So I was thinking about going to the America’s Next Top Model casting call this past Saturday, and THANK GOD I didn’t!!!
You’ll see why… check this out!!
ABC News:
http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/entertainment&id=6710705
My friend Jill actually went to the auditions and experienced this all up close and personal, firsthand!! She was there at 6:45 AM and got turned away with thousands of other girls by the cops after waiting hours in the cold, because there
was a freaking STAMPEDE!!!!! This is an extreme case/situation, but in general, that’s what these mass national auditions are like (like American Idol, for another example)… it’s a cattle call, and it’s absolute insanity. I used to attend these auditions for yours between my modeling and singing (and believe me, it’s 95% luck at these auditions, not skill) — but I have since decided I wasn’t going to do them anymore (regardless of EVERY other reason, I HATE waiting in lines!!! lol I have no patience and I get sort of clausterphobic! Slightly, but still ever so much!! hahaha) I now realize that there are much more effective ways to
find and pursue professional opportunities!!!
Disclaimer: It is very rare (compared the number of people who go out for it), but OBVIOUSLY people do achieve fame in certain instances from types of opportunities — i.e. everyone who wins or makes the top 3 or so!! On ANTM, Idol, Survivor, Real World, etc… but if you don’t want to put your fate in the hands of not much more than sheer luck and chance, please continue reading below after the excerpt to hear my learned advice!! 0=)
This was just so beyond hysterically funny to pass up posting — this are excerpts from Jill’s ANTM post on Facebook… ENJOY!!!
The line wrapped around the block TWICE and was entirely disorganized,
thanks to lack of effort on behalf of the Park Central Hotel AND The CW
Network…I guess they really could have cared less about our frozen
asses out there.
Chaos ensued when some genius decided that we should all form two giant
masses rather than some concentric circular lines…two giant masses
each aiming at the same entrance from two directions. SERIOUSLY, WTF???
So we herded ourselves like pack animals, and many dummies (I mean
wannabes) left their shizz all over the sidewalk: chairs, blankets,
FOOD.
Absolutely NO regard was given to those who had been waiting overnight
vs. those who sauntered in around 2 PM. The casting call was *SUPPOSED*
to go from 10 to 3, but people just kept cutting into the lines at all
hours of the day.
You can imagine how angry the starving, sleepless wannabes were.
So there were the hardcore devotees, the rational people such as myself
(arrive early but don’t risk one’s health by snorting NYC street air
all night), and the slacker IDIOTS who filled out their apps in
scribbly pen while leaning on one another’s backs.
As we made our way sardine-style up the blanket-and-food-littered
sidewalks, the cops randomly moved the metal low-fence barriers,
because apparently watching us free-flow and cut one another in line
was amusing to them. I don’t know how many times I wound up with one
foot on the sidewalk and the other in the gutter (standing on
God-knows-what), or else propped up between several other bodies with
my feet barely on the ground at all.
Sometime around 12:30 they decided it would be a terrific idea to not
let anyone move for two hours. M*********ers.
…Back to the scene, where ugly is getting uglier by the second, in
more ways than one. The cops and hotel security apparently can’t
control a crowd or keep track of which line they are pulling people
from to usher them inside; nor do they seem to notice any of the
line-jumpers INCLUDING GIRLS THEY’D ALREADY THROWN OUT FOR BAD
BEHAVIOR. Next thing we know, one line (errr, one MASS) is completely
inside while we’re all being asked to “stand and be patient and not
push.” Yes, keep telling the girls who are tilting over precariously to
NOT PUSH.
Why they didn’t let my side move, I still do not know, but tempers were
rising at a rapid pace. I was RIGHT UP by the barriers, close to the
wall of the hotel, when suddenly there was a huge surge forward and I
had to make a rapid leap forward in order to bypass the barrier and
squish myself up against the glass doors for safety. The girls who had
been RIGHT NEXT TO ME got pushed TO THE GROUND and stepped on as the
crowd filled in the waiting area and (geniuses) got in the face of the
police officers and security guards. others, like myself, found
themselves clinging to walls and one another, praying for safety and
even tearing up in complete fear, since the mob was literally hundreds
strong and we had nowhere else to move.
I swear, stupidity must be a virus, because it continued to spread.
Once the shoving stopped, the jerks closest to the door began yelling
at the authority figures and sparking catfights with one another. The
girl next to me was screaming, in a lovely Jersey trash accent, I shit you not:
“AH’M SUIN’ YO ASSES AT DISS HOTEL, I’M SUIN’ DUH CITY OF NEW YORK FO DIS!!!”
Security guard: “You ain’t gettin’ in, leave the line.”
“AH’M GITTIN’ IN, WHAT DUH FUCK YOU TALKIN’ ABOUT? AH’M GITTIN IN.”
Security guard: “I ain’t lettin’ you in.”
“AH’M CALLIN’ TYRA, SHE GOIN’A HEAR FROM ME ‘BOUT DIS SHIT!”
…Btch plz. If you have Tyra’s phone number, then why the hell are you in line with all of us scrubs???
Another girl began yelling, “BITCH, SHUT UP OR ELSE THEY’LL SHUT THIS SHIT DOWN!”
But, before the fight could begin, the cops shut shit down.
Thank you Jill!!! =))
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This goes to show how desperate people can be (and how LOW they’re willing to go!!) to get their 15 minutes of fame!! It takes sooooo much more than this people, to get anywhere in the industry!!!
I believe in putting in the late hours, sleeping, eating, and breathing your craft, placing your personal life on the back-burner, making sacrifices, and ultimately, taking the long way/high road, and not the quick, easy street. A career with substance, with a foundation to fall-back on is what you need… you don’t want to be a one-hit wonder, flash-in-the-pan. You need to take the time to learn the in’s and out’s of what you do, take the lessons, shell out a little money, do the practice, hit the gym, schedule more rehearsals, do the leg-work, or whatever it is you need to do to ensure that you will be prepared, experienced, and successful when your time comes!!!!!
*If you DO all of these things, and you still want to go out for mass casting calls like ANTM, then I commend you and wish you luck!!! I do recommend that everyone do this at least once in someway for the experience. I only give this advice in hopes that maybe I can open someone’s eyes so they don’t rely SOLELY on an audition to make or break their career and/or dreams of stardom!!!*
It took my a little while to learn and accept all this, but I’m passing on my earned wisdom upon you!! lol Basically, you have to be ready for anything — anything!! I’m still and ALWAYS will be continuing to work as hard as I can and push myself to my limits — it never stops. I used to be like one of those people on MTV’s made — I wanted to be a singer, a pop star, but I had NO CLUE what was required of me to even get remotely CLOSE to this… all those kids on that show are always crying in the beginning, complaining, thinking they don’t need to go 70% of the things their MADE Coach is telling them, but the Coaches KNOW — they’ve been there, DONE THAT… but after the sweat, the tears, the sore muscles, the sleepless nights (and the show obviously only follows these kids for a VERY short amount of time, relatively), do they only begin to have a taste of what it takes — but you see how happy they are in the end if they succeed at their goal!! And ohh how sweet success is, right?? It’s the good feelings that elate and motivate you to keep you going through the tough, seemingly unbearable times… up until the next great moment — and this is an on-going cycle!! And you have to be strong enough to ride through it — or, like they say, the industry will chew you up and spit you out, or just eat you alive. 
I know I still have a longgggg way to go, but I’m ready, and I’m excited of what lies ahead!!!!! What you do has to be your passion if you want to get anywhere real with it — that’s the most important thing. Ohh AND you need to surround yourself with positive and professional people who truly believe in you, can help by critiquing you constructively, lend you their help, share their knowledge, will be brutally honest, and who always have your best interest at heart.
That’s the Breà advice column/motivational PSA for the day. =)
