WORDS OF NON-WISDOM:: and THIS.....is Ammmerican Idol!!!

my friend halona and i decided to do something entirely different and go to the american idol season 10 auditions!! we both figured why not?! we think we can sing pretty well (though neither of us ''sing''), and we though it would be an awesome experience.

we headed to east rutherford, nj (izod center/giants stadium) last monday to get our wristbands to register then headed back on tuesday for the actual try-outs. WHAT A BIZARRE EXPERIENCE!! where do i even begin? (pics below)

we left new windsor @ 3am and got there around 6am. we immediately got in line and waited outside for about 2 hours. that was surprisingly fun because we met all sorts of people from all over the country. there were all these group song sessions where some random person would bust out with ''wonderwall'' on the guitar and soon enough, a mass of like 30 people were belting out ''i said maybe...you're gonna be the one that saves me.''

we went inside the arena around 8:30 and went right to our seats. the morning started with filming all of the episode introduction stuff you see on tv. ryan seacrest came out and filmed his parts. then we were told exactly what to say as one big group and instructed to cheer and go nuts when the producer gave us the cue. a past contestant, constantine maroulis, came out and gave the crowd a pep talk and led us all in 'bohemian rhapsody.' so fun and exciting!

auditions started around 10 and went alllllllllll day loooooong. we certainly learned the power of editing. on the show, where it looks like everyone comes out and sings for randy and co. then make it to hollywood, is not the case at all. this round was more of a pre-screening - we actually sang for 12 judges comprised of producers and vocal coaches and if selected to proceed, would have seen the same judges the following day in nyc. if you made it through that, then you'd be singing for the celebs sometime in the fall. so the show basically takes about 3 months of events and squeezes it into an hour-long episode.

the day was exhausting to say the least. we both got about an hour of sleep the night before and were just sitting around all day. we had tons of practice both alone in a section of bleachers and as part of a random group. we caught a few zzz's in our seats and paid $6 for a hot dog. after about 9 hrs of waiting it was finally our turn to go. surprisingly, i wasn't the least bit nervous. at that point, even the die-hards were more than willing to accept a NO since it meant they could go home and go to bed.

i sang ''extraordinary machine'' by fiona apple and halona sang ''brass in pocket'' by the pretenders. needless to say, we did not get any golden tickets, but it's totally ok because we both got the most amazing experience out of the whole thing! and also, they barely let anyone through. some of the most amazing voices i've ever heard were turned down. many people were angry because it seemed the only people they advanced were the weirdos that make for good television. i personally don't care because i never expected to make it. i just wanted to have a fun day doing something totally different. mission accomplished!