The second floor lounge in the Union was filled with the bellowing voices of students waiting for their shot at stardom.
But one voice could faintly be heard echoing from within the confines of the women’s bathroom.
“I didn’t want anybody to hear me singing, it was a nervous thing,” said general business administration and pre-law sophomore Rochelle Haqq. “I went in there, fixed my hair, gathered up my courage and just let it all out.”
Auditions for Spartan Idol, a spin-off of the popular television show “American Idol: The Search For A Superstar,” began Monday. The event sponsored by the University Activities Board and the Residence Halls Association will take place from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. on Nov. 8 and 9 at the International Center.
The grand prize winner will receive studio recording time with Lighthouse Recording Inc., 4215 Legacy Parkway in Lansing, and will sing the national anthem at a Nov. 23 MSU women’s basketball game. The surviving five finalists will receive a makeover along with clothes provided by Urban Outfitters, 119 E. Grand River Ave.
Eric Bolf, officer of education for the board and one of the four panel judges, said 47 students auditioned Monday. More auditions also were held Tuesday night.
“There’s a lot of people that came out with good vocals,” he said. “ When some of those people got up on stage they got nervous, or just lacked stage presence which hurt their chances.”
Bolf added that the top 20 performers will get selected for the Nov. 8 performance at the International Center. From those 20 contestants, five will make the finals on Nov. 9.
Each contestant sang an a cappella song of their choice for about one minute. The competition even consisted of people who tried out for the upcoming “American Idol,” which will start its new season in January.
No-preference freshman Angela Lanza impressed the judges with her rendition of Aretha Franklin’s “Natural Woman.” Her performance caused one judge to get out of her seat and give her a standing ovation, proclaiming “American Idol” made a mistake by cutting her.
Lanza said she was in Detroit for “American Idol” tryouts in October. She said 3,500 people tried out at the audition and she made it as one of the final 115 auditioners. Lanza also said that the panel of famous judges were all very nice but hip-hop artist Angie Martinez told her she had a nice voice but was not picked because they already had a girl with similar looks.
Lanza said that Spartan Idol will give her a chance to redeem herself and get back to doing what she loves best.
“It would be nice to win, but if I don’t, singing and having people listen is enough for me,” Lanza said.
But not every student auditioning thought their performance went well.
“I think the judges were pretty fair,” chemistry freshman Simran Singh said. “They said I didn’t have enough stage presence. I will be very surprised if I get called back.”
