It wasn't a talent senior Amber Daigre realized she had until she joined her high school choir, but once she noticed she could do more than just hold a note, the San Francisco Bay area native set her sights on being a star.
And during an era of reality television that takes ordinary people and makes them everything from roommates to shipmates to superstars, Daigre almost had her chance. She auditioned for the WB's Popstars2, a show that takes young adults with musical talent and turns them into superstars.
After watching the original Popstars show in fall 2000, Daigre decided to try out for the second season, Popstars2. The show, which chronicles the audition process and follows the chosen group on their way to stardom, held open auditions for 18- to 25-year-olds in six cities.
Daigre auditioned for the group in Washington, D.C., last summer while working as a youth counselor for at-risk children.
On the day of the auditions, Daigre arrived at 5 a.m. and got in line with hundreds of other excited Popstars hopefuls, some of whom had been there from noon the day before. The auditions lasted the entire day and consisted of groups of five taking turns singing and dancing before three judges.
By the end of the day, Daigre estimates the judges narrowed the pool of about 800 to 50. After the next day of individual singing tryouts, the group was down to about 25. The remaining competitors participated in a dance audition the week after and then waited for calls from the judges letting them know if they made it to the final workshop.
"It was nerve wracking," she said. "It was hard."
Daigre stayed in the running until the third round but got a call letting her know she had not made it to the workshop part of the competition.
Though she was disappointed, Daigre said she had no real desire to be a part of the final group but wanted to see how she measured up. "I hadn't auditioned before in a really competitive environment," she said. "I just wanted to see if I could be a contender."
Now she knows she can. "I have a much stronger sense of confidence that I can not only sing on a smaller scale but that there is actually a possibility of something bigger in the music industry," she said.
Daigre was approached by two talent scouts while in line, one who wanted her to join a singing group that would compete directly with Destiny's Child. But the psychology and Spanish major said she is focused on her studies and plans to attend graduate school.
"In order for a music career to derail me from my academic pursuits, it would have to be serious," she said. "It would have to be something that showed a potential for promise."
The show airs every Thursday at 8 p.m. Daigre appeared on the second and third episodes of the show.
Daigre is not the first Duke student to get a shot at becoming a Popstar. First-year law student Shalisha Francis auditioned for the first Popstars and made it through the fourth round of cuts. During her year off between college and law school, she decided to pursue the music career she has always dreamed of.
"It was fun," she said. "I wouldn't trade it for the world."
If anything, Francis said the auditions gave her the sense that she was actually working toward her goals.
"I would hate to say that here I had this great dream of being a singer and I didn't try," she said. "But I did."
Francis, like Daigre, said that while she would love to have a career as a singer, she is focused on her academics. "Right now, I'm into entertainment law because its the sensible thing to do," she said. "I can't live in dreams forever."
Francis joined a singing group for a short time but quit after she realized the group was not making any progress.
But Francis will not let go of her dream, and although Durham is not a hot spot for casting calls and tryouts, she plans to jump at other opportunities that come her way. "I haven't given up 100 percent," she said. "It's not something you let go. Not as a five-year-old, a 15-year-old or a 50-year-old. It's not a dream that will just go away."
Daigre agreed. "Music is such a part of me that I can't imagine not doing it," she said. "Not singing is not an option."
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