Want to be the next (and last) American Idol?
Then it’s now or never.
As auditions for the fifteenth and final season of the Fox singing competition kick off in Tucson Wednesday, June 24, “Idol” hopefuls will get their last shot at that coveted golden ticket to Hollywood.
Crystal Stark, a Tucson jazz, pop and R&B singer who advanced to the top 44 of contestants for the show’s fifth season in 2006, described her own “Idol” journey as a 23-year-old as “magical, but still grueling and nerve-wracking.”
Now a 33-year-old vocal coach and mom of two boys, Stark still performs locally and around the world. On May 30, she debuted her second CD at The Rialto Theatre.
On the eve of auditions at the Tucson Convention Center, 260 S. Church Ave., we asked Stark to share some tips and memories with superstar wannabes.
The waiting: “It was a lot of waiting and a lot of nerves, and then all of the sudden, you have 30 seconds to impress somebody,” Stark says of her audition in Chicago. She remembers about 12,000 others vying for the same spots. “They line you up in groups of four and just point at you and say, ‘Sing.’” With another round of auditioning before she made it to the panel of celebrity judges, Stark's audition process took several days.
Simon, Randy and Paula: “They looked exactly in person like they did on TV,” says Stark, who auditioned in front of “Idol’s” original judges, Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul. “It was really trippy. I was like, I can touch you, but it’s weird. It’s like you should have a screen around you. Surreal is the best way to describe it.” Cowell, she says, was the judge backing her, while Abdul and Jackson seemed more “on the fence.”
This is reality television: “There are a lot of games that are played,” Stark says. “It’s a reality TV show, so they want it to be good TV, and they will do what it takes to make it happen.” That means selecting contestants with questionable talent in the beginning and facilitating exhaustion. “That’s when you see fights happening and people yelling,” Stark says. “They cultivate that environment and like the drama.”
Tips for newbies: “You need to pace yourself, and you need to enjoy the ride, because it’s kind of a long haul,” Stark says. “Be prepared to show why you’re interesting and why America would be interested in you. Yes, you have to have a great and unique voice, but you also have to be a unique person, because this show has had it all and seen it all, and what are you going to bring to it that’s fresh and unique?”
Know your limits: “The industry is not for the faint of heart,” Stark says. “You see how far some people are willing to go. It helped me to find my line — this is as far as I’m willing to go for my morals and myself. If drawing the next line there means I’m not going to be the next Beyoncé, then so be it. … It definitely made every audition I ever did after that seem like a piece of cake.”
