Voices in the crowd
They came, they waited, and they sang for a chance to be the next American Idol
FOXBOROUGH -- When it was all over, after Comfort Lassana put everything she had into her a cappella rendition of Gloria Gaynor's ''I Will Survive" and was politely told, ''You're not what we're looking for," she had no regrets about sleeping overnight in the wind and rain for a chance to be the next American Idol.
Instead, as she left Gillette Stadium, the Liberian-born woman who loves to sing preferred to see the setback as her dream delayed -- not her dream permanently denied.
''This is not the end of the world. I'm working on a CD, and hopefully sometime somebody will listen to it, so who knows?" said Lassana, 19, who now lives in Pawtucket, R.I. ''Life will still go on, and this was a good experience. Nobody can break my spirit."
Such perseverance was common yesterday as thousands came to the home of the New England Patriots to pursue their own championship -- an opportunity to be a contestant on the upcoming fifth season of Fox's popular ''American Idol." This was the third stop -- and the first ever in the Boston area -- on a six-city nationwide search for the next Kelly Clarkson or, perhaps, William Hung.
''Boston's been doing really well," said Patrick Lynn, coordinating producer of ''American Idol." ''I didn't expect this many people in the rain. But I'm totally happy, and the quality of talent that's coming through is great."
Participants arrived a day earlier to receive wristbands, which determined the order of auditions, so even with so many people, the scene was very orderly. Lynn had no exact numbers, but the Foxborough auditions surpassed the 5,300 who turned out in Austin, Texas. Auditions were closed to the media.
Since this was the only audition in the Northeast -- the other cities are San Francisco, Memphis, Denver, and Chicago -- there were many contestants from outside the Boston area. A former Marine, Corinne Bullington, 22, drove six hours from her home in Lansdale, Pa., near Philadelphia to audition. She performed ''Let Me Fall," from the Canadian cable TV show ''Instant Star," but she didn't get to move on to the next round.
''They said I wasn't what they were looking for, but they're casting a TV show, you know?" Bullington said, as she waited for other friends to finish their auditions. ''I'm still gonna sing, regardless of this, and it doesn't make me feel like my talent is any less. One door closes, a window opens."
Those asked back for the next round of auditions received the day's most precious commodity -- a blue sheet of paper with a map and directions to the Seaport Hotel in Boston, where additional tryouts will be held today with the show's executive producers. In October, the next round will be evaluated by ''American Idol" judges Randy Jackson, Simon Cowell, and Paula Abdul.
Lindsey LaFrance, 21, of Cranberry Lake, N.Y., gave one of yesterday's winning performances.
''He kept making me sing!" she screamed as she hugged her mother, that blue paper clutched tightly in her hand. ''I sang 'Stand by Me,' 'Sweet Child O' Mine,' even 'Mama Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys.' I started asking for suggestions because I only prepared for a couple of songs."
Throughout the day, bits of impromptu practice sessions bounced around the stadium. At a given moment, one could hear Etta James's torchy ''At Last" wafting from the parking lot, Rose Royce's ''I'm Goin' Down" seeping from near the ticket booths, and way too much of Alicia Keys's ''Fallin,' " seemingly from everywhere. (Someday, Keys will have to answer for introducing to the world a song every would-be vocalist believes is proof positive of his or her singing prowess.)
Then there was Curt Doble, 22, of Danvers, who showed up dressed as a member of the gory thrash metal band GWAR, in a costume constructed from duct tape. Moving from the ridiculous to the sublime, he even performed Vanilla Ice's ''Ice Ice Baby" before a phalanx of photographers.
Several of those who participated were ''American Idol" audition veterans. Bryan Jones, 26, of Queens, N.Y., tried out in New York for the show's third season, but this was his first time making it to the second round.
''It was a big help that I'd done this before," said Jones, who sang the Temptations classic ''Ain't Too Proud to Beg." ''I was a bit surprised [getting to the next round] because I have a cold."
Omar Ortiz, a Boston native who now lives in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., was attending his third audition, and he made it to the second round after performing Rascal Flatts's ''I'm Movin' On" and Garth Brooks's ''Kicking and Screaming."
''I sang about 40 seconds of the first song, then she asked me to do a more uptempo song, and she called me over and said I made it to the next round," said Ortiz, 26. His older sister, Nisi Rivera, may have been even more excited about her brother's success.
''He's the love of my life," she said with a beaming smile. ''I'm extremely proud. He's been waiting to be a singer his whole life, and he's worked so hard. He has an awesome, powerful voice."
Ortiz had already achieved what Brock Poulin of Turner, Maine, hoped for. He had hours to go before his audition, so he practiced the Commodores' ''Easy" in a nearby parking lot. Colorfully dressed in a pin-striped suit accessorized with a pink hat, pink shirt, pink laces in his black boots, and pink nail polish, Poulin, 22, admitted that he's ''not really a fan" of ''American Idol."
''I sing, I play, and I write my own music. I'm a musician, and I don't think the show really lets you add your element," he said. ''All the people who have won are wonderful singers, but the songwriting part isn't something they have a lot of say in. But I'll do it since I'd like to make a living off music. Even if the judges don't hear me, someone will hear me. Maybe someone will see me with the pink hat and say, 'That was the pink hat guy.' " 