Yesterday I went out to Long Island’s Nassau Coliseum with my friend Kristell to watch The X Factor taping.

I’ve never been part of a live audience before, so this was pretty exciting for me.

However, my excitement disappeared when the clock struck 1pm and they weren’t letting us in. The ticket told us to arrive by then, so we got there around 12:25pm. We didn’t actually go inside until about 2:25.

The sun was unbearably hot. The soles of my feet were killing me and there’s a tan line from my flats on both of my feet.

When we got inside I was starving, so I bought cotton candy. It cost me $6.75. Since when does cotton candy cost six freaking dollars and seventy-five cents?!

Once Kristell and I sat down and I put the cotton candy in my mouth, I got excited again.

Jay Flats pumped the crowd up while we waited for the judges to arrive. We “got rowdy” to Martin Solveig and Dragonette’s “Hello” and Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe.”

Then they did a sound check. Amy, a member of the crew, sang “Rollin’ on the River.” She was really good.

Amy performing “Rollin’ on the River” for the sound check
Photo Credit: Kristell Taylor

After the sound check came the camera check. Audience members either got really shy, excited, or did nothing when they saw their faces on the big screen. The elderly were most likely to do nothing when the camera focused in on them.

At around three, judges Demi Lovato, Paulina Rubio, and Kelly Rowland showed up. They began auditions without Simon Cowell.

Simon didn’t arrive until three auditions later. When he walked in, the Franco Sisters were on stage and they thought the screams and cheers were for them. Unfortunately, as soon as he opened his mouth I wished he had gone back to wherever he came from.

He blamed Demi for his lateness, saying that she texted him to be there at 3:30 instead of 3. How dare he!

Then he told the older Franco sister off. I won’t spoil that part for you, but I think that what he said to her was unnecessary.

The youngsters were definitely blowing us all away. The three to look out for are 13 year olds Hannah Johnson and Ashley, and 15 year old Isaiah Austin.

Another interesting performer was Steven, a 40 year old blueberry farmer from South Korea who moved to the US when he was 18. I wasn’t expecting him to be any good, but gosh did he shock us all with his audition! He sang “Wind Beneath My Wings” starting at the final chorus. Wow is all I can say to that.

Then of course there were the trolls, Vincent and Tara. The sad part about the trolls is that they let them sing for longer than the people that can actually carry a tune.

During the breaks in between auditions, there was a girl in my section with a Demi poster that had lights on it who kept screaming Demi’s name at the top of her lungs. By 4:30 she hardly had a voice. But she just kept on screaming. And Demi just kept on ignoring her.

Judges getting powdered up during the break
Photo Credit: Kristell Taylor

Overall my first experience as an audience member was okay. The waiting and the food prices were annoying, but otherwise I had a good time.