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Step 1
First you need to want this badly! You want to get on American Idol right? Then you need to do your absolute best to make that happen. You will want to start by researching the judges. Find out their likes and their dislikes. What kind of music do they like? Really take the time to look through past auditions (you can view most of these on YouTube) and watch the judges reactions. Take it all in. Learn from watching the auditions and what mistakes people made.
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Step 2
You need to know what type of singer you are. DO NOT try to prepare a rock song if you honestly do not sound rock at all. If you sing country best, then stick to the country genre. You can pick a song that is more rock-country if you want, but stick to your country roots. The judges will be able to tell if you are being fake or not, so keep it real.
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Step 3
Once you have chosen your genre, try thinking of songs you like that really give you an emotion. Pick songs that make you incredibly happy or incredibly angry and USE THAT EMOTION to your advantage. Pick out over a dozen of songs like that.
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Step 4
Next you will want to be sure that the song is not overdone. If you have heard the song a million times on American Idol, you probably shouldn't sing it. If it's a popular song at the time you audition, chances are thousands of other people are going to be singing that exact song and you're going to have to be better than all of them. Narrow down your list of songs to ones that the judges might have heard, but don't hear ALL the time.
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Step 5
Practice your narrowed down list of songs to friends and family. If you have no friends or family (I'm sorry!) then try recording yourself somehow and listening to your performances. Heck, put the videos up on YouTube or do a karaoke version on SingSnap.com and let other people critique you. That should narrow down your list quite a bit and you should probably have your song picked. HOWEVER, you need to make sure you have a backup song or two. You may be asked to sing another song, and it would really suck to be caught off guard and have nothing else prepared, especially on American Idol!
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Step 6
Next you will want to practice those songs OVER AND OVER again. Make sure the notes are right. Keep recording yourself and NIT PICK. Actually take the time and make a VIDEO of yourself as you sing. Watch yourself. You are probably doing weird things while you sing that you don't know about. Take this time to correct them. You may notice you are licking your lips constantly like David Archuleta did, or wiggling incessantly like Megan Joy... Whatever it is that might annoy the judges or audience, change it!
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Step 7
You really are not going to be able to sing your whole song. 15-30 seconds is about the length you will get to sing. So pick out the best part of the song and practice that. Get the most dramatic part of the song and choose that for your audition piece.
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Step 8
Finally, make an impression. Don't be a dork dressed in a chicken suit, because you may get on tv, but you won't make it to Hollywood. Unless your goal is to just make a fool of yourself, make a good, lasting impression on the judges.
Comments
jull14 said
on 5/28/2009 Wonderful article and very interesting.