Living in Hollywood has been my dream for as long as I can remember. I'm proud of growing up in Massachusetts and I wouldn't change it for anything, but I always knew that there was an adventure some where else for me.
After I moved to the western part of Massachusetts with David, (Living in Sixteen Acres in Springfield, working at Aeropostale at the Eastfield Mall and hanging out in Ludlow and Chicopee) I noticed major differences between Lowell and Springfield. But even though I was finally getting exposed to living some where new, I started to really get a hunger to see a different part of the country.
I was sitting at home one day when I got a message from my friend, Denise, (See photo to the right) asking me to go on a road trip. It turned out that she wanted to encourage me to go and audition for American Idol. I remember looking at my computer screen and thinking "I don't want to do that." Reality Television is a risky thing to sign up for, and it doesn't always work in the way you want it to. I'm a very emotional person and I talk very fast when I get uncomfortable and well, simply put, I have a major tendency to put my foot in my mouth.
I mentioned to David that Denise suggested this idea and he said it would be fun to take a road trip to New Jersey. Denise and her husband Vinnie run karaoke at a local Applebee's in Springfield where I spent every Friday while living in Mass. Vinnie-The-Hitman actually had a fund raiser to help me with the costs of traveling to New Jersey for the audition.
We packed up the car and headed for East Ruthaford, NJ where the cattle calls were held at the Izod Center. 20,000 people turned out, which meant that's how many people I had to audition in front of. As we sat in the huge stadium I started to do what I do best: ramble to the people sitting around me. Commenting on different people's crazy outfits, talking about how it would be to meet J.Lo, just trying to pass the time. "You shouldn't be here," I remember one girl said to me, "You should be on The Last Comic Standing." I thought to myself, "Telling jokes would be way harder than singing..." and I brushed it off. "Section D" was called which meant it was make it or break it time for little me. I was trying not to figit as I stood in line, everyone in groups of four, slowly walking to our designated judges, or more specifically producers.
As I waited for my turn to sing, there was a 15 year old girl standing next to me in line. She kept looking at me funny and finally I said "What?" she shrugged and said, "I don't think I want to stand next to you, you look like you sing good." I laughed, but I took it as a clue that my pretending not to be nervous was working. Finally, I approached the producers and I was called to sing first in my group. In my pink skirt and grey sweater, I took a step forward and belted out "Gimme Gimme", putting everything I had into my audition. The three other people in my group sang after me and we all stood waiting to know if we got a ticket threw to the next round. "Alright, thank you everyone, it's going to be a 'No.' for today." As I stood there I felt so hurt, rejected and embarrassed. I had given my all and it still wasn't good enough. I started to walk away when one of the producers stopped me. "Wait," he said, "We would like you to stay and move on to the next round." I started to cry, "Really? You mean it!?" I was so happy, the feeling of validation was more gratifying than anything I had done professionally up until that point. My only worry was becoming the "William Hung" of Season Ten.
To be continued....
We packed up the car and headed for East Ruthaford, NJ where the cattle calls were held at the Izod Center. 20,000 people turned out, which meant that's how many people I had to audition in front of. As we sat in the huge stadium I started to do what I do best: ramble to the people sitting around me. Commenting on different people's crazy outfits, talking about how it would be to meet J.Lo, just trying to pass the time. "You shouldn't be here," I remember one girl said to me, "You should be on The Last Comic Standing." I thought to myself, "Telling jokes would be way harder than singing..." and I brushed it off. "Section D" was called which meant it was make it or break it time for little me. I was trying not to figit as I stood in line, everyone in groups of four, slowly walking to our designated judges, or more specifically producers.
David and I in line waiting for my Idol Audition
To be continued....
Massachusetts is too small for your dreams, Ashley. "Shoot for the moon and even if you miss you'll land among the stars" Everytime I hear that I think of you. I miss having your around, but I know you're doing what you love :)
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