Cobus Bodenstein/M-Net
''Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, yearning to sing free. Send these to me. I lift my logo beside beside the golden door!''
Like the Statue of Liberty and the immigrants of yore flocking to Ellis Island and the promise of what might be, hopeful contestants flooded the kick-off Idols Cape Town audition day today. Cape Town is the first stop for the sixth season of the show that will start broadcasting on M-Net in July.
One contestant hitchhiked his way since last week from Pacaltsdorp near George. In a corner a patient mother nursed a baby. A hopeful wheelchair contestant who made it to the second floor of the Cape Town Convention Centre (CTICC) had a car numberplate attached at the back with her name on it. Meanwhile Idols co-host Liezel van der Westhuizen wondered aloud about the pronounciation of Lady GaGa's real name, while thousands queued and waited since before dawn, for their chance at fame and glory.
For more photos of the Cape Town Idols audition day and more of what I saw and heard, click on READ MORE below.
Some slept through the night, others were there hours before dawn and the official opening time of 8:00 for this morning's Cape Town audition day of Idols. When Idols co-host Liezel van der Westhuizen went for her morning gym session in the early hours of the morning, lines already stretched out and around the massive corner of the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC).
Under the contestants: last year's Wooden mic winner who hails from the Western Cape: Jan Delarey Wagner, hoping that maybe this year he'll make it through to the theatre rounds.
When I visited the CTICC was packed. Contestants were queueing in long lines, sitting everywhere, milling about, chatting excitedly on their cellphones, doing crossword puzzles on the floor. Moms were there with babies - they were both contestants, and they were mothers of contestants waiting anxiously to hear the news. I counted three wheelchair contestants who arrived, hoping they might have a chance.
The large waiting area was too small for all the Idols contestants to get a seat. Here is the final waiting area for registration that the line above, lead into at the back of this room. The guy playing guitar was just one of many strumming away, with audible songs from wannabee superstars rising up everywhere.
The registration table where Idols contestants had their details captured and get a number and then have to wait until they're called for a headshot. Stardom really doesn't happen overnight.
Idols contestants get their headshots taken. Notice the little red and white box. Contestants too short, have to stand on it - just like Tom Cruise - to appear taller than what they really are. Already the wannabee celebrities are being taught the tricks of the showbiz trade.
The Cape Town Idols auditions continue tomorrow (Wednesday). If the overwhelming response in Cape Town is any indication, thousands more are waiting for their chance to impress the Idols judges later in the month and in May.
The rest of South Africa gets their chance as follows:
17 April: Durban, at the Gateway Theatre of Shopping
24 April: Johannesburg at the Sandton International Convention Centre
2 May: Port Elizabeth at the Boardwalk shopping centre
8 May: Bloemfontein at the Windmill entertainment centre
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FIRST LOOK! Liezel loves Idols.
