I was on American Idol the Experience

[SunnyLee]

Hi all!!!! Well..I just got back from being Florida w/ ALL my family (minus my Hubby)...and had a GREAT time! AND...before you read...get your coffee...sit back and relax as this might be a LOT longer than usual!!!!! :-)


Friday: I went to Epcot w/ my best friend and had a BLAST!!!!!! We had lunch at the Rose and Crown which is in the United Kingdom, and ice cream at "Beaches and Cream" which is at the resort: Disney's Beach and Yacht Club..ah...the good life! We took TONS of pics of course. Then we left to go to Disney's Fort Wilderness Cabins, where we met up w/ my parents, brother and sister, and grandparents who drove over from Tampa. This cabin sleeps 6 (maybe 8) very comfortably...with kitchen (fully equipped), bathroom, couch, table, etc..and a porch on the outside a grill w/ a picinic table. (***Sidenote: EVERY FAMILY SHOULD DO THIS...THE PRICE IS REASONABLE..AND IT'S SOOOO MUCH FUN!!!...you can stay in a cabin or bring a tent to pitch or your own RV to stay the night!) We had such a GREAT time; laughing, talking, taking silly pictures. We grilled burgers (each cabin has it's own grill!), we shucked corn and then grilled it. After dinner we walked over to this part of the resort (it's HUGE fyi!) and roasted marshmallows w/ other guests, then sang silly old sing-along camp songs! After the sunset the resort (each night they do this) puts a movie on this giant screen they have. So we stayed for that and had a great time, just relaxing and doing something free and fun with the family!!!

Saturday: Well since we were staying on Disney property we get to get in early to the park. We had decided to go to Hollywood Studios for the day..and wanted to get there early! So we got there at 8:15am!!! So we walked into the park...all geared up to get on their new ride "Toy Story Mania" early..when we heard the announcement asking for anyone to "Audition for American Idol the Experience". Now let me just say...I think I've watched like 3 or 4 show in total of all the seasons, so I'm not like the biggest fan...but my Mom and Dad are die-hards, and knowing that and hearing my Mom beg me to try out...me and my brother Jeffrey went up to the guy who had a mic and another guy w/ a camera...introduced myself and sang like 8 bars of "A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes" (shocker I know)! What I think happens is I hold the mic up, sing towards the camera and if I make it the people who are watching it on the other end of that camera will call the guy that was standing next to me and say "she's in!"

And...well...I was in..and was my Bro. So off we go to the 2nd step of the whole process. The guy led me and Jeff to this new studio Disney built at Hollywood Studios, into this room where there were like 8 other people w/ headphones on all listening to these giant i-pods. We were instructed to choose two songs to sing in front of a producer to see if we make it to step 3 (which is SINGING IN FRONT OF AN AUDIENCE!!!). So I chose: Ever Ever After by Carrie Underwood and Amazed by Lonestar. I was chosen first to sing in front of the producer..she liked me..and I was on to STEP 3!!!

I asked to sing Amazed since my voice was pretty raw and low and wasn't as great on the Ever Ever After song. My brother Jeff was chosen TOO to be on stage to sing!!! and he was told to sing "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen! Anyway..then they did a VIDEO on me! Asked me questions about who I am, what I do, who I'm dedicating my song to, then I was supposed to pretend to dance around as I walked around the park! Well Jeff and I were told to back to the studio @ 9:50am for hair and makeup and to practice on stage before the 11am show.

We were given VIP tickets for our parents, who got seated w/ style as Jeff and I dolled up and were practicing on stage. We were wired for a mic and for the spotlight to follow us while on stage! When we first walked on the stage I was like "UHHHHH, what??????? I do NOT think so..." For each show they only have 3 performers. So it was ME, JEFF and this like 40 year old woman named Lisa. So the time came...we had been walked through so much: where to walk to when you come it, where to stand when you sing, where to sit ...where to face when the judges talk to you. OH YES...there were THREE judges there JUST like American Idol...and one of those is definitely supposed to be like Simon!

Jeff sang first and did AWESOMEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!! I know I'm his sister and MAY have some bias in me...but dude..REALLY it was SOOOOOOOO amazing! He just had the crowd cheering and screaming! He was dancing on the stage, was totally rockin' out and had such stage presence!!! It was sooooooooo cool to watch and see!!!! We were all SOOOOOOOOO proud of him!!!!

I had to go next ...bummer! Before I sang they showed my interview that they put together. Kinda like you would see before a singer on American Idol, pretty cool! I sang..and did great, but I don't have the BREAK LOOSE on stage thing like Jeff.

Then Lisa went and was...okay. Well guess who won? Lisa. Why??? Well, cuz it's rigged. The WINNER of the Finale show of the day, wins a "Dream Ticket" that allows you a try out w/ the REAL American Idol. Well you can imagine that Disney isn't going to send 365 people to American Idol so they need to do some weeding out. How you ask? Well on American Idol you have to be AT LEAST 16 and under like 30 or something to try out. Which is Lisa is too old. And guess who won the OVERALL for Saturday? It was a 14 year old...so like I said...rigged.

But that didn't matter to us. We were actually glad we didn't win, we wanted to ride rides!!!! (that's why we went to the park!) But the producer of American Idol the Experience gave us 12 fast passes, it was WAY worth it! Then after the show and as Jeff and I were meeting up w/ our family, people were coming up to us...AND GIVING US THEIR FAST PASSES!!!! I'm not joking!! One lady gave us her email address so she could send us pictures she took of us. But that's not the half of it:

ALLLLLLL day Jeff and I kept getting: "you were SOOO good!" or "DUDE! I voted for you!" ..grown men were yelling this...as we would stand in line! Or while we were walking around or in the bathroom or buying something...people would just come up to us and say "you two were so good!" A group of girls came up and begged Jeffrey for pictures, and to sign their arms! There was also this 6 year old boy that came up to Jeff and said "Mr. Hawkins, will you sign my autograph book?" and so Jeff signed his name..right next to Pluto! Then the little boy tore out a page of the book and said: "could you sign this for my cousin Bella in Chicago?" ...uh Bella wasn't even there...but he signed it anyway! It was hilarious and sooooooo much fun!!!! My Mom kept saying she felt like she was walking around w/ celebrities!


so...all in all...an AWESOME time!!! I will send pictures later!! THANKS FOR READING!!!

[Goofeygal]

WOW that is amazing. The only thing I would say is they should only let people who would qualify by age to do the American Idol Experience. But that is my opinion.

[SBETigg]

How fun! Thanks for sharing.

But come on, give Lisa her due respect. I'm sure you were fantastic and that your brother was great, but I don't think it's rigged just because you or your brother didn't win. 365 contestants is a very small number in the scheme of the throngs who audition for Idol and think of the coup it would be for Disney if the next Idol came from a Disney audition. They wouldn't offer this chance if they didn't have full capability of providing it. I'm sure Disney actually goes all out to make sure this is a fair and decent competition. Maybe Lisa had the grace and attitude of a champion if not the superior vocal stylings? Sounds like you had a great time competing. Better luck next time.

[SBETigg]

WOW that is amazing. The only thing I would say is they should only let people who would qualify by age to do the American Idol Experience. But that is my opinion.

But in the end, no matter the prize, this isn't American Idol. It's the American Idol Experience, a Disney attraction. It would be very un-Disneylike to ban anyone outside the actual AI age from being able to participate. The actual competition can have age limits, but why should the attraction?

[2Epcot]

Thanks for the great report, and the behind the scenes look at the American Idol Expeience. Sounds like a lot of fun.

[BluewaterBrad]

Thats cool!! Cant wait to see the pix!!

[faline]

What a great experience! I've always wanted to be talented enough to sing. Unfortunately, if they put me on that stage, I'm sure I would quickly empty that theater! Kudos to you and your brother!

[mouseketeer mom]

Loved reading your report. We went to the AI experience in March and loved every minute of it. Thanks!

[Hull-onian]

Wow!!! Congrats!! That was wicked awesome. I'm glad you had a chance to try out for American Idol. Bet it was a lot of fun.

[disneyboy98]

SunnyLee,

Glad you had an amazing time on AIE!! I was on it as well in April. Just an amazing thing to go and do!!

The same thing happened to me after the show with people calling me out in the crowd and saying "you did awesome!" You do actually get the feeling of being a "celebrity for a day"!

Glad you enjoyed it!

[pdrlkr]

Thanks for Sharing!

[Live4WDW]

Wow!! What a great experience! I think that would be so cool to try, however I might be kind of woozy to sing in front of a crowd. Way to go.

[lovewalt]

I saw you! In fact, we were sitting right behind the family section.Your brother has lots of energy and you have a very good voice.I remember one of the judges saying you had a better voice and you were better looking than your brother.

[VWL Mom]

And guess who won the OVERALL for Saturday? It was a 14 year old...so like I said...rigged.

While there this week a 14 year won also. I remembered this post and wondered if was the same one or just a coincidence????

[RedSoxFan]

Sounds like you had lots of fun. What a cool experience.

[pink]

How exciting, now you know how celebrities feel every day.

[NJGIRL]

I'm glad that you had a great time. I have heard from many people who were picked for the show or have just been in the stands that it is fixed from the very begining. I don't like the fact that it is fixed and that they are not upfront with the performers. Oh well at least you had fun!

[O'MalleytheAlleyCat]

I don't know if the attraction is "fixed" or not. My 17 year old son auditioned in July and was not picked to be on stage. The 3 that were picked were fabulous singers so he didn't mind. Disney does have a way for the AI pass to be used if someone outside the age range wins. If you are too old to audition for the real AI, you can transfer your pass to someone who is eligible to audition and they can use it. If you are too young, you have the option of holding on to the pass and if AI is still around in a couple of years (if you happen to be 14 now) then you can use it then. Those passes never expire. At any rate, we had a great time watching the show...I thought it they tried to make it as close to the real thing as possible and it looked like great fun for all the performers. Just for you and your brother to get on stage was a tremendous accomplishment...congratulations!!