It was 3:00 am in Charleston, South Carolina, my mother and I (13 years old at the time) had woken up to get in line for the X Factor auditions. This line determined your audition time the next day and also made great b-roll for the show (something I will go more in-depth about). I ended up getting an audition time of 10:00 am, which I was happy about because I could get the most nervous part of my day over with.
The X Factor has three rounds of auditions before you ever meet the celebrity judges. Basically, you have no clue how much goes on behind the scenes of your reality music shows. When in line for our tickets the directors proceeded to tell us to dance to their music and act like we were having "fun" because who knows who could be watching? I honestly felt like a puppet at the moment but didn't care. There was only one thing on my mind and that was getting to the next round.
The next day I woke up to get to my audition, which ended up being a long wait regardless of the "audition time" we were given. I was finally called down into the convention center where around 50 individual booths were set up all with judges. When I entered the booth a nice woman greeted me and asked me a little about myself. I then sang my songs and awaited her response that said "I think you have a lot of potential so I am gonna let you through". I was overjoyed, I began to cry and thank her endlessly. She then planted a colored circle on my paper, which I later found out is how they distinguish between the people who are actual singers versus just there for the entertainment (if you were ever wondering how the terrible people get through, that is how). I will never forget this one girl who had an amazing voice but the judges found her outfit so hilarious they made a laughing stock of her and gave her the sticker signaling she was only there for entertainment. I hope she never gave up on her dream!
After getting through I was told to go upstairs to receive my golden ticket and sign some papers. These papers stated that I shall not inform any of my family members or friends that I have been moved to the next round. I was given another audition time for the next day and I went on my merry way to continue to practice and anticipate the next nerve-wracking news I might receive.
The next day I was told out of the original 7,000 auditioners, only 1,000 were asked to the current round — this made my nerves tense up even more. There were booths set up just like before, except this time there were two judges instead of one. After singing one song, I was sadly shut down. I will never forget what they said to me after giving me the hard no. "You are so young with so much potential, please come back next year", I'm sure they tell everyone that I thought to myself. I walked out of there with my head held high and full of regret for all I could think about is maybe if I had chosen a different song the ending result might have been different.
That experience, although it didn't go my way, taught me a lot about who I am. I learned that I am so much stronger than I know — not a lot of 13 year-olds put themselves out there as I did. I also learned that even if things do not go your way, it doesn't mean it wasn't meant to be, just maybe not right now. I also learned that confidence, a smile, and trust in your abilities can take you a lot farther than you think.
Moral of the story: you know yourself better than anyone else. Never give up on something that you feel is meant to be.
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