On Wednesday, Oct. 30, in the freezing cold, over 4,000 people stood in line to see if they had what it takes to be on the show American Idol 2.

Among the thousands of people waiting in line was Amber McAdams, a sophomore Seconday Education/ Math major from Greenfield.

Amber arrived at 6 a.m. and stood in line for hours. At first they stamped a number on everyone’s hand and in the inside palm was a stamp of the American Idol logo.

They did this so nobody could just write a number on their hand. Amber ended up being number 1,572.

The first round of winners received a wristband. They started giving these out at 8 a.m. Wristbands were given out based on what the producers wanted.

There were cameras everywhere so they could watch every move and action.

Some people had to sing to get their wristbands and some didn’t. Each wristband was a different color, which meant that you got to come back and sing on a different day.

A chance to perform for the judges would either come on Wednesday afternoon, Thursday or Friday.

Amber didn’t have to sing, but received a wristband and was asked to come back on Friday. Only 1,500 out of the 4,000 were asked to come back to the second round.

On Friday, McAdams left Martin at 2 a.m., took blankets and stood in line starting at 6 a.m.

There were 800 who came back on Friday to sing. They had to bring two forms of identification and had to sign a form giving the show permission to do whatever they wanted from that time on.

At first, the producers took all of them into the auditorium and talked to them, giving them positive reinforcement.

They told them to basically give it their all. Next, only five people went into a room together to perform. There were two judges, which were both producers of the show.

The contestants had to come in the middle, say their name and number that they were given and say what the song was they wanted to sing.

They were only given 30 seconds of singing time.

“Right before I sung, I got an amazing rush that I always get when performing in front of others,” McAdams said, “but there weren’t any butterflies in my stomach. Just having the opportunity to perform was enough for me.”

I Will Love Again was the song that Amber chose to perform for the judges.

Although Amber didn’t make it to the third round, the experience will stay with her.

The judges were looking for something different. Something different from Kelly Clarkson.

The third round consisted of 75 contestants that were picked out of the 1,500.

They performed either on Saturday or Sunday in front of the shows’ famous tough judges: Paula Abdul, Randy Jackson and Simon Cowell.

From those 75 contestants, only 10 were chosen to go to Los Angeles, California to be on the show.

Nashville wasn’t the only city that held auditions for the show. There were also auditions in Detroit, New York, Atlanta, Miama, Austin and Los Angeles.

“It was an awesome experience and I would do it again in a heartbeat, because I love to sing more than anything in the world,” McAdams said.

American Idols 2 will air in the beginning of 2003. Watch to see who will be the next American Idol!