I DID IT :OOO

Not as scary as I thought it would be, and I think I took in way more information than what I was supposed to. Also, a lot of the blogs I read online misinformed me about certain things, but I guess it's just because I was in a different area/country than those who wrote their posts. ANYWAY, let's get into it.

First off, I didn't tell anyone I was going to a singing audition (yeah, I sang): I find that when I tell people about things, it creates more pressure on me to do well. I still haven't told anyone, now that it's over...Well, I'm telling whoever is reading this now, but we don't live in the same city/country/hemisphere. Maybe.
I got a ride from my mom to near where the auditions were taking place. (I told her a white lie that I was meeting a friend for lunch.) I was worried that she would figure out I was lying, but she didn't say anything. (WHAT A GREAT MOM SRSLY. Because if she did sense something was wrong, she didn't let on and I love her for that. I was already nervous as is.) She finally left me at the mall (where I was "meeting my friend") because she had her own errands to run, so I walked over to the hotel for my audition time. My audition time was 13:00 (1:00 pm), and I made it to the application table at around 12:45 pm. On my way to the second floor where the waiting room was, I expected to see a lot of people just standing around. Like, A LOT of people. But I only saw about 20-ish, sitting around or standing. At the registration table, there were a couple people sitting behind it. The guy gave me a sticker to wear, and the lady gave me a paper and told me to fill it out in the waiting room. (TIP. This is where a good tip came in from research online: bring a pen. The staff that were walking around the waiting room had pens, but if you bring your own, it will be much simpler, since you won't have to give it back (; )

*From reading blogs online, I gathered that most people had to wait a few hours before they actually had to go up and audition. Lots of people said to bring something to do while waiting and/or go to the location super early. I found that this wasn't the case: maybe it was because there weren't as many people auditioning as other places, but I was out of there by 2:15 pm. Somehow the time went by really quickly; it was probably the nerves.

During that waiting time, it's a good idea to talk to people. Everyone is nervous and everyone loves Kpop, so don't just stay quiet in a corner: say hi to people, introduce yourself, ask if it's their first time auditioning, figure out what their auditioning for, ask who their favourite Kpop group is. Trust me, you'll thank me for it. You'll get to meet new people AND fellow lovers of Kpop :D I met Zoey and Emily, and a couple other people who I didn't get the names of. I got Zoey's Instagram, but when I looked her up to follow her, I don't think the account is right...HI ZOEY REMEMBER ME??? Haha, I don't think she'll ever find this post, but it's worth a shot ^^

Oh, and TIP. Practice. For singers, warm up your voice A TON. Get rid of those nerves, sing as much as possible before you're called, because you do *not* want to sound shaky when you finally go into your audition. Walk out into the parking lot, find an empty bathroom, sing right where you're sitting in the waiting room. Other people might get annoyed, but no one got annoyed at me for doing it, so I give you permission XD
As for dancers, I can't really give you advice on practicing, since I have no idea about dance and it's freestyle, but in general, know what you're good at and go with it. Showcase a move you're good at, keeping in mind with the beat...I think the first two dancers I saw were great, because they showed a variety of moves, but it was also a little overwhelming. But, again, I am not a dancer, so take this with a grain of salt.

Right, and with this practice tip, you're allowed to not be in the waiting room the entire time. Go up to the bathroom, leave to practice, walk around the place, get comfortable.

When you're finally called up to audition, you'll be with about 20 other people. Walk in the order of your audition number, it makes the staffs lives easier and the audition process a lot smoother. All 20 of you are going into the room together, so remember that other than the "judge" and the camera guy, there will be other auditioners with you while you sing/dance/pose/etc. 10 stand up at a time, so the other 10 sit on the side of the room and wait until the first 10 has finished. TIP. Look at the camera while you do any audition. This is what the judge wants, because they look over the footage once the day is done, I'm guessing. It'd be weird to watch the video and not see the person not looking at the camera, y'know?
Before going into the room, a guy told us that unless we were told that we were accepted in the audition, we wouldn't be getting a response email...Which wasn't the exact wording, but it still made me confused. Was there anyone that was actually told they were amazing after their audition? The only thing that my judge said was "ta-eum" (next) and "su-go-hae-sseumnida" (I think that's how you say it...which means good work). So, is no one getting an email? CONFUSION.
In my group, there were singers, dancers, and one model. The singers and models go first because it's a lot quicker, and then the dancers go afterwards since the judge plays the music to freestyle to.

I had a few songs running around in my head, but I ended up performing Sweater Weather by The Neighbourhood. Before the auditions actually began for our group of 200 or so people, a guy told us at the front of the waiting room to keep our song to the chorus or highlight only. I sang the chorus of the song, and realized while I was singing that it wasn't enough, so I ended up singing the second verse of the song as well. I messed up in the middle of the second verse though (I may or may not have forgotten the lyrics :P ), but I recovered alright...Eh. I showed my personality with my goofiness so I'm okay with it.
Like I said in my previous post, I'm not all too optimistic about getting a call back and I don't care if I do. Obviously I have a tiny spark of hope in my heart, but I won't be too disappointed if I don't hear anything.

After everyone in the group goes, you're free to go. The dancers usually stay behind. For what reason, I don't know. A couple of us were speculating though: one could be that the judge wants to see some actual dancing (Emily told me that a guy in her group just b-boy'd and the judge probably wanted to see some actual choreo), and the other could be because the person has a good appearance (one girl in my group was very tall and had a small, pretty face). 

So yeah, that's what happened. Now I'm curious about what happens afterwards. I wish I introduced myself to everyone in the room, because I want to know if anyone is going to get contacted. Does everyone who auditioned get an email? Do only those who were successful do? What happens after the "Welcome to SM" email?...That's probably not what it's called, but a girl can be funny, right? ^^ It would be cool to know someone who's an SM trainee, don't you think?

One more thing, pretty sure I was the oldest one of all the people who were auditioning, but I didn't look it. (Zoey told me she thought I was in grade 12 LOL. Remember, I graduated from university and I'm 22. It's a blessing or a curse, I don't know which one yet.)

If you guys have any other questions, ask! I'll try my best to answer. <3