Overdue update

So yeah, I took an unplanned week off from blogging. Sorry 'bout that.

Anyway, here are some more details:

Auditioning 250 people for 20 slots in a space of about 4 hours equals each audition is a minute or less. Mine lasted about 30 seconds.

Surprising thing, for me at least: They had the live band there for the auditions. I thought maybe people would be singing along to the CDs/Cassetes/MDs that the producers insisted we all bring.

When the band started playing my song, I was thrown off a bit. On the CD I have, the song starts out with just a piano intro, and stays just piano for the first verse. The band started with piano, 2 keyboards, guitar and drums, and I screwed up the first line.

Oh well.

After each audition, every contestant (?) had to talk to the producers for a minute or so. This is so that if the contestant got on to the live show the next day, the announcer would know what trivia to bring up in conversation.

When the producers spoke to me, they asked me how long I had lived in Japan, and where I was from. When I told them, "Minnesota," one of them said, "Ah...Scotch Tape!" I was a little surprised. I responded, "Yes, yes, 3M!"

The producer then replied, "Ah so desu...Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing!"

At this point all I could do was boggle.