Do you sing in the shower? Were you rejected from the Dodecs after staying up until 3 a.m. through a long and arduous audition process? Have you sung in a band, for your friends in a karaoke bar or just for yourself in front of a mirror with your hairbrush?
Well, stardom may not be far away after all -- no more than a few days, in fact. Auditions for the first ever "Dartmouth Idol" will be taking place this weekend.
Modeled on the hit TV show "American Idol," "Dartmouth Idol" will involve Dartmouth students in every level of production. Students interested in competing, judging, or hosting can fill out a quick application on DartmouthIdol.com. Contestants will receive e-mails with audition times starting on Jan. 12. Potential hosts or judges will be contacted for an interview with Director of the Gospel Choir Walt Cunningham and Director of Hop Ensembles Joshua Kol, who are spearheading the project.
A group of 24 semi-finalists will be chosen by a panel of judges composed of Cunningham, Kol, Director of the Glee Club Louis Burkot, Black Student Advisor Samantha Ivery and Hop Student Marketing Coordinator Michael Amico '07. Contestants will memorize a song of their choice and sing the chorus and one verse, a capella. During the auditions, candidates will be filmed on camera backstage.
Three students will be selected to join the judge's panel in the semifinal and final rounds, which are both open to the public.
During the semifinals contestants will choose a song from a list to sing with a karaoke machine. The audience and judges will then choose six finalists to go on to perform in Spaulding Auditorium on March 6 with a live band.
Winners of the first, second and third place will receive cash prizes, and the "Dartmouth Idol" will have the opportunity to record a demo of two songs with Cunningham and an engineer.
"The first Dartmouth Idol may not be a 'star,' but it's a chance to cultivate talent," Kol said.
The competition itself promises to be a great learning opportunity for any aspiring singer. Semi-finalists will be able to participate in rehearsals with members of the Hop staff and perform group numbers with each other. The Hop is even arranging a special question and answer session with acclaimed actor Kevin Bacon, when he comes to campus to receive the Dartmouth Film Award on Jan. 25.
Kol and Cunningham aspire to take performance out of the Hop context and give interested students a new space to explore their passion for music. Typically, singing at Dartmouth has been focused around a capella groups and Hop ensembles and choirs, all of which have limited spots yet receive hoards of applicants each year. Plenty of raw talent is left untapped, which "Dartmouth Idol" will hopefully draw upon.
"Singing has always been an important factor at Dartmouth," Kol commented, adding that anybody who sings, or who has thought about performing, should feel welcome to audition.
"[Dartmouth Idol] is for people to express their gift, even if they didn't necessarily plan to go into music," Cunningham said.
By providing a new forum for student performances, "Dartmouth Idol" encourages students to collaborate around a creative and challenging project.
"We want to try to get people to come together -- people who usually don't have a reason to," Kol said.
"Many people ask me about the diversity of the Gospel Choir," Cunningham said. "'How are you able to keep it alive and well?' By focusing on [our music], a common mission and purpose, and not on how we're different. Music is universal. It draws us together."
By riding the wave of American Idol excitement, "Dartmouth Idol" may help place arts at Dartmouth in a more mainstream light. The prospect of cheering on friends, voting for the best performer and hearing student judges comment on the performances of fellow students will possibly attract spectators who may never have attended an arts event before.
"'Idol' places performance in a more accessible format, while still maintaining the highest possible standards and demanding the most serious critique," Amico said in an e-mail.
Kol responded laughingly to the idea that "Dartmouth Idol" could be televised, but said that the Hop would love to consider it.
For now, contestants will have to be content with their involvement in the entertaining competition process, with the title of 'campus celebrity' to spur them on.
