The Final American Idol Story... yes you can kill me for how long that took.

On the ground floor.

Please excuse these horrible pictures, it was a long day
Just look at the poor American Idol volunteer and you can tell

I don't even know how long it's been since I last blogged. I almost don't remember what happened!
I am very sorry and I can't promise it won't happen again.
So Anywho,
After Ryan Seacrest left we sat for another several hours and watched the millions (It seemed like it) try out. Every once in a while you could hear something from all the way up in the stands and it sounded pretty good and you weren't surprised to see them run out with a golden ticket. Then again you'd also get the occasional weirdo running out with a golden ticket as well. I may have mentioned this before but this is not about Talent. This is a reality show. Sure there are talented people that get picked but I swear there were almost more weirdos and bad singers being picked just to create the show we have come to love and make fun of.
Eventually you get very bored sitting there with no treats, blanket or pillows and you go walk around. I have never been to the Energy Solutions Arena before so this was cool for me to get a look around. I walked around with Laura Dawn and that was fun because we came upon a huge circle of hopefuls. It was like a dance circle where people jump in the middle, show what they've got singing wise and then people clap they jump out again and so on and so forth. This was interesting. There were actually some really good singers and then there were those you just look at the ground, keep a smile on your face and try desperately not to laugh. Wondering "Is this for real? Do they really believe they are good?" Which brings me to something, I have never heard myself sing. I could be horrible and not know it, so if you think I'm horrible please speak up now so I can save myself from further humiliation. I may keep on singing but at least I will know ;)
The thing that was crazy about this singing circle is I recognized a guy from previous seasons trying out again. He had tried out before and Paula loved him and Simon hated him. They actually let him through but really he was pretty good. He sang the overly used song "At Last" -Etta James. But again, he was really good and later that day I was happy to see he made it through again to the next round. So we got bored of watching that circle and headed back to await our time. Finally the sections were getting smaller and smaller and it was time to move ourselves. That was an exciting feeling! Finally I could go home! ;)
I felt horrible because the girl who had stuck out the whole 12 hours next to me suddenly got up and said she would be right back and she never came back and I still to this day wonder if she got to try out. For her it would truly be a waste of a day if they didn't let her.
We made it out on the floor and now it was suddenly scary! I can't believe how scared I was.
The lines got smaller and smaller and suddenly all 4 of us were standing in front of the judges at the table. There were two men. John got up first and I think he did really well. The judges even rocked out with him a little bit by bobbing their heads when he sang. Then Otto. Otto had a great voice too.
Finally it was my turn, I took a deep breath. Stepped forward and told them what I was going to sing,
I sang Bonnie Raitt's "Something to talk about" I changed my mind at the very last minute and didn't even sing any of the songs I had actually come prepared to do! I was insane. They actually let me sing for a while before they stopped me. I even got to the chorus and they were smiling the whole time (hopefully not because they thought it was funny) but I felt pretty good about it. I didn't even close my eyes (which would've been a tragedy). After they stopped me our other friend sang and then they had us all step back while they deliberated. They actually put a piece of paper in front of their faces and talked about us right there and it seemed like forever. I almost thought we made it!
So finally they told all four of us to step forward so they could deliver the verdict.
They said something along the lines of --- We heard some really good voices and saw some (and I quote) "interesting personalities" but you're not what we are looking for at American Idol.
So there you have it folks, we weren't what they wanted but hey we did it and that's pretty good!
They then have you step past the tables, they cut off your memorable wristband and throw it away, then they kick you out of the building. Good thing I grabbed my stuff before I left.

There you have it, my looooong story of the day I tried out and didn't make it to American Idol.

Thoughts on this... Honestly I'm ok with that. I didn't try as hard as I could've and deep down I didn't really want to win on the show. It could've been cool for sure but I don't think I want to be associated with that show for the rest of my life. I feel confident (despite what I wrote earlier) that I have a good voice and still have room to grow and who knows, maybe one day I will be a singer in a different way and make an album or something.
Plus people already think they hear me on the radio because there already is an LDS singer out there named Liz Draper. Apparently I just sang on the new Michael McClean cd ( I don't think I've ever hear this man sing in my life but I'm on his cd)
As far as future ventures, I am going to be auditioning very soon to sing the National Anthem at the Utah Jazz games so wish me luck.
I'm grateful for the gift of music from our Heavenly Father and I'm so happy that I have the guts to sing in front of people and actually enjoy it.
So that's it, that's my story. Hope you enjoyed it!

So Awesome Azure snapped these hilarious photos of us while we sang in front of the judges
take a look!

Oops, I guess I did close my eyes. Here's proof
reminds me of the line on "About A Boy"
"I was killing them softly with my song"

Here's my personal favorite, getting rejected. We all look so happy :P hahaha

p.s I wait all day and all I have to show for it are these lousy pictures! haha!