By Tiffany Bird
After the long seven-hour drive from Provo to Las Vegas, Natalie Oliverson and five of her friends were up the next morning at 5:00 to stand in line.
Thousands of people joined Oliverson and her friends in line that morning at The Orleans Arena, not for concert tickets, but for a shot to be on the fourth season of 'American Idol.'
'We were pretty much in the middle of the line,' said Oliverson, a sophomore at UVSC from Logan. 'People had gotten there at two in the morning to line up.'
Paula Abdul, Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson are on the search for their next American idol and people from all over the country are responding to it, including college students from BYU and UVSC.
Each contestant was given a wristband and put into groups to do their audition piece. Producers of the show judged the first round, and the executive producers judged the second round. Paula, Simon and Randy critiqued the contestants who made it to the third round.
'One of the coolest things about it is the people that you meet at the audition,' said Michael Fergurson, a BYU senior from Woodbridge, Va., who tried out for the second time in Las Vegas. 'I still keep in contact with the people I met at the auditions. We were standing in line for about five and a half hours on Saturday. It was a lot of time not doing very much, so you just get to know the people around you.'
What was surprising to the contestants was the entertainment factor of the show.
'It was eye opening because I saw first hand that this is not a town contest; it''s an entertainment show,' Fergurson said. 'It''s looking for entertainment value and not talent value.'
Bethany Cole, a BYU graduate from Salisbury, Md., noticed the same thing when she tried out.
Cole, who had been classically trained vocally, approached the 'American Idol' tryouts the same way as any other singing tryouts she had been to.
'Other things that I''ve auditioned for were based on talent and vocal ability,' Cole said. 'This is based on talent and entertainment. If I were to try out again, I would do something more out there.'
If only the good singers made it to the third round of tryouts, then the show would not have any William Hungs to keep the audience watching.
'It''s totally not what I expected,' Oliverson said. 'They would put people in because they were terrible. They judged on looks and how you perform in front of the camera. It was all about the gimmicks and self-image. When I got there, it was disappointing to see it was like that. But people love watching people being stupid.'
And one of the main reasons why audiences tune in each episode was to watch Paula, Simon and Randy''s reaction to the contestants.
'There were people who were terrible and they got through ,' Fergurson said. 'I''m sure it was so that Paula, Simon and Randy can make fun of them, so they can be entertaining.'
Fergurson gave an example of a girl he saw who auditioned with a full kung-fu suit on singing 'Kung-Fu Fighting' off pitch.
'I want to watch the show to see her get ripped apart by Paula, Simon and Randy,' Fergurson said.
However, the heartbreaking part about allowing the bad singers get on television was when the singers don''t know they''re bad.
'I think that is seeing people get through who you know they are getting through just to be made fun of - especially when they are totally oblivious to that,' Fergurson said. 'It''s almost cruel.'
Even with its weighted entertainment factor, the 'American Idol 2005' auditions turned out well for Oliverson, Cole and Fergurson.
'It was an awesome experience,' Cole said. 'I am really glad that I did it. It was fun and I met a lot of fun people.'
All three said they would try out again if they had the chance. None left the auditions with a negative feeling for the show.
The last audition will be Oct. 5 in San Francisco. Visit www.idolonfox.com for more information.