yelled at people this morning, basically,” she said, laughing.
Producers look for people who are comfortable with who they are and know who they want to be; someone who’s got a style, a spokeswoman said. They’re looking for someone who is in touch with their voice and knows the right song for their voice, but also has an emotional connection to what they’re singing.
Capone, who has been singing since she was about 8 years old, is a fulltime musician from Asheville, North Carolina.
“Weird!” is how the 28-year-old described her emotions. “But it’s good weird,” she said. “It’s just surreal.”
She will get a call over the next few days or weeks to let her know if she gets to move on to the next round of auditions.
American Idol producers did not have a set air date for when Tuesday’s auditions will air.
The Chattanooga area is home to three former singing contestants.
Lauren Alaina of Rossville, Georgia, was on “American Idol” in 2011 and has been nominated for Country Music Association awards. Earlier this year, she and childhood friend Kane Brown, of Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, a former “The X Factor” contestant, were nominated for Academy of Country Music Awards.
Jordan Smith is another local singing contestant who found success. Smith, who went to Lee University, won “The Voice” in 2015. And in 2017, Lee alumna Brooke Simpson came in third place.