As a general rule, I tend to stay as far away from open audition as I can, especially if they are for reality TV shows.
Why?
OK – Let’s use The X Factor as an example. You’re a talented actor and singer with credits in musical theatre and have years of experience. Why then are you queuing up with thousands of people most of whom are cackling girls smoking thirty B&H and “just wanna be on the tele”.
You engage in occasional, light banter but mostly get through the next four hours with the aid of noise-cancelling headphones and Elaine Paige.
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| 20,000 people queue for New Jersey X Factor audition 2011 |
(I have never gone for the X-Factor and I never watch the show, so the rest is speculation based on my experience at other open auditions.)
You enter the building, sign in (and all the release forms) and are given a number which is also written on a sticky label and stuck to your best shirt… Still smiling, you take a seat and wait to be called. There are hundreds of people around you, cameras are everywhere and you fear if you stop smiling, that is when you’ll be noticed; so you smile at everyone. (Is that the cleaner or someone posing to be a cleaner to throw me?)
With the low battery warning flashing up on your phone, you make conversation with the two girls at the side of you. They turn out to be normal and you start to remember that this is still an audition and some amazing singers do go through. Your heart starts racing again. Are they better than me?
You are now seen by a preliminary judge who decides whether you are good enough to be seen by the televised panel. I also presume they put through the very worst singers so they can be ridiculed in front of the whole nation. (Nice!)
You finally get through to see the judges. You sing perfectly, but you’re not what they’re looking for so you go no further. With a camera pointed in your face and a girl who is old enough to be your daughter asking you how it went. There’s that beaming smile again as you say you didn’t get through but loved the experience… See, you are a good actor!
You just spent the whole day freezing outside in a queue, your face hurts from smiling at everyone and even your best wasn’t good enough for these people.
The odds are against you at open auditions. Sometimes your previous credits can work against you, or your voice could be too musical or too trained or you just don’t have the look they are going for. If you are serious about your profession – whatever it is – don’t put yourself through these soul-destroying auditions. You are better going to smaller scale auditions. Pick up a copy of The Stage and start from there.
Saying all of this, I have attended quite a few open auditions in the past; one of them being Popstars. I had only heard the night before that the audition was taking place so quickly learned the lyrics to one of the four suggested songs and was there the next morning. Popstars was the first and the catalyst that started the obsession with televised talent shows. I got through the first three rounds and down to the final 100, but I was only shown on TV for five seconds. Here is me singing Ricky Martin’s La Vida Loca.
Hearsay won the competition but their career didn’t last long. The public ultimately didn’t like them and it was the runners up, Liberty X that actually had a decent career after it. After that, the whole world wanted a slice of the cake. Networks wanted to run talent shows as they pull in a lot of viewers for a relatively low cost. Anyone who has ever sung in the shower now has the chance to get on TV and try out to be the next superstar singer and with the advent of social media, even the crazies get their 15 minutes of fame.
My problem with these shows is they are not true auditions. The “lucky” few who make it into the top ten must slog their guts out for weeks on end knowing that most of them won’t make it to the end. Professional auditions are not the same. The most you can expect is one, possibly two call backs for lead roles in plays and films etc. There are usually no cameras tracking your every emotion and your talent is showcased in front of only the people who will be hiring you. I know for a lot of people this gives them a platform to show what they can do that just wasn’t open to them before, but there are easier and less emotional ways to do it. No audition is easy, no audition is in the bag and no one can get anywhere without talent – unless you’re friends with the casting director of course. But with fewer attendants and only people who are actually talented attending, you have a better opportunity to shine.
Open auditions are harder than any closed audition I have ever been to. They strip away everything you are and expose you to the world so they can get more ratings. If you want to be a professional performer, there are ways of getting there without putting your life on show first.
#TerryGee