American Idol auditions

Finally, at 11:50 Saturday morning, it was time. The head valet cleared the circular drive outside the W’s entrance as a camera team gathered. A long, black limo slowly turned in. The passenger door was opened. Out spilled a collection of tanned, taut and designer-decked men and women – five, then six. Unrecognizable, members of a celeb-support team. And then, out she stepped – Paula Abdul. She spoke not a word, but managed a smile as the camera lights went on and handlers started gabbing in greeting.

Just behind the limo came a black Chevy Suburban. Out popped Ryan Seacrest. No fey limo for him; what’s more, he opened his own door. He didn’t miss a beat. He smiled. He waved. He shouted greetings to anyone in the vicinity. The camera started rolling and he strolled in as he played emcee to his own arrival. “It’s great to be in Dallas,” he said as he moved toward the stairs that would whisk up into second-floor secrecy.

Tom Maurstad

She wasn’t wearing a costume, but a woman sitting in the W’s Living Room lounge was sporting a T-shirt that read “I support Krista Branch” and matched one worn by her husband. Krista is their granddaughter, she explained.

She and her husband drove in from Palestine to support Krista, who herself had driven down from Tulsa, where she lives with her husband and three children.

“She’s been singing her whole life, mostly church music. But she’s singing a song by Faith Hill today – I don’t think church music would go over so well for this.”

Tom Maurstad

The American Idol parade hasn’t been entirely invisible, at least not to people who live and work in the Victory Park area. Jon Tutolo, co-owner of the home furnishings store, Haven, just a few doors down from the W has been watching the Hollywood hopefuls stream by. “They’re easy to spot,” Mr. Tutelo says.

“They’re all in costume. I mean, not exactly costumes, but you can tell what they’re going to be singing by what they’re wearing. You’ve got the LeAnn Rimes girls and the Bone Thugs-N-Harmony guys. My favorite was this girl dressed as a witch, painted green from head to toe. One of the guys at the hotel said she was singing a song from the Wizard of Oz.”

Tom Maurstad

Saturday morning is when Idol-related activity finally breaks through the cool-quiet veneer of the W’s lobby. Friday was so frenzy-free — “I hear today’s an off day; tomorrow’s when it’s all happening,” a valet offers furtively — that it was just another night at Ghostbar, which means the usual bridge-and-tunnel-ly assortment of high-life-seekers. When a bartender, his tongue loosened by a $5 tip for a glass of water, is asked about any pending Idol mania, he looks quizzical. “Is there supposed to be some kind of American Idol thing here tonight? I hadn’t heard.”

Tom Maurstad

The under-the-radar, top-secret approach to the event was strange in this age of multitiered hype and cross-platform marketing. Fox reps provided little info and no interviews. Contestants were instructed not to speak with the media (save for the Golden-Ticket access granted the local Fox affiliate, KDFW-TV).

“Fox is renting the space from us,” says Kristin Walker, marketing manager of the Dallas W Hotel, referring to the second-story spread of meeting and banquet rooms. “So it’s not like we’re a sponsor or anything. We’re assisting with security and coordination, but it’s their show. They’ve been here most of the week and I’d say most guests haven’t even noticed.”

Riding up the elevator Saturday morning with a mother and her adolescent daughter who wear the telltale wristbands, I ask how they’re doing. The daughter just looks down. The mother looks excited and worried. “Don’t ask,” the mother says, “just wish us luck.”

Tom Maurstad

Over 30 million people tune into the average episode of Fox’s American Idol, pretty much twice the audience as its closest competitor in ratings. More than 12,000 people lined up to audition at the show’s Texas Stadium tryouts in August. And yet, while the show set up camp on the second floor of the W Hotel this weekend for a round of callback auditions that could send a lucky few onto Hollywood, you could hang out in the hotel, even spend the night and never notice that something BIG was going on. In fact, we did (on Friday night), and here’s what we found.
Tom Maurstad

It was slow going at the W Hotel this morning, where there was no evidence of much of anything having to do with American Idol. Videographer Kimberly Durnan and I got there at 7 a.m., hoping to find happy (or sad) contestants — who aren’t allowed to talk to us anyway — or, be still my heart, Paula, Simon or Randy. But it was a ghost town over there. We made it up to the second floor ballroom area, where we saw American Idol signs but found nothing but empty conference rooms. Several people who worked at the hotel and several guests told us that Wednesday appeared to be the biggest day, with lots of activity; several people said they thought the Idol crew was taking Friday off before picking up the pace on Saturday. So, maybe the hosts are flying in Friday for major auditions on Saturday. But in baseball terms, Friday morning was little more than a foul ball. For those who would like to watch a video of what we found Friday morning:
Watch the video.

The American Idol judges are in town Friday and Saturday, at the W Hotel, to assess the callbacks from the Aug. 6 auditions at Texas Stadium. When they’re not busy crushing dreams or sifting out the next Kelly Clarkson, here’s what they could do in Dallas.

Simon Cowell
(Scold)
Bar: Let him seethe awhile at the Rattlesnake Bar at Fearing’s.
Restaurant: Only the best will do — Dallas’ newest five-star, Abacus.
Event: The Dallas Symphony performs Mahler’s Symphony No. 9 at the Meyerson. Even sour Simon will appreciate the superb acoustics of the hall and performers who are, you know, musicians.

Surveys:

Think you've seen Simon? Tell us where.

Where should 'Idol' judges visit while they're in town?