The whole AI crew is in San Francisco for the judges round of the AI8 auditions
this weekend.  I had NO IDEA until yesterday morning when I saw a text message
from my friend saying that the local Fox affiliate had mentioned it on the
Friday night news.  They even announced the EXACT location, so of course we
headed to SF yesterday morning and spent the day in the hotel lobby waiting for
glimpses of anything AI related.  We got there a little before noon and it
wasn't long before we started seeing people carrying tv cameras or clip boards
and wearing contestant numbers or AI crew shirts.  I assumed that auditions were
already happening, but it turns out that the judges and Ryan didn't even arrive
until after 1 pm.  We saw everyone show up in their limos/SUVs one by one, Paula
first, then Kara (who seemed to appear from nowhere with Mezghan, the make up
lady), then Ryan (wearing a baby blue baseball hat), and finally Simon and Randy
together. 
I got pix of Simon, Randy, and Kara, but we didn't talk to any of them because
we didn't want to cause a scene or get reprimanded by security.  I'm still
kicking myself for not approaching Ryan; he was completely ignored when he
entered the building, and it would have been easy to say something to him. 
Missed opportunity! 
 
Once all the judges were escorted to where ever they were supposed to be, the
parade of contestants kept us entertained for the majority of the afternoon. 
The AI staff had each singer parade through the lobby (followed by a camera
crew, of course) after they had auditioned.  It was obvious who had made it
(gold ticket in hand) and who hadn't (sad faces, some tears, some bitterness). 
There were about an even number of people who were rejecte and who passed to the
next round.  We were trying to keep track but lost count.  I'd say 8-10
people got gold tickets yesterday; a few shouted, "I'm going to Hollywod!" and
got applause from everyone in the lobby.  We congratulated those who had made
it, so maybe our voices (and hopefully not our faces) will make it on tv.  I
can't wait to see the SF auditions on tv now!
 
After 7 pm things started to change.  Shuttle vehicles and security were getting
into place, so we assumed that the auditions were over and the judges would be
walking by.  Sure enough, that's what happened.  First was Paula, who went with
fairly little fanfare, just a couple of body guards.  We were sitting next to
the door so we waved and she waved back as she was leaving.  Then when it was
time for the others, all hell broke loose.  Honestly, the only person I wanted
to see was Ryan, but he happened to come out in a LARGE group with everyone else
-- Simon, Randy, and Kara.  They were swarmed by people and security had to
clear a path for them.  I managed to get a picture of Ryan and say hi as he was
walking by; he smiled and said hi back, but it didn't seem like he recognized
me. :-(  He also didn't hear that I asked him for a picture, but it was so
chaotic that I'm not surprised.  They all went outside and got in black sedans
(they may
have all been in the same one) and were driven away quickly.  I'm assuming they
were just going out to dinner and not leaving the city entirely because none of
them had anything with them (Ryan had arrived with a garment bag, Paula was
wearing a different outfit, etc.).  Of course, all of that stuff could have been
loaded into the cars already and I wouldn't have noticed.   So maybe they're
still in SF, but maybe not.
 
Anyway, that was my fun, crazy day yesterday.  Talk about a last minute random
encounter!


"They don't know what it's like to be a fan, ya know, to truly love some silly
piece of music or some band so much that it hurts." ~ Almost Famous

"It's nice to stay in that semi-informed fantasy land where [he] is just real
enough to have a personality and just unreal enough to be perfect." ~ Me


The Carter Factor        Obsessed with Seacrest        All About
Josh        Ace-Young.Net 




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