Marybeth Heyd: What It's Like to Attend the Taping of Idol Gives Back

I should start by saying that it was super fun and i am so grateful to the person who took me. We had a really great time. My friend jenn scored tickets to Idol Gives Back from a woman she knows who works at Fremantle Media. They were excellent seats, middle of the first balcony, about 4 rows from the front. There was a man sitting in front of us who I have to imagine can be seen from various camera angles as he was quite large and wearing a light green shirt. If the shot they show during Seacrest's opening is the same as what we saw on the jumbo screens at the Kodak Theater, then you can see where we were sitting right above Ryan's head and a little to the left. The big guy sitting in front of us waved his arms madly pretty much any time the camera looked like it was pointed vaguely in our direction, so you may get a glimpse.

Anyway, good seats, huge stage, crazy good lineup but we weren't sure who was going to be there live and who was going to be featured in one of those heartbreaking videos shot in Africa or Appalachia...it was a pretty crazy and somewhat random assortment of stars, but you know I am way hooked on this show when I am more excited about the American Idols being there than....Brad Pitt....who was there, and so gorgeous yes, but I was like ooh there's Michael Johns up in the balcony, clapping at Brad Pitt just like I am. Weird.

Just to go down the list, Robin Williams was there live and did an ENDLESS and not very funny spoof on "Russian Idol." It needed one of those cane things, you know to remove him from the stage? It was brutal. Celine Dion was just in a video which was fine with me. Forest Whitaker's video(s? i think he did 2) - brutal in a different way altogether from Robin Williams' brutality. Tearjerker for sure. Billy Crystal was there and proceeded to have a sort of cute, sort of awkward, very staged conversation with Miley Cyrus, who, i know, is like the hottest thing ever right now and I'm trying very hard to get it...it just came off as a little obnoxious. You'll see.

And you know Idol is reaching out to the younger crowds harder than ever when Miley Cyrus performed not once but TWICE in a 2ish hour show. I do have to wonder if they'll air both songs? They weren't one right after the other. It was a little strange. The girl has gorgeous hair, I will give her that, and she flails it around like nobody's business.

Dane Cook introduced an Alicia Keys video and had kind of a funny joke. I have to like him, is my feeling, since I'm from Massachusetts and so is he, but I kind of feel like his 15 minutes may be up. I hope I'm wrong. Kiefer Sutherland did a video and I wonder if he gets tired of having to mention the number 24 in every single thing he does? I didn't see Terri Hatcher in anything, but she may have been in that weird star montage singing thing - I can't even remember what song they were all singing but it was bizarre and featured Rob Schneider (who later made some awful joke about sending him $$ instead of to the charities?) and Eddie Izzard. hmmm. And when you watch that singing montage thing, can someone please tell me who the guy in the glasses was? You'll see what i mean.

Oh wait - I think they sing "I'm a believer" by The Monkees. I Think.

Ashley Tisdale and Vanessa Hudgens are also in a quickie video asking for donations. Jennifer Connolly's video is a little confusing until the very end. Elliott Yamin was in the audience, as was Jordin Sparks and Simon's girlfriend. They were all down on the floor, as you can imagine. Didn't see Fantasia or Amy Adams...

Bono has quite a few moments, interviewing the saddest people you can imagine, doing his thing and being Bono. He wasn't at the show though, much to my chagrin. As I mentioned, Brad Pitt was, and there was a funny thing where his mic wasn't working so they stopped (they taped it as close to a live show as they could, but had a cushion of time for things like mics not working) and the stage manager lady Deb came out and was redoing his mic and then said she just wanted an excuse to touch him. It was pretty funny.

Reese Witherspoon also had some sort of microphone snafu, but she just gracefully redid it and it was all good and she is awfully adorable. Jimmy Kimmel and Sarah Silverman i was a little nervous about because you never know what's going to happen when it's the two of them and a room full of stars. It could have been "I'm f*%king Simon Cowell" being filmed for youtube for all I know but it wasn't and they were both funny. Jimmy sort of roasts Simon and he takes it quite well.

Mariah Carey sang a song. Not much else to say as I am not really a fan - is it really Mariah week next week? Ugh. Anyway, the Manning brothers were there and introduced a video of them somehow making the lives of kids in New Orleans better...but it's not really clear how they do it? They seem to play some sort of indoor throwing game with a bunch of teenage boys, to which my response is I'm pretty sure those teenage boys wouldn't mind going outside and playing, uh what's that game called again? Oh yeah- FOOTBALL? I think that would probably make them pretty happy. Maybe they do at the end, I can't remember, but I did find it weird that they were like throwing balls around inside in a circle when they have back-to-back superbowl qbs who happen to be brothers right there at their disposal...I digress.

The Beckhams were in a video. This will sound mean but it made me glad that their kids don't go to my school because I don't know if I could handle a parent conference with the two of them. Fergie got to sing not only with Heart but with John Legend as well - John Legend was phenomenal, and then Fergie came out and sang with him before doing Barracuda with Heart....amazing! I developed a small crush on Fergie during her performance. I think it was the one-armed cartwheel things she did that sealed the deal. I loved her way back when on Kids Incorporated, too!

Daughtry took his band I think to Uganda, so that was a video. I didn't know his band was called Daughtry. That's what I learned from his video. Annie Lennox made me cry - during her video and during her ridiculously beautiful live song. She is amazing. love love love her. Snoop Dogg was funny and I have to confess I have no idea who he performed with, but he brought up this cute little bunch of boys to be on stage with him. I don't think they were singing or anything but they were a cute little posse.

Maroon 5 was nowhere to be found...oh Adam Levine, wherefore art thou Adam Levine? Gloria Estefan sang "Get on Your Feet" with this superslow beginning...but of course sped it up so that we, the audience, would...get on our feet, of course. Carrie Underwood did indeed sing George Michael, in a lovely pinky greeny shimmery dress and sitting down the whole time - i don't know how such a big purdy voice can come out of someone who's sitting! It's remarkable.

The 3 presidential candidates each have a little video - I'm curious because the sound/light quality of McCain's was so bad that nigel who came out before the show to psych us all up said that they wouldn't use it the way it was, they were waiting for new film from the McCain camp. So I'm curious to see what they air. The British Prime Minister also has a little video where he pledges $200 million...i don't know if they'll count that in this year's total, which Nigel predicted will be over $100 million. That really is amazing.

Paula is glorious in red. Simon wears his standard suit/no tie/shirt undone to his navel. The idols wear regular clothes for the opening act, which has really good backup dancers. I think David Cook gets felt up by his, but he does not need to go to the hospital as a result. And then they wear all white for the ending, which I'm just going to say, works for the girls, not so much for the guys. There's something really awkward about Jason Castro all in white. Michael Johns and David Cook look ok I guess, while David Archuleta, true to form, looks a little like an angel all in white. Shocker. They sat up in a balcony for most of the show and just watched, and they were all pretty into it and standing and singing along and whatnot...Jason Castro was a little more hang-back-ish, but he still seemed to be enjoying himself.

I kept waiting though and there was no African choir like last year, and that was a little disappointing. I would say that in general last year's show is a tough act to follow, but they did a good job. I think the novelty of the whole thing last year really helped, as did the whole celebrity factor, like i remember watching and thinking - holy cow THAT star agreed to do this? and being all surprised and delighted. And I felt less of that this year. I don't know why. I'm sure they'll still raise a boatload of money and the truth is the people that they feature desperately need it. So it's all good.

I had fun, and I'm excited to watch it tomorrow (IPM note - she means tonight) and see how different it is from what I saw sunday night.

xoxo
mb (and lucy, who did not get to go to the taping, as it was a school night)

Viewing Guide: Idol Gives Back Week!

Some of you might think that running an organization like the Idol Pool would require business savvy, competitive instincts, perfect pitch, and a heart of steel. But it’s not true. In fact, it only takes one Josh Groban and 15-20 headbanded African children to get this Idol Pool Master’s tears flowing. So Idol Gives Back Week is greeted at Pool Headquarters with anticipation and lots of extra Kleenex. And no—dirty birds—it’s not just because Vanessa Hudgens is supposed to appear this year.

The truth is, your Idol Pool Master loves to give back. In fact, I love giving back so much that I’m hereby announcing a new initiative: the first ever Idol Pool Blog Comment Charity Challenge! Here’s how it works. Your Idol Master will give $1 (out of his own pocket) for every comment posted on the blog this week which he deems funny or interesting. That’s it: post a funny comment and the IPM will give a dollar. Or don’t, and have the malaria epidemic on your conscience.

Speaking of, the stars are swarming like flies to this year’s Idol Gives Back! Have you seen the list? Robin Williams, Celine Dion, Forest Whitaker, Billy Crystal, Dane Cook, Kiefer Sutherland, Terri Hatcher (singing!), IPM favoite Ashley Tisdale, Jennifer Connolly, Elliott Yamin, Fantasia, Amy Adams, Bono, Brad Pitt and a bad green hat, Reese Witherspoon, Sarah Silverman, Miley Cyrus, Mariah Carey, Eli Manning, Peyton Manning, the Beckhams, Fergie duetting with Heart, Chris Daughtry, Annie Lennox, John Legend, Snoop Dogg, Maroon 5, Gloria Estefan, and, fresh from texting her boyfriend that he's dumped, Carrie Underwood (singing George Michael, I’m told). Oh, and did we mention the appearances by two-time Grammy award winner Barack Obama, Grammy award winner Hillary Clinton, and presumptive Republican nominee John Sidney McCain? We’re audacious enough to hope that J.S. McCain will pledge an American Idol presence on Fox for the next hundred years. And that Hillary will release the rights to her songbook.

Wait, have we even mentioned Tuesday’s Inspiration-Themed show, or Thursday’s appearance by Jordin Sparks? (Jordin, by the way, has predicted a David-David final this year.) Given that you’ll be committing four and half hours to Idol this week, we’ll keep this post short. Just a little advice for the contestants:

1. Kristy Lee: everyone in our pool except Suzy (and the straight men) wants your performance to go something like this. 28 of us didn’t even have you in our top 12. I know you want to sing “Amazing Grace” for the third time this year, but here’s the dilemma: can you sing that AND wear a plunging neckline?
2. Syesha: sure, you can sing Wind Beneath My Wings. But only if you include this move (skip to 4:16).
3. David Cook: tough week for you, man. Part of me wants you to take “You Raise Me Up”, ditch the children’s choir, and add an electric guitar. Surely someone has a cover version you could steal. I’m not sure what this would do to your rocker cred, though, so maybe you should just sing something by Jars of Clay.
4. Michael Johns: Guess you shouldn’t have blown “We Are the Champions” on Year You Were Born Week. I’d say just keep tussling that hair of yours. It’s still the best thing you’ve got going.
5. Jason: Sing “What a Wonderful World” acoustic. No question about it.
6. Brooke: I’d say just do what you normally do. Sing something forgettable, have Paula tell you how beautiful you are, get criticized by Simon, and then start talking back so much that the judges and Ryan can hardly get a word in edgewise.
7. Carly: You’ll probably want to save “Hero” for Mariah Carey week next week. But you’ve got the biggest voice left in the competition and you should use it. How about "You'll Never Walk Alone"? Or go Irish and sing “Danny Boy”. Either way, I won’t have to wait until Wednesday to start crying.
8. David Archuletta: Everyone knows this is the week you were born for. Resist the urge to sing “One Day More” from Les Mis. We know you want to. This is your chance to sing “Bridge Over Troubled Waters” and make us forget about Clay once and for all.

OK, friends. Don't forget the Blog Comment Charity Challenge. 1 comment = $1. That's enough to give a child in Africa four days' worth of food, headbands, and choir lessons. We're all in this together, Pool Members.

April 2 Standings

1. Stephen - 130 points (348 max) – no change

2. Jennie L. - 128 points (352 max) – up from 7th

3. Meredith - 126 points (344 max) - down from 2nd

4. Karen - 125 points (328 max) – up from 6th

5. Amy L-P. - 123 points (341 max) – up from 8th

6. Dave L. - 121 points (345 max) – up from 13th

7. Julie R. - 121 points (339 max) – down from 3rd

8. Stephanie - 121 points (318 max) – down from 4th

9. Cathleen - 121 points (294 max) – down from 5th

10. Ryan – 120 points (338 max) – up from 14th

11. Julie H. - 119 points (343 max) - up from T-16th

12. Jan W. - 119 points (337 max) – up from 22nd

13. Yvonne - 119 points (322 max) – up from 15th

14. Lisa S. - 118 points (342 max) - up from 23rd

15. Suzy M. - 118 points (329 max) – up from 24th

16. Amy Y. - 118 points (308 max) – down from 9th

17. Lisa B. - 117 points (335 max) - down from T-11th

18. Marybeth & Lucy - 117 points (320 max) – up from 26th

19. Mandy - 117 points (311 max) – down from 10th

20. Matty - 117 points (284 max) - down from T-11th

21. Don - 116 points (334 max) – up from 30th

22. Aneesha - 115 points (339 max) – up from 36th

23. Suzanne - 115 points (318 max) – up from 41st

T-24. Alieda - 114 points (332 max) - down from T-16th
T-24. Kristin - 114 points (332 max) - down from T-16th

T-26. Jan M. - 114 points (325 max) - down from T-16th
T-26. Scott - 114 points (325 max) – down from T-16th

28. Brian - 114 points (287 max) - down from T-16th

29. Kara - 113 points (337 max) – up from 48th

30. Liz - 113 points (324 max) – down from 25th

31. Andy - 112 points (323 max) – up from 55th

32. Denis - 112 points (306 max) – down from 27th

T-33. Corona - 111 points (329 max) – down from 31st
T-33. Jaime - 111 points (329 max) – down from T-28th
T-33. Marcia - 111 points (329 max) - down from T-28th

36. Cindy - 111 points (316 max) - down from 32nd

37. Team O'Brien - 110 points (321 max) - up from 40th

T-38. Damian - 110 points (315 max) - up from T-42nd
T-38. Jean Claude - 110 points (315 max) - up from T-42nd
T-38. Melissa - 110 points (315 max) – no change

41. Jenny M. - 110 points (300 max) – down from T-38th

42. Stacie - 109 points (282 max) - up from 47th

43. Jane - 108 points (326 max) – up from 49th

44. Team Ringey - 108 points (313 max) – up from 50th

T-45. Katie K. - 107 points (325 max) – up from T-52nd
T-45. Mike L. - 107 points (325 max) – up from 54th

47. Michelle - 107 points (310 max) - up from T-52nd

48. Peter - 107 points (288 max) – up from 57th

49. Matt - 106 points (311 max) - down from 33rd

50. Jen S. - 106 points (284 max) – down from 35th

51. Paul F. - 106 points (227 max) – down from 34th

52. Rich - 105 points (323 max) – up from 62nd

53. Team 'Tini - 105 points (316 max) – up from T-60th

54. Kathryn - 105 points (310 max) – down from 37th

55. Jon - 105 points (302 max) – up from 66th

56. Will B. - 105 points (289 max) – up from T-60th

T-57. Jill - 105 points (270 max) – down from 46th
T-57. Paul P. - 105 points (270 max) - down from T-42nd

59. Julie K. - 105 points (262 max) - down from 45th

60. Michael W. - 103 points (270 max) – down from 51st

61. Missy - 102 points (275 max) - down from 56th

62. Brooke - 101 points (306 max) - up from 71st

63. Judy - 101 points (204 max) – down from 59th

64. Emily - 100 points (305 max) – up from 65th

65. Dave S. - 100 points (288 max) – down from 63rd

66. Anh - 100 points (281 max) – down from 64th

67. Lance - 100 points (260 max) – no change

68. Dina - 99 points (287 max) – no change

69. Katy L. - 98 points (282 max) – no change

70. Sean - 97 points (287 max) – no change

71. Cristina - 96 points (280 max) – down from 58th

72. Kendra - 96 points (267 max) – no change

73. Julie W. - 94 points (236 max) – no change

74. Will A. – 92 points (289 max) – no change

75. Neisha - 87 points (197 max) – no change

76. Vote For The Worst - 80 points (190 max) – up from last

77. Chris F. - 79 points (233 max) – no change

78. Mike & Suzy - 76 points (211 max) – no from 76th

Juliana Tarris Auditions for American Idol

IPM Note - In our annual trend of real life people experiencing American Idol first hand (also see Marybeth's post last year titled "What it's like to Attend and Idol Taping"), we bring you this exclusive - Juliana Tarris Auditions for American Idol:


So…let me start by saying that what they show on tv isn’t entirely what happens in real life (shocker).

In my experience, I can only speak for the initial round (there are many rounds to get to the 3 judges, but it doesn’t really show them all on tv). My last year to audition was ’07 due to the fact that I was turning 28 that year and that’s the cutoff to try out. They raised it from 24 a few years ago up to 28 (which is cool) so I knew it was my last shot. I also knew that I had hardly any chance of making it far, but I would’ve always wondered if I hadn’t tried.

So, I talked two of my friends from my current a cappella group in NYC to come try out with me. I really had to convince them, but they finally gave in. Of all the cities with auditions in ’07, Philly was the closest to NYC. It was the last of all the cities, in August 2007.

I called Sonia (one of my best friends from college) to see if we could stay with her in her apt in Philly so it was perfect! The three of us took the luxurious Greyhound (awww, yeahhh) to Philly on Friday night. The next morning, I had read online that we needed to be at the Wachovia center (where the Flyers and 76ers play) by 6am. Sonia got us up at 4:30am and we took the SEPTA (Philly subway) to the center. There wasn’t a soul at the station – kinda scary. We needed to get there to collect the sacred wristbands. They give out wristbands mostly to monitor how many people come to audition I think.

By the time we arrived (about 5am I think?), there were already thousands of people there, congregated in the parking lot. They assigned us various sections within the parking lot. All of the sections were surrounded by movable metal fences. I felt like cattle in a pen (one of many times I felt like this over the wknd). We basically waited for about 4-5 hrs until we started moving inside the center. All around me was the most diverse crowd I have ever ever seen. People of all sizes and shapes, every skin color, prim and proper, goth and pierced, athletic, preppy, etc. There were people there with a guardian (you had to bring one if you were under 18). Those poor, patient guardians. Wow. There were people sleeping on the asphalt, dancing, playing games, meeting friends, playing video games, reading books, etc. We didn’t know how long it was going to take. All we knew was that we were surrounded by thousands of people and everyone needed a wristband. There were news helicopters flying above, and news cameras around us interviewing us. It was a bit much for the morning. I was already for lunch and it was about 10am. A couple of smart vendors set up in the lot near us with hotdogs and stuff. I don’t think they were Idol-related or anything.



All around me all morning there were people practicing their songs (even though actual auditions were on Monday morning). Some quietly, and some at the top of their lungs. Over and over. The sun had not even COME UP yet and I was ready to throw my water bottle at them it was SO annoying. Some people had amazing voices, some horrible. It’s funny how literally everyone around me thought they were good enough to put all this time and energy into this audition. For some, I just wanted to turn around and say “Really? Yeahhh, let me just save you the time and you can go home.” Is that mean? Yeah, I know. It’s just some people are SO delusional!! I know I’m not the best singer ever but I’d like to think I’m not tone deaf. And some of these people are!!

Speaking of the effort people will go to, I heard people around me talking about how they came from Minnesota, Florida, Maine, and so on. Philly was the closest audition city for them that year (or they decided to come to more than one city for auditions). It’s amazing how much time and money people spend to travel to these auditions.

Anyways, once we FINALLY got inside, it was a fairly quick process of showing ID to prove age (you needed two forms so everyone had passports and birth certificates – serious stuff to be carrying around!). Once they checked IDs and you handed in your ‘sign your life away’ form, you were free to go. It used to be that you slept over at the auditions until the actual singing, but they changed the rules. THANK GOD. Oh and by the way, the “sign your life away” form’s small print was so disturbing. I wish I still had it. It said things along the lines of they could pretty much make stuff up about you and make fun of you and you couldn’t sue them.

So, we had a nice wknd visiting with Sonia and she dropped us off again at 4:30am on Monday morning for the actual audition. Again, we were in pens outside forever and then slowly, slowly marched inside. People went ALL OUT for this audition. I mean I saw tight sequined dresses and HUGE heels, guys in suits, many people in crazy wigs, etc. I’m sure you see all the costumes on the show. People with signs around there necks of how far they’ve come and stuff.

They filed us into the center and we each got a seat ticket. Pretty much the ENTIRE center was filled. By the time we got into the seats it was around 11am. Ryan Seacrest came onto the center of the floor and said that this was the biggest turnout of any city EVER. Great, just my luck. There were 17,000 people auditioning (and 2,000 chaperones).

Then, they swooped these huge cameras all over the center and made us chant silly thing like “We love American Idol, wooooooooo” and “The City of Brotherly Love, wooooooo” over and over and over and over. They kept saying, you guys weren’t loud enough. You guys didn’t enunciate enough (hi, there are 19k of us), we need to do another take, we need to do another take, and so on. Then when they FINALLY got those takes right, we were ordered to sing the chorus of “I Love Rock and Roll” literally 25 times until they got that take right too. I stopped singing that after the 2nd time. Why would I want to ruin my voice? So dumb. Later when I saw this televised, they showed our chanting and the song for like 5 seconds. Uggh.

Anyways, about a dozen tables were set up the floor and we slowly filed down to the floor to sing. Between each table was a black sheet. It’s a good thing we practiced singing in Sonia’s apt with the tv at full blast because it was SO distracting. Rows of four people auditioned at each table. So at any given moment, 48 people were lined up (in front of the 12 tables). You all took turns in your group of 4 singing for the judge behind the table. These were just random “music producers” we were told.




By the time we got down to the floor it was 5:20pm. Over 12 hrs since we arrived that morning!!!! The knots and anxiety in my stomach were at the worst levels of all time at that point. At about 2pm I just wanted the whole thing to be over!! I was BEYOND nervous. I’d never felt that before.

So, everyone in the seats can see and hear you auditioning on the floor. We noticed that a lot of girls did the Jennifer Hudson big solo from Dreamgirls. Actually, a lot of girls did screechy songs. Uggh. Once the judges hear you, you are either sent home or given a “golden ticket” – the yellow paper that means you made it to the next round. Only 250-300 golden tickets were given out that day. Great odds, huh?? The crowd started to notice that almost every person in a costume (good or bad singer) got a golden ticket. They were booed every time they were handed that ticket. That just confirmed that it’s not always about talent. It’s about gimmicks.

When I got to my judge she looked SO bored. She was literally falling asleep. They should’ve let the judges take breaks. They had sat there for hours (we could see when they switched out and it was not often). She looked like a librarian or something. Anyways, I intro’d myself and sang for 30 seconds (we were told that was our time limit and we should have multiple songs prepped if they ask for another). I later found out that the judges’ rules were all over the map. Some judges let you tell your life story, some permitted no talking at ALL, some judges let people sing their whole songs, and some for 30 seconds. So unfair! Idol definitely breaks their own rules whenever they want to. Ew.

I did what I thought was my best and then let the girl next to me sing. She did this weird wide legged stance with arms waving above her and sang this high piercing song that was awful. When she was done she gave the judge a long hurried speech about how she came from Poland, etc. and basically BEGGED for a golden ticket. The sleepy judge hesitated a lot and then was like ehh, okay. We all watched in horror and jealousy. When the three of us next to her walked away. This one guy said, “wow, she butchered Celine Dion.” I was like “that was Celine Dion!?!?”

We were told that the people with the golden tickets had to go sing for other random producers and then about half of them get to sing in front of the 3 judges the following wknd. (VERY unlike what they show on tv). When I watched the Philly auditions on tv, I was SO pissed to see the horrid people that made it past me. Just to make good tv!! Not fair. But Idol can do what they want. It’s their show, their rules. I mean, there were people shown on tv that were even over 28 years old!!! I don’t understand how they even got wristbands when we had to show ID? They both were wearing costume-y outfits though. Man, I should’ve dressed up I guess.

Anyways, I guess that’s it in a nutshell. It was like rolling the dice – such a crapshoot to audition. I just had to try…