How American Idol Auditions Work

I walked in, I was pooled into a group of four people and shortly sent to the judge. It was a large auditorium with about 100 or so people waiting in rows. There were about 5 or six tables, each with one judge, and a lines of about 16 people in 4 rows. The group in front of mine hadn't finished, so I saw the process. They stood in a line, side by side, waiting to be called forward around 8 feet from the table. One by one they got called to the table with the no name judge to sing for their 90 second allowance. Then, at the end, they were all called forward and they got told whether any of them had made it through the audition. Then they were individually told what to improve on vocally and what their strengths were. In the time I was waiting (about 5 minutes) no one was let through out of any of the tables, despite my hearing some breathtaking performances. The group before mine was sent away to get their wristbands cut off and leave. My group stepped forward. We got called on one by one, each of the two before me getting their 90 seconds. I was third. I got called up by a smiling face, was asked what song I was singing. I told her what I was singing and she went silent. I started singing. She smiled a bit more as I started singing. About twenty seconds in, she interrupted me as her face abruptly turned into a grimace. "That's enough." I stepped back. She called us all back after the next girl finished her full 90 second audition. She announced that unfortunately, none of us would be going on. We were all young and she knew we had promise, she said. Then she proceeded to give each of the other three girls a rundown on what they were good at and what they had to improve on. She didn't so much as glance at me after telling me I had sung enough. Then, I went to get the bracelets cut off, and left.

What, you ask, caused this? I sung No Longer Slaves. She stopped me the exact second I said "God."  No, I'm not even kidding. She was actually smiling at me until I said "God." Previously, when it belonged to Fox, American Idol had accepted and even helped Christians in the music industry. I'm afraid that is no longer true. Too bad for them, though. Many of the most talented and inspired musicians I've heard are Christians. They will definitely lose in the end.

I was alienated and most definitely not tolerated merely because of the fact I said the word "God." Honestly. That was the song that best fit my voice.

Nobody should be marginalised or judged like that. Black, White, Hispanic, Asian, ADHD, normal, weird, lgbtq+, and anyone and everything should be given a chance, not cast out without a second glance.

Please check out and subscribe to my youtube if you would like to support me and listen to my voice. I will soon start posting regular covers and original music. Tell me if you want to join me, I'm up for collabs on anything.

My reason for singing is to help others by doing something I love and am good at.

However, I *would* absolutely love to make American Idol regret the choice to alienate and ignore me for simply saying one word. I wasn't attacking anyone. I was singing. I would've been fine with this if they had simply let me sing my 90 seconds and told me I wasn't the voice they were looking for.

Join me in the fight against prejudice.