Thousands of celebrity aspirants show up for the Northeast regional registration-audition for American Idol.

09:28 AM EDT on Wednesday, August 31, 2005

BY BRYAN ROURKE
Journal Staff Writer

FOXBORO, Mass. -- Fame beckoned. People responded.

They stood in the rain. They slept on the concrete. They came by the thousands to Gillette Stadium.

And they're still there.

Yesterday was only the registration; today is the Northeast regional audition for American Idol. The Fox reality show, now in its fifth season, searches for the nation's best unsung singer -- among throngs of wannabes.

While show officials assured everyone who showed up at the stadium yesterday an audition, many weren't taking chances.

Matt Chandler, 24, of Falmouth, Mass., arrived at noon Monday, 20 hours before the start of registration, and a few hours before overnight downpours.

"We cuddled," he said. "I made friends with the people around me."

Tents, tarps, blankets, coolers, chairs and radios were among the things people brought. Those who traveled far, who couldn't go home between registration and audition, set up camp sites last night on the stadium's covered open-air concourse, which offers a karaoke stage, restrooms, but not food.

"It's like Woodstock but without the fires and the nudity," said Ashley Stazza, 20, of Salisbury, Md.

The celebrity aspirants, young men and women, 16 to 28, shuffled toward the stadium entrance through zig-zagging corridors created by portable metal fences. It was one big cattle call.

"I hear they're going to put tags on our ears," said Lauren Schultz, 20, of Coventry.

Actually, no one was tagged, or branded. Applicants were simply given tickets and wrist bands to present at their auditions.

Journal photo / Mary Murphy

Talia Gerardi of Cranston, who says that singing is her life, waits to get the ticket and wrist band needed for today's American Idol audition at Gillette Stadium. At right is her father, Anthony.

In addition, everyone, by virtue of everyone else, was given slim odds of success.

"With so many people here, I don't think I'll be getting a record contract, yet," Schultz said. "But this is my shot. If it doesn't happen, I'll take that as a hint."

The individual auditions, which will occur under tents on the field, will last 10 to 30 seconds before rotating teams of judges involved with the show.

Foxboro is the third of six stops in American Idol's national audition tour. It was preceded by San Francisco and Austin, Texas, and will be followed by Memphis, Denver and Chicago, wrapping up in October.

Each audition call takes place in a stadium.

"In our first year, when no one knew us and no one cared, we had auditions on the sidewalk," said Patrick Lynn, the show's coordinating producer. "This has become a big deal to a lot of people."

This year, as with last year, more than 100,000 people are expected to audition for American Idol. (With registration running all night, the number who try out in Foxboro won't be known until today, and the show's media contacts declined to give an estimate last night.) At each audition site, a small but undetermined number of people will be given a second audition before executive producers, who will then select an undetermined number to appear on the show, which begins in January.

Jessica-Lee Medeiros, 21, of East Providence, who until recently was living with an aunt, has been practicing for this audition for six months. Every day at 8 a.m., Medeiros spent a couple of hours singing the first 30 seconds of Christina Aguilera's song "Cruz."

"It was always the same thing," Medeiros said. "Sometimes my aunt would say, 'Jess, please.' "

Everyone's trying to make an instant impression, which would explain Sioban Washington's blue and pink hair.

"It goes with my wardrobe, the song and who I am," said the 25-year-old Boston woman.

For most in the crowd, this is their first time auditioning for American Idol. But for Jason Szczygiel, 24, of Buffalo, this is his second time in two years. Last year, in Cleveland, he said he was stricken with stage fright.

"My voice was bad," he said. "It sounded like a woman's."

Since then, Szczygiel has practiced daily and watched and read all he can about the show.

Talia Gerardi of Cranston is also back for seconds. She auditioned two years ago in New York, and slept on the sidewalk along with thousands of other people to get one of the then limited audition spots.

"You have to keep trying if you really want it," says Gerardi, 22. "Don't get discouraged."

There's a big payoff for those who prevail. American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson's now singing on her own. And last year's winner, Carrie Underwood, is now touring with that show's nine other finalists in American Idols Live!, which visits the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence on Sept. 8, at 7 p.m.

Two years ago in New York, Gerardi says she sang well for the American Idol audition, but the judges were looking for something else.

"They're looking for a lot of things: vocals, looks, crazy people," Gerardi says.

Singing, Gerardi said, is her life, something she's been doing since she was 5. At the moment, Gerardi works as a bartender in Providence, and win or lose in American Idol, she said she plans to move to California in a month to find an agent and to pursue professional singing.

"I'm not going to give up until I make it," she said.

As night fell, a muddy gray fog descended, glistening in the floodlights of the eerily empty stadium. In the stands, a few people tried to sleep, heads slumped over chairs.

Behind them, along the rows of shuttered food and beverage stands, a campfire atmosphere prevailed. Sleeping bags formed a patchwork quilt on the concrete floor; from under blankets, feet protruded.

Many lay down, but few actually succeeded at dozing amid the noise. Every corner held an acoustic guitar with people gathered round.

In the center aisle, an impromptu sing-along broke out. Newfound acquaintances from New York, Maine, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Florida circled their chairs, and the harmonies soared.

As the group burst into "Proud Mary," in the center, in a hot-pink velour track suit, was Veronica Dawkins, gyrating and kicking energetically.

"Big wheel keep on turnin' . . . "

Dawkins, 26, a public relations director for a basketball camp, drove from Mahwah, N.J. yesterday. For her audition, she planned to sing "My Funny Valentine."

Eventually, she would go to sleep in a yellow tent beside her boyfriend, who, at 29, was too old to try out. For now, though, sleep was a mere afterthought.

"I don't know what time it is," she said, glancing toward the football field and the open sky above. "It's like The Matrix in here."

Journal staff writer Elizabeth Gudrais contributed to this report.