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cherman cherman
 
M$1 January 16, 2009 07:02 PM

How can the American Idol crew interview 10k people in every city?

Has anyone ever tried out for American Idol? What is the process
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robbrown robbrown
 
 January 16, 2009 07:10 PM
They have a pretty involved screening process.

Basically, thepre-screening is where the "magic" happens. They have several lines of pre-screeners who evaluate you before you make it anywhere near the judges.

This site has some good information:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/54602/a_guide_to_american_idol_auditions.html

http://www.lifereboot.com/2007/how-american-idol-auditions-work/
Here is a play-by-play log:
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tracebooks tracebooks
 
January 16, 2009 07:19 PM
How in the world did the guy who sang "Go Down Moses" in Philadelphia ever get past the prescreeners? Or was he out-and-out so terrible they sent him through just as a gag?

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clarusvisu... clarusvisu...
 
January 16, 2009 07:27 PM
@tracebooks makes a good point. That audition (which was so funny I used it as a ringtone for a while) and many others to the judges by people that obviously are incredibly bad must have gotten through somehow. Do the show people let some crappy people through on purpose just to have 'fuel' to be made fun of when it gets televised?

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robbrown robbrown
 
January 16, 2009 07:34 PM
Well it's not a talent contest, right?

It's TV.

They want good, interesting, funny, entertaining TV.

So the best don't always get through - at any stage. The most entertaining and the people best suited for the show do.

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evan evan
 
January 16, 2009 08:07 PM
I know someone who auditioned who was actually a very good singer, but they told her she wasn't what they were looking for at that time. They definitely let very bad people through so that the first episodes contain plenty of terrible auditions that they can make fun of on TV.

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nativenerd nativenerd
 
January 16, 2009 09:06 PM
A friend of mine auditioned for this years. Like Robbrown said, they have a series of pre-screeners which check out all of the contestants before they make it to the judges. Another common misconception is that this all happens in one day. The contestants are actually asked to wear the same outfit for every appearance so the scenes can be spliced together. Sometimes what you see on TV is actually the judges watching a tape, and the contestant speaking to screeners rather than judges. And finally, they actually have quotas for "types" of acts, so many of this type of girl singing this type of music, and after that the gates are closed regardless.
Source(s):
What I heard from a buddy


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