Arranging Idols, Creating Stars
When Rickey Minor took American Idol’s music live in Season 4, he helped to revolutionize the show. The long-time musician’s greatest talent, though, lies in taking young singers and instrumentalists and turning them into America’s most-loved stars

By Bob Yehling

During Elvis Week on American Idol Season 5, Taylor Hicks dipped into the show’s musical wheelhouse and motioned Rickey Minor to accompanying him for his rousing rendition of “Jailhouse Rock.” Rickey stepped out and unleashed a searing bass lick; a night later, he repeated it. Yet, even while his fingers plucked the four thick strings at lightning speed and his legs swayed almost as funkily as Taylor’s, Rickey knew what the moment was about: catapulting another rising star towards his destiny.
American Idol’s masterful music director shines on any stage, but his life mission concerns something more challenging because of the versatility and modesty involved: arranging and producing the music of America’s greatest shows and stars. It is not a gig for egomaniacs. Idols like Taylor Hicks and Carrie Underwood now sit on the list of stars Rickey has assisted with the wiles of three decades in the business, but that list includes some of the coolest souls in American music —Ella Fitzgerald, Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight, Michael McDonald, Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, Brandy, Smokey Robinson, Michael Bolton, Beyonce and countless others. He’s arranged the music at Grammys, played on Whitney’s “I’ll Always Love You,” the top-selling single in history, produced shows at Radio City Music Hall, produced the all-time best-selling version of the national anthem (Whitney’s performance at the 1991 Super Bowl) and musically directed BET’s Tribute to Black Music Legends night. The latter was a prestigious honor for a man born into poverty in Louisiana and raised in the Los Angeles ghetto of Watts. One other thing: The BET show was nominated for an Emmy.
“I’ve been very fortunate to work with some of the greatest performers, and to play with many great musicians. Some of them are in the American Idol band, people I’ve been playing with for seven to 10 years on average,” Rickey says. “When the kids come to the show, I tell them to take advantage of this opportunity, learn our stories; you’re now working with world-class musicians. There’s no one living and very few who have passed in recent years who we haven’t worked with.”
Rickey’s drive to evoke excellence from contestants of varied musical experience makes him one of the most beloved members of the AI crew. During Season 5, every former Idol from the past two seasons who visited the show—Constantine, Anthony Federov, Carrie Underwood, Bo Bice, Vonzell Solomon, etc.—took a detour to the band section when they saw Rickey’s smiling face and bald head, and exchanged hugs and laughs.
“I wasn’t sure how the whole re-arranging of cover tunes would work,” Bo recalls, “so I would definitely re-do my songs. I put together the format of a song by sitting on my guitar, going over it, then giving Rickey Minor the chord sheet. They’re such a great band and Rickey is such a good director that they took it from there and made the songs something special, week in and week out.”
As AI’s music director, Rickey’s job description is daunting. Every week, he takes the songs that contestants have chosen and initially worked out with vocal coaches Debra Byrd and Dorian Holley and assistant music directors Michael Orland and Matt Rohde. “They help the kids find the right key, find the right song and make the right edit so it can fit into the 90 seconds or so they have each week,” Rickey explains.
Once Rickey receives an e-mail of the MP3 file of each song, he goes to work. He might change the arrangement or key, add or subtract a bar, tweak the beginning or ending or add modulation in the transition so the song can be driven home. He shares his changes with the kids—“they have the say all the time,” he emphasizes. Throughout this process, he also thinks about keeping the contestant on pitch from the first note, and dealing with nerves. “The kids get nervous and think, ‘Is the key too high? Am I going to crack the note?’”
The next step is to arrange the song with the full band—five pieces for the Top 24 rounds, and a full 22-piece orchestra for the Final 12 shows. Rickey will score each song and either develop the orchestration himself, or delegate to one of 20 freelance arrangers throughout the country. “Because of computer technology, we use people from all over, specialists in certain types of compositions,” he explains. “We’re on a time crunch, so these are mostly done overnight; two days is a luxury. These people have to be ready.”
“Rickey’s understanding of the way a song moves really makes a difference,” Constantine Maroulis says.
Chris Daughtry puts it this way: “The stuff Rickey and his band can do between shows, polishing a song so it works perfectly with the vocal, is what we spend weeks on as a band. And they have to do it for all the competitors.”
One of the youngest Season 5 competitors, musical theater veteran and guitarist/pianist Lisa Tucker, was awe-inspired. “I can’t believe he and his band can take songs they may have played before, or maybe not, then work with people like me who they don’t even know, get our keys down, then when I get on stage and go for a big note, the band is right there.”

PROCESS OF ARRANGING
The boys have a vocal coach and rehearsal pianist who works as assistant music director. The girls have the same. Those four people carry through helping the kids find the right key, find the right song, and make the right edit to the song. That edit is then sent over to me immediately through email. I receive the MP3, I listen to it, and I make my changes, whether to the key, or maybe do a modulation in the transition, add a bar here, take a bar out, fine-tune it, then make that recommendation to the kids. I fix the ending and fix the entrance. If there’s not enough time for them to hear their pitch, I’ll add something – a sound. I’ll say, ‘When you hear that note on the piano, that’s your starting note.’

Then I turn to the band and work on the arrangement for the first time with them. For the Top 24 round, we have a five-piece band. For the Final 12, we have a full orchestra, 22 pieces. For the finals, I’ll lay out the score, and depending on time, I’ll either do all of the orchestration, or farm some of it out. All of these files come back to the music supervisor for us. Because of the technology, we use people from all over – New York, Arizona – spread the work around and do some great arrangements. We have a staff of about 15 to 20 arrangers on-call, ready to go. We’re on a time crunch, so these are mostly done overnight; two days is a luxury for us.

The arranged music initially comes to me. I go through the scores, and if I think an orchestrator has decided to write a lot of string movement, it may be a little too much, so I’ll thin it out. Or, vice-versa. We received a string arrangement last year for Carrie. Nigel thought it didn’t have enough movement, so I added a little more movement.

KIDS’ SAY IN ARRANGEMENT
The kids have say all the time. I encourage them to get involved and talk about what they want to do with the song. A lot of nerves are involved. The kids get nervous and think, ‘is the key too high? Am I going to crack the note?’ Or ‘is the key too dark?’ In working with Constantine in 2005, we had this thing about ‘My Funny Valentine,’ and we did an arrangement for him. Nigel and Ken hated it, yet it was one of the most memorable performances. It got a lot of calls about the arrangement. So, you never really know. You try to make the song a little different, but it’s got to be recognizable.

PROCESS OF REHEARSAL FOR A WHOLE SHOW WITH DIFFERENT COVERS VS. OWN SONGS OR, IN CASE OF ORCHESTRA, A COMPOSER

The styles are totally different. We may do a country song, a rock song, a Broadway song, a pop song, and an R&B song in the same night. With all of these different songs, it’s about having the right rhythm section. The strings and horns can morph into anything. In some shows, I’ll add a banjo, I’ll apply a pedal steel, I’ll get a real harmonica player if the song has a featured harmonica part. For the most part, we can take care of it ourselves because we’re so experienced. We have a three-hour rehearsal by ourselves, then run each song with the kids a couple of times, then go into dress rehearsal with the cameras the next day.

The kids decide their song for the next week the morning after the voting show. By the weekend, we’re rehearsing. It turns around fast.

THE FUN OF HAVING TO BE ON YOUR TOES AS A DIRECTOR

It’s a kick in the head. Who would’ve thought this would have happened? The first thing is, we have live music on TV again. When I was brought into this show at the beginning of Season 4, it had been operating on pre-recorded music. They had real musicians, but they came in, recorded the track, and you had to perform to the recording. So there was no wiggle room for tempo, holding the note longer, or holding back for dramatic effect – the things that happen in a live performance, with live energy. With a live performance, if one of the kids gets a cold the night before a show, we can change the key and do it on a dime. If we get on the stage and the producers feel a song is too slow, and they ask, ‘Can you perk it up a little bit?’ It’s like ‘Right on.’

It was challenging at the beginning to convince them to go live.

ADVICE YOU CAN GIVE KIDS AS MUSICAL DIRECTOR
I always talk with the kids when they come in, and get to know them. You will get the best from them as artists if they’re comfortable. If they feel intimidated or uncomfortable, you’re working against something that has nothing to do with the singing. So my goal is always to go in there and say, ‘I’m here for you. You matter. Talk to me. As long as we talk, and you ask me for something, I can give it to you.’

One of the things that’s very important for them, and for anyone thinking about getting into this business, is the ability to focus and tune everything else out. You have to center yourself, or else…One minute, you’re singing, then the next, you’re thinking (VOICE SPEEDS UP), ‘I’ve got to get my clothes out of the cleaners. Oh I forgot something. I wonder if they like me. I wonder if they like this song. I wonder what Randy is going to say now.’ Focus, and go into this to have a good time. This is your life. So have a good time. Go out there, own the song, and own the stage.

One thing I stress to the kids is they have to think about the lyrics they’re singing, get in touch with the lyrics, and the melody and emotion of the song. If you’re going to sing something like “After the Love Is Gone” by Earth, Wind & Fire, think about what you’re saying and tap into the emotion. It’s not just the melody and the notes; you’ll sound like you’re reciting the Gettysburg Address, all monotone with no heart passion. So it’s a question of how to conquer your fear.

SOME THINGS KIDS SAY TO YOU – VARIETY OF EXPERIENCE
After we rehearsed Kellie Pickler for the first time, she said, ‘This is the first time I’ve ever sung with a band!’ By comparison, Taylor works every night and has for years. Last year, Carrie had never sung with the band, just been on the farm or at school, but Bo had worked every night. You had Constantine, who had experience being in plays, and also fronted a band. Then you have someone like Lisa, who’s only 16 but she’s been music theater since she was 10. Paris comes from a family of singers, Katharine has a mother who’s a long-time vocal coach, and Chris and Taylor write their own songs. You’ve got widely varying degrees of experience.

Sometimes experience can be a detriment; you can have just enough experience to make yourself miserable on this show.

One of the things I encourage all of them to do is to breathe. Don’t forget to breathe! If you sing, and you’re breathing, then I’m breathing with you. If you stop breathing, then I’m waiting for your next breath. Then you forget, and you run out of breath, so now you’re out of tune because you’re out of breath. Practice breathing and relaxing. This is a very stressful and tense situation with this show, so breathing is very, very important.
The other thing I tell them is to laugh until your face hurts. Laugh, man! Enjoy your process. This time in your life will never come again. So enjoy – and laugh.

WHAT ELEMENTS OF YOUR BACKGROUND HAVE LENT THEMSELVES TO MUSICALLY DIRECTING AMERICAN IDOL

The ability to read music, first and foremost. I’ve worked with a lot of young artists and musicians who can really play, but they only own one genre and they don’t read (music). If they play rock, they can’t play country. If they play country, they can’t play jazz. If they play jazz, they can’t play pop. If they can play pop, they can’t play R&B. If they can play R&B, they can’t play gospel. I’ve been fortunate to come up at a time when I worked with Herbie Hancock, Al Jarreau and David Sanborn, the jazz guys, and the pop stars like Celine, Elton and Whitney, the country stars like Shania and Vince Gill, the Judds. I came up at a time where you had to know how to read music in order to work. What I try to express to younger musicians is that, if there’s not a gig where I can play Top 40, then I can read and do a film gig. If there’s not a film gig going on, I can do a record gig, country or whatever. By making yourself more versatile, you’re making yourself more indispensable.

The music is only 50% of it. The other 50% is being on time – taking care of the business side of it. You also have to be the kind of person people want to be around, put people at ease. That ability to tap into a person one-on-one and make that person think, ‘I’m the only one; I’m the most important thing’ is more of a gift; I don’t know if you can learn that part of it. But when I work with someone, and it’s their moment, I will go through the fire for that person at that moment. That element is key to what I do with this show.

WHAT PROMPTED YOU TO TAKE THIS POSITION?

I’m so excited by every opportunity to play music. The whole group of us – the band, singers, musicians I work with – do a lot of things together. We do things for Foster Care, like CBS’ Home For The Holidays special, which we’ve done for seven years. I work with a lot of underprivileged schools and kids. We play for the Veteran’s Hospital. For me, one job is not bigger than the other. They’re all equally important, because we do what we love to do.

But what better way to do it than on the world’s biggest stage, on the number one show in the country? It’s a win-win situation. Surprisingly, I hadn’t seen any of the first three seasons of American Idol. However, I’d gotten calls from several artists who had watched the show; I mean, when 30 million people are watching every week, some of them are going to be recording artists. People like Barry Manilow, Rob Thomas, Alicia Keys and even Nancy Wilson watch the shows.

For me, it made perfect sense. It was another opportunity to prove that live music is still very much alive.

GOING FROM PRE-RECORDED TO LIVE
The decision was, they were going to HD for (Season 4). So the songs had to be recorded, mixed in 5.1 and mixed for stereo, overnight – which would mean a heart attack for the staff, basically. You get the orchestra to record it, and you get the kids in there to rehearse, but once it’s done, it’s done. Then there’s the problem of once it gets over to the show, and they’re playing it over, and they realize the background vocals are too soft, so you have to go back and re-mix it, turn the background vocals up. Or, it’s too loud. There was so much work having to go into it.

I went up to Nigel and Ken after the first taping of the Top 24, and I said, ‘I’m making an executive decision that we should go live – live with the band.’
They said, ‘That’s rubbish. Live music on TV sounds horrible. It needs to be pre-recorded. That’s the way we’ve done it for three years. It works. We know it works.’
I said, ‘Well, I don’t agree. I know live music can work.’
I gave them several shows that I’ve done, that I produced and been a part of – shows by people like Cher, to Celine, Mary J, Whitney, Beyonce, Alicia. Then I said, ‘I do this all the time. I think you called me in here because you trust me. You’ve got to trust me on this. I wouldn’t even suggest we do this if I didn’t think it was the best thing for the show. Your performances will be more dynamic, more powerful, and the band will sound incredible coming live.’
So they said, ‘OK.’

CHANGED COMPLEXION OF WHO AUDITIONS FOR THE SHOW
“Bo couldn’t do what Bo was doing in the old format. Neither could Chris or Taylor.”

IMPACT OF AMERICAN IDOL
“When Kelly Clarkson became a star and started winning Grammys, it proved to everyone that American Idol was not a flash in the pan, was not a fluke, that it had some great young singers. And now look at what Carrie Underwood is doing in country music! Let’s face it: American Idol may not have saved the music business, but it has given the business a big shot in the arm.

“I met and started working with some of today’s greatest singers when they were very young: Brandy when she was 12. Whitney at 18. Usher was 15. Christina was 14. Beyonce was 15. None of them had the advantages that these kids on American Idol have – the built-in audience of 30 million, the first-class production.

DO KIDS PERFORMANCES BLOW YOU AWAY FROM WHERE YOU SIT SOMETIMES?
“Yeah. Many times. This is a process. It’s fast, it’s a well-oiled machine. I tell the kids, ‘Take advantage of this opportunity. You’re sitting with world-class musicians. There’s no one living and very few who have passed in recent years who we haven’t worked with. To take the time to learn more in-depth stories about these artists, what they’re about, how they studied. I tell them stories about Celine, how she goes on vocal rests. When she’s on tour, she talks very soft (whispers) and very rarely. You want to talk to her, you have to write it down. She runs five days a week with her bodyguards, early in the morning, all wrapped up, no matter what country she’s in. Her motto is that her ticket buyers worked hard for the money they spent on her, so she’s going to give them the best she’s got. Not with a scratchy voice, not after partying all night. These stories are important for the kids to hear, because then, they come in knowing that it’s work. When I say ‘Focus,’ you focus everything – your energy, your time, study your lyrics, study your music. You need some down time, but you have to realize this is not a joke. You have to sing as if your life depends on it, because it does.

ON JUDGING
“Like him or not, Simon is dead-on practically all the time. There’s no wishy-washiness, no fear that he’ll hurt a kid’s feelings. Nine times out of ten, he’s spot-on. Like one night, he said to Taylor, “Your song was a great radio performance. It sounded great, but when I looked up…” Taylor got the message, and really focused on the way he worked the stage.

TIME WITH BAND MEMBERS
“Some of the guys and singers go back a long way with me, but on average, seven to ten years. The guitar player and I have known each other since high school. We went to rival high schools and played in Battle of the Bands against each other. The singers do all these shows with me; our resumes read pretty much alike. One week we’ll do the Grammys, or a show with Stevie or Melissa Ethridge. So we know nearly all of these songs. It’s a matter of changing the key, or changing the form of the song.

GRATIFICATION OF LAUNCHING STARS
“It’s something, how this works. I’m here helping kids get started, but recently, I did some arrangements for Aretha Franklin, so here we’re launching stars, and I also have been helping great stars re-launch. To see Whitney, Brandy, Beyonce, who was like a sponge the first time I met her, asking a million questions. And Whitney at 18 was saying to me, ‘What’s it like to work with Gladys? How does she warm up?’ That kind of enthusiasm, you go, ‘Whoa, this kid is really interested in how the artist’s day works.’ They want to know these things.

“The Top 12 receives all of these perks, whether it’s stylists, make-up, interviews, someone telling you your schedule. It’s amazing to watch them grow. For the most recent winner of American Idol, Taylor, we’ve taken him from show tunes to rock tunes to pop tunes to a week of Elvis, a week of country music, various genres he may not have been exposed to.

AI AS BOOT CAMP
“It’s music business boot camp 101. You have the physical rigors, but I think the emotional challenge is greater than the vocal challenge. The stress affects your voice, but the emotional ups and downs of, ‘Is it me or is it my roommate going home?’ takes a toll. Look at Carrie Underwood. She is working through the first year of her career like there’s no tomorrow, really going after it in a way that should be an example for anyone else who ever comes on this show, but the thing is, it’s her schedule now. The schedule she was keeping before was for the show.

When you grow up in the shadow of the Hollywood sign, it seems you are destined for show business. So it is with Katharine McPhee. Granted, both her parents already deal in the industry: Mom is a talented vocal coach and Dad is a producer. Even with such great connections, however, it sometimes takes a break from an outside source to make things happen.
The story of Katharine’s break is also the story of a show whose platform suited her perfectly. Cue up American Idol Season 5.
Katharine easily worked her way into America’s hearts (and living rooms) with her stunning beauty, cool poise and a voice that seemed to know no limits. But it was her rendition of a little-known version of the Judy Garland classic, “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”, that truly showcased her true potential. Sitting dramatically onstage inside a spotlight, not only did she prove her ability to perform under extreme pressure and her capacity to connect with a broad audience, but she transcended any audience age gaps with her selected material. It truly was one of the most spectacular moments during Season 5, eliciting a bit of gushing from the always-cynical Simon Cowell. Perhaps it was because Simon had picked the song for her. He knew the 22-year-old had the goods to deliver a dazzling performance and to wow the world. Did she ever! The song landed her in the finals alongside Taylor Hicks and, when the single was released just weeks later, it shot into the Top 20 on Billboard's Hot 100, charting higher than any previous version of the 70-year-old classic.

Humility Tempers Kat’s Hot Summer
Since the end of Season 5, Kat’s career has shot into the stratosphere, but there have been plenty of stops and starts along the way—many of which have unceremoniously played out in the pages of tabloids and on entertainment TV. From her struggles with bulimia, depression, self-esteem, and her adamant desire to remain an everyday girl in the face of celebrity, she’s grown up and become stronger and wiser in the process.
“After all that I've gone through in the past months, I realized that I’m a strong woman,” she says. “Rumors and things that people say make you develop a thick skin very quickly. I’ve been thrown a lot of obstacles early on—from losing my voice, to spraining my ankle, to the rumors about coming back on a tour where people saw me as a diva because they claimed I thought I was greater than the tour. Things like that really humbled me. I have no control over this career and what people think, so I’m just going to be me. I make mistakes and I’m human.”
Being a multi-talented performer certainly doesn’t hurt Katharine’s career options. Even though she’s rumored to be entertaining offers of acting, she keeps her cards close to the vest, maintaining that her recording career is her main focus. Her debut on RCA is slated for release in late November.
“When the American Idols Live! tour ends, I’m putting out my album and we’ll see how it does,” she said in September. “God willing, it goes well and then I’ll go out on tour. I don’t want to talk about the album because I don’t want to pin myself down. I will say that it will be a surprise because I don’t think people will be expecting what it is.”

Singing Was Her Destiny
The Sherman Oaks, CA native has wanted to be a singer for as long as she can remember. “I wanted to be Mariah Carey. I have this vivid memory of me laying on carpet in the hallway with my little tape recorder, playing her songs over and over and imitating her riffs. My mom had students at the house every Tuesday, and Wednesday night was workshop night, so I’d sit around with all her students. I was just into singing and performing at home. I never shut up,” she explains.
Her other outlet was dance—something she expressed quite beautifully during rehearsals and down-time in Season 5, to the delight of show staff and other AI contestants. ”That was a big thing for me, too, to get into all types of the arts, not just singing, you know… acting, dance. I was always a creative kid. I never doubted that I wouldn’t do this and I didn’t care what it was going to take to do it.”
At Notre Dame High, she straddled school with dreams of scoring a production deal. But, with no manager onboard, the breaks were slow to come. “I had people wanting me to model and to be an actress and finally got an agent and did a few little things like an AT&T national commercial,” she says. “But the recording stuff never materialized, so I just got very involved in high school. I feel lucky now that I can look back and say that I had a normal high school upbringing. I wasn’t too career motivated, because I was still developing myself. I got involved in all the after-school programs and school plays and developed a love for musical theatre. I had this amazing teacher, Judy Weldon, who taught us how to be artists and how to carry ourselves professionally. She was a huge influence in my life.”
Weldon planted into Katharine’s head the idea and importance of going to college. “I never wanted to go to college,” she admits. “I just wanted to go straight into being in the theater, working professionally. I’d been like that since I was 5. I was set on not going and, [in] my senior year, everyone started to audition for colleges and she encouraged me to do the same. I looked into and auditioned for several schools. I ended up getting into the Boston Conservatory on a scholarship. It was ranked #1 for musical theatre in the country, and I got a great vibe visiting there. I figured the music thing was not my path at the time, so I decided to pursue musical theater.”

The Ups and Downs of Success
All of her recent success has been fraught with challenges—a fate somewhat similar to the rocky road AI4’s runner-up, Bo Bice, faced last year. Katharine missed the start of the American Idols Live! tour due to vocal problems. When she returned to the stage six weeks into the tour, she fractured her foot after tripping backstage. “The tour has been fun, although the first few weeks were devastating,” she says. “I think people thought I was missing it on purpose. I knew in my doctor’s office that people were going to speculate why I wasn’t there. I blew my voice out and I think you could hear it towards the end of the American Idol show. And even afterwards, we didn’t have any downtime. I think I probably could’ve said that I needed to take a few weeks off, but I didn’t know how to say no.
“It was crazy right up until the tour rehearsals. I was doing the rehearsals and then going into the studio, and I just couldn’t sing. I would be on vocal rest all day long just preparing for my rehearsal. And I’d get in there and it was blown out by the first song. It was weird coming back to the tour, because it was like being the new kid in school.”
Now, everything is together: Her voice, her health, her radiance, her various entertainment options, and a seasoned team of professionals to support her. “It’s very exciting now,” Katharine says. “I have a manager, actually several, a publicist through my record company, a financial manager, music manager, an incredible theatrical agent— one of the top in the business. I’m so fortunate! It gives me chills just to think how much my life has changed. This is not a story about how we hold ourselves back and how much we limit ourselves. It’s about how you cannot limit yourself if you want to change your life.”

American Idol Rewind debuted at the end of September and is slated to roll through 26 episodes and their re-runs into June 2007. The hour-long shows feature Season 1 of American Idol, and offer never-before-seen footage and follow-up interviews with many of the contestants. We caught up with executive producer Dug James to find out more.
American Idol Magazine: What can viewers expect to see on American Idol Rewind?
Dug James: Many of the episodes will feature lots of material that was shot but never used. Over the last 3-4 months, we’ve gone back to the original footage, everything that was ever shot, and are finding all the best bits and making them into the show. We literally went into the warehouse and dusted off old boxes that haven’t been touched in four or five years. There’s Kelly Clarkson’s first-ever audition and Nikki McKibbin’s first-ever audition. And a lot more!

AIM: How did you become involved in AI Rewind?
D.J.: I set up the American Idol Extra show last year. This is the show where hosts (and former Idols Ty Treadway, Mikalah Gordon and Matt Rogers) interview the contestants who have been eliminated. I also set up Idol Tonight (with former Idol Kimberly Caldwell and Rosanna Tavarez, a contestant from the UK show, Popstars), which aired on the TV Guide Channel. Prior to that, I worked in Singapore, establishing all of the Idol formats in Asia: Indian Idol, Indonesian Idol, Singapore Idol, and all of those fun shows. Basically, I’ve worked in television for the last 8-9 years, initially in the UK and Singapore, and now here in the States beginning this year.

AIM: How do you think the first season compares to last year’s?
D.J.: I think what really stands out about the first season was the kinship. No one—from the contestants to the judges to the TV executives—had any idea that the show would be as big as it became. Everyone had witnessed the UK show, Popstars, and hoped it would be bigger than that. But no one envisioned that it would become just as big, just as successful, and just as ingrained in the American consciousness. I think that was kind of reflected in the attitude of the contestants coming into the room to audition when American Idol first turned up in Seattle. No one knew what the show what was about. They knew it was a TV show and that it had a theme, but they had no idea what the process would be that would take them to the final stage of the competition. People weren’t coming along because they knew what to expect. They were coming along because they wanted to sing, thought they could sing, and unfortunately in a lot of cases, could not sing.

AIM: But that still makes good TV!
D.J.: Yes! But it was fun to watch the season unfold. It sort of dawned on all the people involved that it was becoming much bigger than they realized. Halfway through the season, the Top 5 went to an awards show, and they were the biggest attraction but had no idea because they’d lived in the American Idol cocoon for months.

AIM: What do you think makes American Idol so popular?
D.J.: I guess it’s because it taps into that aspirational thing that anyone out there can become the biggest star in the world. And it taps into it in a way that people can relate to, because music is something that everyone can have an opinion on, and judge, rightly or wrongly. I think everyone secretly would love to be on a stage and to perform. That, and being able to follow people from very ordinary backgrounds through their journey. You can watch the Kelly Clarkson’s and Justin Guarini’s and Nikki McKibbin's go from being people who just walked in off the street, to the most watched and applauded superstars in the world.

AIM: Now, anyone who makes the Top 10 is pretty well guaranteed a career, whether in music or TV.
D.J.: I think a lot of people write that off as, “Oh you get the exposure of American Idol and that’s why that happens.” But I think the real reason is that, to get to the Top 10, you really have to be talented. You don’t get to that stage without having a lot of personality and a fantastic voice. I think that’s why the Top 10 people will surely get the exposure that the show provides, but they all have a talent that people want.

Quick Takes – American Idol Auditions
Here’s what a few Season 6 hopefuls — and a familiar face from Season 4 – had to say about the American Idol auditions

Amanda Avila
Correspondent for Reality Remix
Final 24 contestant, Season 4
“It’s fun to be back. It’s fun see people are still doing this, sleeping in the street just for a chance to be famous. I auditioned for Season 1, 2 and 4. You learn more each time. In Season 1, I didn’t know what the show was. I showed up and I think I was last to audition. The next season, they started lining up three nights before the audition. So once again, I was too late. And for Season 4, I auditioned in Vegas. You have to have a good back-story, and I was a showgirl at Treasure Island. I showed up early and I was in the first group of people. So it’s all what you learn in the process. This is like déjà vu! Even though I’m not the next big pop singer, I definitely would not have gotten my job on Reality Remix if I wasn’t on American Idol.”

Mary Prater, Rialto CA. Age 22
“I’ve sung my whole life and I just wanted a chance to get noticed somewhere. There’s not a whole lot of opportunities in Rialto right now! I didn’t know I was going to have to run from the police, get a flat tire on the freeway… Everyone is trying to get to the front of the line. I auditioned previously in 2004 in Vegas. I was towards the end of the line. I got here at 11 p.m. last night and came in a taxi—just me and my bag. I think my chances are good if I get a fair shot.

Reno David, Mililani, HI Age 28
“I’ve auditioned twice before, for Season 2 and Season 3. I’ve gotten to Hollywood both times. It was really fun and a good experience for me. I do some singing in Hawaii but not professionally. It’s part of the culture in Hawaii; we do a lot of singing. I grew up in Mililani, the same city as Jasmine Trias (Season 3 third-place finisher). It’s a small island, so everyone knows each other. I just made the age cutoff by one month, so this is my last shot.”

Richard Herron, Santa Clarita, CA Age 27
“I’m a musician, an actor, and a poet. I play drums as well in a working band. This is a great opportunity. I’m chasing a dream I’ve always wanted, to be a vocalist and a singer. This is my first time auditioning. I thought about it before, but not enough to actually do it. I like the fact that it’s more acceptable for rock singers, thanks to Bo Bice and Chris Daughtry. Before that, American Idol seemed to be a pop and R&B competition, and now rock has kind of infused itself. And I’m a rocker!”

Bahe Karapetyan, Los Angeles, CA Age 26
“I started to watch the show since I got to America two years ago. I think I have a talent and I think this is the right place to do something that I really love. I studied in the conservatory back in Armenia, training as an opera singer. I’m hoping that maybe if I get on American Idol I’m going to go far.”

Renee Brown. Los Angeles, CA Age 17
“One of the things the judges said was that all four of us had image issues. He said we all were good, but he didn’t think we were ready. I’ve been singing for 10 years. It’s my life. This was more of a learning experience more than anything. I’ll be in Washington and I think I’ll audition again. Most people don’t understand. This is my life; this is what I do. In a different city it’ll be a different atmosphere, different people. I got to sing two songs: ‘Angels in Waiting’, I’m not sure who it is by, and ‘In the Rough’ by Anna Nalick.”

Allan Yang, Irvine, CA Age 20
“My friends told me American Idol was coming and suggested I go. So here I am. I sing and have training in vocal choir and singing lead. I’m experienced in performing. I’m performing a song I wrote and ‘You Raise Me Up’ by Josh Groban. Both are pretty powerful songs. I wish the auditions were indoors. It’s brutal. No water. I think it’s going to be a long wait. I’ve been here for about 10 hours now.”

Barby Robens, Healy, ID Age 23
“I sing a lot and everybody in my small town has always supported me to just go for it. So we took a road trip. It took us 14 hours, but we got here Sunday afternoon because we thought it was going to be a rat race. Right outside of Ely, Nevada—going 70 in a 55 zone—a cop pulled me over. I was like, ‘I’m going to do American Idol! Do you want me to sing for you?” He walked away and came back and said, “Good luck with American Idol… later.” So we got off without getting a ticket.”

Emily Giles, San Diego, CA Age 21
“We did it last year. I misplace everything. I’m with three of my girlfriends and a baby. We were planning on being here early. They gave us our tickets when we registered yesterday and when we got here this morning, I didn’t have my tickets. We went back to the hotel and searched through everything and they were nowhere to be found. So we got new tickets and now we’re the last to audition. I feel so bad! I lose everything! My friends said they didn’t know why they let me hold the tickets!”

Bret Engemann, Los Angeles, CA Age 28.
“I played with the Oakland Raiders until last year. I grew up in a musical family. My dad was the Vice President of A&R at Capitol Records for 25 years. I came out to have fun. Every once in awhile I’ll hook up with my family and sing karaoke and people would tell me that I should try out for American Idol. Over the past few years, I thought, ‘Nah, this is not for me.’ This year I’m 28 years old, so this is the last year I can try out. I think I have a pretty good shot.”

Pippi, Long Beach, CA Age 28
“I auditioned four years ago for Season 1 when no one knew who the judges were. I made it to the auditions with Simon, Paula, and Randy but when I walked into the room, I saw Paula and totally froze. I couldn’t sing. I was star-struck. I’ve been thinking about it all these years and then when they extended the age limit, I decided, ‘what the hell!’”

We caught up with her after she got cut for a second time.
“They liked the song and asked me to sing another one. The same thing that happened to me the first time I auditioned happened again! That’s where they got me this time; I wasn’t prepared. I thought I had them and they asked me to do another song—and I froze.”

Randy Fabiano, Los Angeles, CA Age 25.
“I came to LA from El Paso, Texas to be a big star, but that was six years ago—it didn’t actually happen that way. I’m a songwriter and have been playing the scene for a long time. I would say that Bo Bice set the stage and opened the door for us rock singers to come in.”

Porshaa J., Los Angeles, CA Age 16
“We got here at 5 a.m. It was exhausting waiting in line, but it was worth it when I got the golden ticket. I was the only one in my group that got to go through. I was the youngest one, too. I sang Mary J Blige’s ‘I’m Going Down’ and Toni Braxton’s ‘Unbreak My Heart.’ The judge asked me to sing another one and he suggested that I should reduce the riffs and just sing it, and that I had a pure voice. He said he thought I was going to make it in the competition. I’ve been singing forever and everyone told me I should do American Idol—that it might be my big break. I just turned 16 so I’m barely legal.”

Cameron Chase Neal, Simi valley, CA. Age: 19
“I sang two songs: an original called ‘Off Guard’ by my band Off Guard. I felt like I could make the judges feel for me because of my range and it went well. After that, he asked me to sing any song that he’d recognize so I sang some Red Hot Chili Peppers. I have a band and I write my own songs and produce my own music on the computer. I do community theatre and I recently started doing student films. Acting, singing, dancing… I do whatever comes up. I auditioned last year in Vegas and got cut at the producers in the first round. I was actually a lot more confident this time because I had done it the year before and I understood that if I lost, it wasn’t about me, it was about what American Idol wants for this season.”

Cassie Gramberg, Malibu, CA. Age: 17.
“My mom has always encouraged me to sing. I’ve always wanted to be a singer. Three days ago, she told me they were auditioning for American Idol here in LA. I was excited. I wanted to give it a shot, and I think I gave it my best shot. I got to sing three songs: ‘Nemo’ by Night Wish, ‘Bathwater’ by No Doubt, and ‘Family Portrait’ by Pink.

Garland Hayes, Rancho Cucamonga, CA Age 16.
“At first I didn’t want to do American Idol because I thought if you didn’t win you could never get the American Idol stigma off you. My best friend changed my mind. He tried out and didn’t make it, and he was telling me that it was so much fun. Plus, you can get a lot of free publicity. I got the Mohawk and dyed my hair red and blonde because I wanted to do something different and stand out.”