Need Your Advice

Dear Friends & Colleagues,

{Quickly: While I have your attention, for those in SF on 10/16, save
the date for my Art Star Karaoke (ASK) event at New Langton Arts–all
your favorite art stars singing & schmoozing to benefit NLA… More
to come.}

Meanwhile… I need your help. As you may have noticed, I've recently
been working on a number of art projects related to pop music. For
the last three months I've been in training to audition for American
Idol. (!!!) You can check out my blog, detailing all of my various
wardrobe, physique, complexion, vocal, and general
personality-training exercises here: http://www.marisaolson.com.
(Greatest hits from the blog and a recent NY Times article about it
are below.)

What I need from you, now, is advice on what to SING at my
audition… please login and let me know what you think. The
auditions are on October 5th, so I really need your advice, ASAP, so
that I can practice over the weekend before lining up to camp out on
Monday. –Thanks!

Greatest Hits from Marisa's American Idol Audition Training Blog:

Tabitha Soren interviews me:
http://americanidolauditiontraining.blogs.com/marisa/2004/09/talking_h
eads_2.html

Tanning Salon Snafu:
http://americanidolauditiontraining.blogs.com/marisa/2004/09/one_sizzl
in_son.html

Practicing in Foreign Parts:
http://americanidolauditiontraining.blogs.com/marisa/2004/08/accordion
_to_me.html

Solid Gold-Inspired Workouts:
http://americanidolauditiontraining.blogs.com/marisa/2004/08/gold_rush.html

Training With Power Tools:
http://americanidolauditiontraining.blogs.com/marisa/2004/07/she_works
_hard_.html

Stiletto Training:
http://americanidolauditiontraining.blogs.com/marisa/2004/07/do_bliste
rs_cou.html

Crunch injuries:
http://americanidolauditiontraining.blogs.com/marisa/2004/07/ouch.html

From the New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/23/technology/circuits/23diar.html?oref=lo=
gin
(clipped)

An 'American Idol' Hopeful's Blog
By LISA NAPOLI
Published: September 23, 2004

Many people harbor rock superstar fantasies, but few confess it in
public. Marisa Olson does in her blog, in which she chronicles
preparations for her audition for the television show "American
Idol." Ms. Olson said she was "thrilled" when she learned the show
increased its cutoff age for prospective contestants to 28 from 26.
(She is 27.) She plans to attend an open audition on Oct. 5 in the
San Francisco Bay Area, where she lives.

Proof that would-be music stars must not only focus on their pitch is
evident at her Web site,
americanidolauditiontraining.blogs.com/marisa.

"I've been thinking that I need a 'look,' and that my blond hair and
blue eyes prequalify me for the 'California girl look,' " she wrote
in one recent entry. "So, I went down to my local tanning salon and
sold my soul for a little UV. Twenty minutes later I had a sunburn.
Two hours later I had a rash. Now I just feel stupid!"

It is clear that Ms. Olson, a Ph.D. candidate in film and digital
media at the University of California, Berkeley, is anything but
stupid. She began the blog, she said, to deal with her insecurities
about auditioning: her age, weight (she is not rail-thin) and
criticism from friends who might frown on her indulgence in this bit
of popular culture: "Basically, this feels like going up for the
world's biggest high school talent contest, and it's reviving all my
old insecurities."

But the very act of tending the blog helps to mitigate that, Ms.
Olson said. "I'm excited to bring a self-reflexive touch to the
processes associated with this all-star American spectacle."


<<Sorry to those of you who received this more than once. If you'd
like to be removed from this list, just let me know… know hard
feelings.>>