I hope we can still be friends . . .

Well folks, my dreams of stardom were crushed today.  I guess there's nothing quite like an American Idol-sized serving of rejection to snap me back to reality.  Don't worry though, I'm cool with it.  I've gotta admit that I really had no idea what I was getting myself into.  I did learn several lessons today that I will be happy to share with any of you who dare to audition in the future:

1.  Most of the people trying out are just normal, nice as can be, just looking for a lucky break.  I made some really nice new friends from all over the country.  The wackos were certainly surfacing, and were promptly rewarded with a golden ticket to further embarrass themselves on a much larger scale.

2.  If you're dying to get a glimpse of "The Big Three" - Randy, Paula and Simon, you will be sorely disappointed.  They don't even bring in the big guns until the Fall.  

3.  There really are some very talented singers out there.  I heard about five people that would blow you away!  But for the 15 or so that I saw make it, I saw about 800 get turned away.  

4.  Reality television is a tough gig!  We had to sing, scream, and cheese our guts out for hours before the tryouts ever began.  I mean hours people!!!

5.  Who would have thought that so many pregnant ladies would have the energy to endure such a strenuous tryout!  We counted over sixty of them and several looked like they could pop at any second.  Only in Utah!!!

6.  Ryan Seacrest sure can bounce back after a shark attack!  He also seemed to be a very nice guy, and kept defying the director to pose for pictures with adoring fans.

7.  This tryout reminded me more of a cattle drive than a singing audition.  Pretty much you shout your song out in an arena flanked by hundreds of other hopefuls who are either belting a tune of their own out, warming up their vocals two feet behind you or just chatting up the people around them.  I still can't be sure my judge even heard my song. (Which was Free Fallin' by Tom Petty, by the way).  Oh well, you live, you learn. 

8.  I already knew this before I auditioned, but I have the greatest husband in the world.  Not only did this tone-deaf little bugger sing, dance and ham his little heart out in an attempt to land us a coveted spot on camera, but he made sure I had water, nourishment, encouragement and a lot of fun all day and even made me feel okay about being a loser at the end of the day.

Yes, it was rough, but I'm glad I did it.  Of course rejection never feels very good, but I really think it's better than spending the rest of my life wishing I had given it a try.  And by the way, thanks for all the nice things you guys wrote on my last post.  I'm going to go back to being plain old me now and I hope that's cool with everyone.