Simon, Paula, and 98 Degrees

I’ve watched “American Idol” only once, but I still jumped at the chance to go...

“The X Factor,” now with both Simon and Paula, held live auditions in Dallas on Tuesday and Wednesday. So for Tuesday night my sister invited us to join her family as part of the studio audience.

The first surprise was a dress code. No flip-flops (not that I planned to wear any, but did they plan to film people’s feet?). We couldn’t wear white shirts, either, as if the cameras would zoom close enough to matter?

We got all dressed up with hair done and make-up perfect, and headed down to the American Airlines Center. Then to our great shock we stood outside (in heels, remember) in 98-degree weather. And we sweated for 45 minutes. We had to stay outside because the group from the previous taping was still going inside. By the time we reached the cooled nirvana of A/C, everyone had wilted.

Some coaches briefed the crowd on how and when to cheer. But we actually didn’t need much coaching. It’s super easy: cheer when people sing well; stand and scream when they rock; do nothing when they stink. Yup, super simple. (We were asked to refrain from yelling “boo.”)

The acts were staggered—great, bad, good, horrible, good, okay, and so on, for three hours. At ten PM we left when they still had seven acts to go.

We questioned whether some of the truly awful acts were for-real. My niece thought she saw one of the performers working outside with a “staff” shirt on before the show.

I felt sorriest for a 13-year-old kid doing an Air Supply number. Simon told him to fire his vocal coach and choose music that expressed stuff a kid his age would actually experience. Yup, Simon was himself. And as snarky as he is, he always told the truth. Spot on. Simon knows how to tell the truth, just not in love. Paula knows how to do the love part, but she plays too nice to come out with it. Same with the other three.

Getting both…telling the truth in love…that requires wisdom and character.