How to get tickets to American Idol

Yesterday afternoon I was able to watch a bit of pop culture history in person. I went to a live taping of AMERICAN IDOL!!!!!!!!  I have to admit, this season has not been my favorite. There just isn’t anyone that I have been really excited about.  But when I received that email telling me my name had been selected, I jumped on the chance of being able to see how it all happens. I am so glad that I did because it was a BLAST!

I was lucky enough to score four tickets to the live taping of the Tuesday Night show. I took my husband, Uncle Bill, and his eleven year old granddaughter Cecilia. You do have to be 14 to attend a taping of American Idol so we lied through our teeth about her age. We quickly learned we are very bad liars. When they asked us what year she was born in, we stammered and stuttered and gave the wrong year. Figuring out math under pressure is hard! Luckily, after some begging and pleading, they told us to work on our story and let us through.

LESSON FOR THE DAY: If you are going to attempt to sneak someone under 14 into American Idol, have a good back story. Or at the very least, come up with a birth date. Note: Just as with most of life, these rules don’t seem to be enforced if you are famous or extremely wealthy.

While in line outside of the studio, we struck up a conversation with a contestant’s wife.  I was shocked to find out that they have to wait in line just like the rest of us. One would think that the contestant’s families were important enough not to have to wait outside with the common folk. Evidently not. I did not, however, see the cast of Glee lined up with us (who was there to promote there show. I was very excited about that) nor did I see the woman who I later found out was one of the Real Housewives of Orange County. Not sure if you can consider her famous. So I am gonna chalk that one up to wealth…

As with most things Hollywood, the studio was much smaller in person than it appeared on tv. Its amazing what lighting, cameras, and a little Hollywood magic can do. There was a great energy inside the building and they did a wonderful job of keeping the audience pumped up before the show and between commercial breaks.

Speaking of audience- there isn’t a bad seat in the house. The studio is very small so even if you are in the back, you are still going to see everything just fine.

All the performers had great voices, though some did perform MUCH better than others. Ryan Seacrest is truly great at what he does. He seems to truly love his job.  Simon looked even more bored in person than he does on screen. I think he has already checked out…

Now for the question I have been asked alot lately- How did you get tickets to American Idol? Well, it was really easy. Last year, I went on a website called On Camera Audiences and entered my info to get in the lottery for tickets. Then, a couple days ago I got an email saying my name had been selected followed by a link to more instructions.  I was given three choices: 1. The Tuesday dress rehearsal show, which is essentially the exact same show but without the judges. 2. The Live Tuesday Performance Show or 3. The Wednesday Results show. I chose option two. I was able to reserve up to four tickets, so I selected the maximum and hit send! It was easy as that. I think I got my first show choice because I happened to be on my computer when the email was sent. I am sure the longer it takes you to respond, the less likely you will receive your first choice.

There are other shows you can sign up for from that site as such as So You Think You Can Dance (which I have been selected for twice but have been out of town both times!!!!!) and Dancing With the Stars, so sign up for as many shows as you are interested in. Good Luck!