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| Senior Brooklin Baker in front of the American Idol bus |
Brooklin Baker, a senior at John I. Burton, has recently auditioned for American Idol. She has found interest in singing since she was only three years old and has continued loving it up until present day. At J.I. Burton, she has used her vocal talents by participating in drama and forensics; she has also participated in pageants for many years.
Brooklin took on a four hour long drive to Chattanooga, Tennessee, where the audition was located. She was made aware of the audition through her mother, who saw it on Facebook. When asked what inspired her to audition, she replied, "I've always watched the show since I was little and I was excited when I finally got the chance to audition."
Brooklin states that there were over 1,000 other people to audition. Once it was time for her to audition for the producers, she and three other people go up together in front of them. One of the four people would step up one at a time and perform their song, and once they were done singing, they stepped back. Then, the producers gave their feedback. When it was Brooklin's turn to step up, she sang "The Breakup Song" by Francesca Battistelli.
Brooklin, sadly, didn't make it through to the next round. The producers told her that her strong singing style was not what they were looking for right now. "It went the way it should have; if they wanted more soft spoken singers, then I wasn't the one for them," she said when asked how she feels about the outcome of the audition. When asked if she would change anything about her performance, she replies, "I wouldn't change anything, I did fine, I just wasn't what they were looking for."
Brooklin would love to audition again, if there's ever a time that auditions are closer. When asked if she sees music in her future, she states, "I would love to, but it's whatever God's plan is for me."
"The best part of the experience was getting in air conditioning after waiting," she said. Brooklin stood out in the hot sun for five hours before she went inside and auditioned, so, the air conditioning was amazing. Unfortunately, during her experience at the audition, she never had a chance to see any of the celebrities well known from the show since the preliminary auditions are handled by other American Idol staff people.