Eclectically_Me

#475 Forgot the Damn Lines

• By Eclecticallyme
• September 11, 2011
• 2 Comments

2005…BET goes on a multi-city search for the next hosts for the wildly popular show, 106th & Park Countdown. With the unexpected exit of Free & AJ, BET needed someone who could keep the show alive. You know, someone youthful, charismatic, a music lover and  easy on the eyes. Yes. Me. They needed me! So what did I do upon hearing about the search? I did what any other person in search of stardom and fame would do. I checked to see if they were coming to Chicago. Oh heck yes they were, and oh heck yes I was going. Not only was I going, but I was going to win.

BET’s New Faces Search is what it was titled. Auditions were held on Monday October 10th, which worked out great for me because I didn’t have to take off from work, due to it being Columbus Day. The exact location was held in downtown Chicago at club Excalibur. Although the auditions were being held on Monday, people had already begun to arrive Sunday evening. I became privy to this information via the radio. I remember hearing the disc jockey say that some people had been camped out since like 5pm. WTH?! The auditioning was scheduled to start at 7am, and  I hadn’t planned on going down there until around 3a.m. I instantly scrapped those plans and prepared myself to leave the house asap. I arrived downtown around 12am. I found a park, got out of the car, and began to walk towards the building only to see the line wrapped around the building, and around the corner…and down another block. I could not believe the multitude of people that were out there. I must say though, that it was, and still is, one of the best experiences of my life. The eclectic mix of people that I met on that seasonably cool night; and the temporary bonds that were formed on the streets of Chicago over 12hrs, has left an indelible mark in mental scrapbook.

At one point I fell asleep standing up…no lie, really I did. Our numbers were handed out to us around 6am. 475. That was my number. I the 475th person to arrive for a chance to be the new host of 106th & Park. Polaroids were also taken of us before we entered the building. I finally got inside of the building at approximately 10am. I made it through the first round of the audition process. Yaay! We had to mock introduce a video and a guest. After that I became uber confident. I just knew I was gonna make it through to  the third round which was held in Los Angeles. All those whom had made it to the next round were directed downstairs to another area where we signed more release papers. We weren’t told what would be happening next until about an hour later. The whole time we were down there most of us were chillin’ and minglin’. Very few were looking at the lines we’d been given earlier. So imagine my dismay when it was announced that we would be auditioning in front of BET’s producers next. What the fudge?!! Ummm nobody thought to mention that prior to us going downstairs? I had not practiced the flippin’ lines at all. I was still so excited by just being there, and so ensconced with all the aura in the room.

Sooo once again I find myself in another line. Only this time, this was the real deal audition. One by one each of us went into the next room to take our chance at fame…in my case doom. I took my behind in there and completely blacked out. I uttered the first few words of the lines, stopped, glanced at the cue cards, and that’s when my ship sunk. Womp Womp Womp. I don’t even remember what the heck was said after that. What I do know, is that I was sent out of a door that was like hidden in a dark corner. Nothing says rejection like  walking out of a hidden exit door. LOL I must say that I was disappointed at myself. *sad face* However, I did get at least my 15 seconds of fame. BET used footage from the auditions for the promo commercials. And yes, your girl was seen numerous times throughout the day flubbing her lines on the commercial! (I was cute though) Plus, I became somewhat of a local celeb. People would actually recognize me. True Stuff. I thought it funny actually. Needless to say, I did not watch 106th & Park from that day forth. I’ll admit it…I was bitter. Don’t judge me. Going forward that was my last quest for television fame; and I’d had a handful of them prior to this one. I finally came to the realization that that wasn’t my purpose/destiny.

Moral of the story is this, “Make sure the DREAM you CHASE is ALIGNED with your PURPOSE”.