Forget about going to Hollywood – these “American Idol” rejects didn’t even make it past the New Jersey Turnpike.
“You think you have what it takes – and then you get here,” said Matthew Stoghill, 23, of Columbus, Ga., one of about 15,000 “Idol” wannabes who strode into the Izod Center at the Meadowlands Tuesday.
“They were nice about it, at least. They said, ‘You are not what we are looking for,’ but it was hard to hear,” he said. “Maybe I shouldn’t have told them I’m getting an MBA.”
Others ran out the door bawling as if their dog had died.
“I thought this was about talent, not who had the biggest breasts,” one of the rejects – or “nonwinners,” as the show judiciously calls them – cried into her cellphone.
Packed into the arena, each contestant was given 20 seconds to prove they deserve another audition, which will determine who gets to be judged by Paula Abdul, Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson. The only true winners may have been the parking-lot concessions, which took each of the contestants for $12.
Many were coming back for the second, third and, in some cases, fourth time after not making the cut in the previous seven seasons of the Fox show.
Amber Valentin, 24, of Waterbury, Conn., wore a mock TV on her head to show “what I am going to look like when I win,” but the gimmick was not enough to get past the prescreening producers.
“There are 20,000 other blondes here who can sing, so I thought this would help me stand out,” she said. “Afterwards, they said, ‘I hope you haven’t been wearing that all day.’ “
Cher Izzo, 26, of Massapequa, LI, dressed up as Snow White to perform Carole King’s “I Feel the Earth Move.” But the producers did not think she was among the fairest of them all.
” ‘American Idol’ is an entertainment show first and a talent show second,” she said. “I think I am done – I am ready to move on with my life now.”