The inside scoop on American Idol auditions

I'm a big fan of American Idol and I had always wondered how they sorted through the tens of thousands of people who audition in each city. This past week I found out for myself! Wednesday evening my friend Bekah and I headed to Pittsburgh for the American Idol auditions. My friend has an amazing voice and I was just along for the ride. We got to Pittsburgh around 1am and headed to Heinz field to check-in and register.

There is so much that goes into these auditions and it is very different than what you see on TV. So we register and they give you these wrist bands, which allow you to get in to the auditions on Friday.

Since auditions weren't until Friday we slept in Thursday morning, ordered room service and headed to the pool to fill out American Idol paperwork

After lounging by the pool we headed out to explore Pittsburgh. I had never been to this city, but I absolutely love it and want to go back. We went to the cutest little place called Station Square right on the river. We had a beautiful view of the city and were surrounded by cute restaurants and shops. We ate at Hard Rock Cafe and took home souvenir glasses.

Friday we had to wake up at 3:45 am because they wanted everyone at the stadium at 5. As you arrived they had you sit in numbered "corrals" and we entered the stadium 4 HOURS LATER. So yes we sat on the ground when we could have been asleep in our beds for 4 hours before we were even allowed to enter the stadium. I still don't understand that part, but maybe they are testing people's stamina?!

Us at 5:30 a.m.

We got into the stadium and they did what they call "crowd shots" where we shouted things like "Welcome to Pittsburgh" "I'm the next American Idol" etc. I was shocked at how many takes the director had us do of these simple things...definitely scripted, but still fun.

Finally the auditions actually get started and here's how it went down. You get a ticket telling you which section to sit in based on when you registered. They called down one section at a time and those people were directed onto the field and across it to the tents where you sing. There were 10 tents and you were sent in 4 people at a time to sing.

After your 25 second audition you are either given a ticket, which takes you to the next round or you get your wristband cut off and have to exit the stadium. You get "judged" by a group of producers and not by the real American Idol judges. You have to make it through at least 3 rounds until you actually get to meet JLo. Randy and Steven, which I had no idea about. My friend did not end up getting a ticket, but the experience was worth the trip. Do you know anyone who has tried out for American Idol?