American Idol Auditions: It's a Wrap

American Idol Auditions: End of the Road

What a trip! Literally and figuratively! Chloe will always be a star to me... More stories when I can upload from the other camera.

American Idol Auditions: Far and Away

Parents stay here. Those auditioning go all the way over there. After that, winners go left and everyone else goes right. Think LEFT!

American Idol Auditions: Into the Light

Can you say "sardine"?

American Idol Auditions: Are We There Yet?

We can see some light at the end of the tunnel...

American Idol Auditions: Deja Vu

Surprisingly, we're in the same exact spot in line at the same time as last time. Unfortunately, we won't be out of here as quickly today.

American Idol Auditions: Time to Go

It's early. We won't be the first ones there...

American Idol Auditions: Day One Debrief

It goes without saying that today was a long day, given that it started at 10:00 last night. Don't think I've pulled a caffeine-infused all-nighter in twenty years... We arrived at the Rose Bowl around 4:30 this morning and joined the growing throng of people waiting to register. In the dark of early morning, the air was still slightly cool and our location afforded us a front row seat for watching the sun rise over the mountains.

The guys pictured above were in line right next to us and we couldn't have been better placed, from our perspective: they entertained us for four hours as we patiently waited our turn, belting out probably the entire contents of their songbook. The effect of the music was contagious, the circle widened, many people joined in the singing and even danced.

The event was impressively well organized, the operation moved efficiently, and we didn't see anyone who didn't look like they were having fun. When the line started moving at 7:30, it took us less than an hour to get to the front and get registered. It was almost a let-down to be done so early!

Luckily, we were able to check in to our hotel early and fell flat on our faces in bed for a couple of hours. After that it was all we could do to drag ourselves down the street for some late lunch and a movie. We've met some good singers, some amazing characters, and there's a heartwarming sense of camaraderie in the air. Now it's time for sleep...

American Idol Auditions: Live Blogging the Adventure

You've probably already heard (over and over again, in fact) about Chloé's plans to audition for the next season of American Idol. I'd been longing for a road trip this summer, but this wasn't quite what I had in mind: 7 or 8 hours on the road in the middle of the night to go stand in line at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena with 12,000 other hopefuls for Lord knows how many hours in hopes of getting a wristband that will allow you to come back at 5am the following morning to vie for 15 seconds in front of a producer with 15 other contestants.

But hey! In for a penny, in for a pound, so I've decided to chronicle the experience from the road. Try as I might, I haven't been able to reset the format for mobile uploads, so the look may be boring, but let's hope the story will be entertaining. Heck, we may even throw in a few "Name That Tune" lyrics, just for fun: first person to correctly post the song title/artist in the comments section gets a prize. Here we go...