Local Residents Trek to St. Louis to Audition for 'American Idol'

As Yorkville resident David Cope frantically searched for a place to sleep in St. Louis, Hayley Hawkinson had already settled in her hotel room and was busy exploring the city. 

Both Cope and Hawkinson made the nearly five-hour drive from Yorkville to St. Louis to audition for the 11th season of American Idol. 

Auditions were held June 28 in the Scottrade Center. 

“It was a blast,” said Cope who arrived June 27, rather than June 26.  “It was a day and a half of just constantly going.” 

In addition to his late start, Cope scrambled to print a release form for the audition, ultimately pretending to be a Holiday Inn guest to use a hotel printer.

Then, Cope waited seven hours to before getting in front of the judges.  One benefit of the long wait for Cope was being able to hear many other contestants.

“I enjoyed hearing everybody’s different vocals," he said. "I would say 40 percent of the women sang 'Rolling in the Deep' by Adele.”

Hawkinson, on the other hand, arrived well prepared on June 26, two days before the auditions started.  She recalls the excitement the morning of auditions.

“We had to be there at 5 a.m. There was lots of media coverage and Ryan Seacrest was there,” said Hawkinson, who waited outside for three hours. “They played the 'All Star' song [by Smash Mouth] like six times so we could learn it—it was awful.” 

After waiting for hours, vocalists were separated into groups of four to sing in front of two judges. (Celebrity judges don’t screen vocalists until the third round.)

There were 10 tables with groups of four auditioning simultaneously.

“You’ve got people singing as loud as they can to the left of you and you’ve got people singing as loud as they can to the right of you,” Cope said.

Cope sang Shakira’s “Waka Waka” and Hawkinson sang “Warwick Avenue” by Duffy.  Vocalists were instructed to prepare a piece of about 30 seconds to highlight their vocal skills. However, Cope and Hawkinson sang for only 20 seconds at most before being cut off.

Those golden second round advancement flyers eluded both Cope and Hawkinson.

“They were very polite,” Hawkinson said. “They called us forward to the table, told us we weren’t what they were looking for and thanked us for coming out.”

Both Cope and Hawkinson agree the criteria for making the next round seemed based more on potential television presence than vocal talent.

“If you had a cool shtick and an OK voice, they would pick you over a plain person with a really good voice,” Hawkinson said. “I was just another pretty girl with a pretty face. I got lost in the crowd.

“It was a good experience, but I wouldn’t do it again.”

Cope, however, would take another shot. 

“You had people with Mohawks and gimmicks.” said Cope, who auditioned with a friend. “We were dressed plain and normal. I saw people get through who I thought were the worst vocalists I had heard in my life.

“I was trying to blame everything for about 30 minutes, the judges, my performance but then I just moved on. I will definitely be auditioning next year. I wish the people that made it the best of luck.”