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Posted February 15, 2009
You will either love it or hate it but American Idol has just expanded its franchise over the weekend in a big way. The American Idol Experience, a Disney attraction, opened its doors to the public officially on Valentines’s Day. A Disney press release explains that the attraction is “designed to immerse park guests in the authentic feel of a live television production.” And they mean what they say. This attraction brings all the major components of what you see on the television show. There are the auditions, the judges, audience voting, and a 1,000 seat indoor theatre with all the neon signage and glitter that is nearly identical to the actual Idol stage. The attraction is a joint venture between Freemantle Media, the owners of American Idol- Disney, and the show’s creator, Simon Fuller. The Idol Seven Get Together All seven of American Idol’s previous winners were on hand at a star-studded grand opening for the
Disney attraction in its new theatre. Carrie Underwood and David cook paired up for a “first ever” duet, singing “Go Your On Way” by Fleetwood Mac. Paula Adbul and Ryan Seacrest were also on hand to help 24 lucky park attendees who successfully passed preliminary auditions earlier in the day, and had to perform in front of the “extra” special audience to win. The Idol seven were surprised themselves when Simon Fuller unveiled a newly designed Idol microphone statuette and presented each former Idol with one. The statuette, Fuller explained, will go to all future television season Idol winners. The Experience The actual attraction will conduct auditions for park visitors during the day. Initial auditions will be conducted in small rooms by the attraction’s casting directors. The contestant can sing a song of his or her choice, a cappella style. Those who make it through the initial audition must then prepare a performance from a list of 113 songs to be sung in front of a producer. Vocal coaches and musicians are on hand at this stage to help prepare the contestant for their performance. The process from initial audition to the producer’s audition can take up to 2 hours. Each day, 21 semifinalists are chosen to fill seven Idol preliminary shows that run throughout the day. These shows, which take place in the theater in front of a general audience of park-goers, run about 25 minutes and feature three contestants who compete to win one spot in the day’s finale show. The audience is the final judge but three judges are on deck to critique each performer. The audience chooses the winner through voting devices built into the rear of seat. The Dream Ticket Winners of the Idol Experience don’t just get the satisfaction of knowing that they beat 21 other singers, the winners of each day’s finale show gets a “Dream Ticket,” which gives its holder a pass to the front-of-the-line at a future American Idol regional audition for the television show. That means no waiting for 3 days to get a shot at an audition for the television show. While the Dream Ticket is transferable, the holder must meet all of the requirements for the show in order to audition. No Cakewalk, No Train Wrecks The meshing of the Idol brand with the Disney brand is a challenge since Idol is the domain of brutal criticism and harsh judgment while Disney is the land of perpetual innocence and good vibes. Indeed, you would never hear Mickey Mouse say “if your lifeguard duties were as good as your singing, a lot of people would be drowning.” (Simon Cowell to an Idol contestant) So booing of the judges’ comments during stage shows, while not exactly Disneylike, is encouraged according to Disney casting producer Mark Catlett. The audition openings will be “limited” according to Disney’s own press release, which indicated that “they [auditions] will likely close early in the day.” That means that the attraction, like the television show, will be very competitive. Unlike the show however, Disney producers will not encourage or pass through interesting performers who make good theatre, but can’t sing. “Those really bad, terrible train-wreck kind of [singers] that make for great television, we don’t think make for a great Disney stage show,” says producer Laura Offerdahl.
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