Preparing to audition for American Idol? What can you do to be the most prepared? We all know how it can go. You sing in front of the mirror beautifully just before you walk out of the house to your audition. You arrive at the audition and your turn is up to show them what you’ve got and you don’t even recognize yourself after you sing. What happened to all that prep? You are a bundle of nerves, your voice doesn’t feel attached to your body, your sound is meek, you go on auto-pilot, your vibrato jumps up too many notches, you twitch your face or do strange things with your hands, and your breathing, forget it, you can’t get a good breath without gasping to save your life. Any of this ring true?? I have experienced it all in my singing days. So what can we do to battle and be victorious over our auditioning experiences- especially for something as well known and publicized as American Idol? I thought I’d reach out to the American Idol audition community assuming many of you do not have that much auditioning experience. Although my singing career has been primarily focused in the genre of Opera, my teaching of Voice (for over 15 years) has been to all types of singers. I’d just love it if I could help you a bit. Here are a few thoughts. Top 10 Audition Tips for American Idol 1. Regular practice Your body and brain need to memorize what is correct, so if you do get blocked with nerves it still knows what to do. 2. Practice singing IN FRONT OF PEOPLE We spend so much time singing to accompaniment by ourselves in our homes and then expect to step out and deliver in our auditions. Auditioning itself takes practice. Whether you grab a friend, your kid brother, or your parents book club, sing for people. You need to practice being stared at while you sing! Find auditions in Backstage West, Craigslist, or a local music trade and go as often as you can. If you are serious about getting a certain singing gig than you need to practice auditioning for it before you actually go for it. Do these other auditions as a rehearsal for yourself so your body practices singing on nerves and adrenaline. Each time should get more comfortable, and who knows, you may find yourself in a great gig as a result. 3. Do your breathing Before your audition, remember to take some deep breaths. At least three slow focused deep breaths. Imagine that you are low in your body. When we are nervous our breath and voice tends to get too high and we loose our connections. There are fabulous breathing exercises on my volume 1 CD of Voice Lessons To Go- Vocalize and Breath. Sit and do some in your car before you go in for the audition. 4. Choose a great song that you know well and that shows off what you can do American Idol gives you a brief moment to make an impression. Pick your best song to sing, you only get one chance. Consider genre, range, and emotion when choosing your piece. Make sure that you select the best part of a song that will highlight your voice, as you only have seconds to maintain the interest of your auditioner. If you are going to be singing without any musical accompaniment, then feel free to bring a pitch pipe and knock out your pitch before you start, so you don’t find yourself singing to high or too low for the piece. 5. Remember to tell your story Every song has a story. Be in the story from the start of the music. Convey your words and emotions. Be the character in the song. The auditioner needs to feel that you feel the music. This will help to distract you from your the nerves and focus on your performance. 6. Keep your feet grounded Try and sense a heaviness in your body before and during the audition. You want to stay as deep into your body and sound as possible. Imagine you are a tree and your feet are the roots buried under the earth, your legs a heavy trunk. Use any image to help you stay connected to your sound. 7. Sing into the center of each word and release each vowel “Stay on your voice,” as opposed to singing breathy with nerves. It helps if you can focus your sound into the center of each word. From the first word imagine you are in the middle of big lines of text. Use each consonant as a stepping stone into every vowel. Each vowel sound should be released and full. Don’t allow the language to block your sound, rather use it to release your sound. 8. Be yourself, let them get a feel for you are as a person Be friendly and warm from the start. It’s always great if we have a minute for a greeting. Use it if you have it. It is good to hear your speaking voice in the room before you open your mouth to sing. It will help relax you and lessen the shock of the audition. Also, shows like American Idol like people with unique stories- so if you have one, let them know. If you haven’t faced adversity or extreme circumstances, let them see what makes you unique. Your sense of humor, good soul, super intelligence, etc… 9. Visualization Go through the audition in your mind step by step and how you want it to turn out before your get there. A few nights before the audition, before you go to sleep, see yourself there, walk in, introduce yourself and sing through the whole song relaxed and with success. The more your body memorizes these good sensations, the better chance you have at mimicking them on auto pilot. 10. Use your nerves Take the nerves and turn them into performance energy. Push them down in your body and use them as a generator for a fabulous performance. Turn the nerves into what ever emotion is appropriate for your performance. I hope this helps! If you have any other great auditioning tips, send them on over! Happy singing! Ariella Vaccarino Thank you for subscribing to my blogs!  I am working hard to bring you great content and free singing advice.  Please take a moment to spread the words via the social book marking links below to help me build my readership.  Thank you! written by Ariella Vaccarino creator of Voice Lessons To Go(singing lessons on CD) and author of Vocalize! Want a professional opinion of how you sound?  Sign up for myVocal Assessment. Then send me a link or mp3 of you singing (audio/or audio visual) with your questions and I will get back to you with my feedback right away. Friend me on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/voicelessonstogo Follow me on twitter:http://www.twitter.com/voicelessons2go (I love a good retweet!)