Kimestry

"Is that what you're wearing?" The production assistant sporting low-rise jeans and a walkie talkie asked our group as we stood in line in the hot sun waiting for the call back auditions to begin. "Yes", we replied confidently. Then Angela, Sheila, and I shrugged our shoulders at one another in confusion. The previous day at the first audition, we were told to return for the call back wearing the same outfits. As parents dropped off singing groups in mini vans, we stood in line surrounded by boy and girl bands wearing retro 80's gear. I smirked when I noted the boy band in front of us had vertical lines shaved into their eyebrows and were wearing graffiti t-shirts. I was actually around the first time this look was fashionable. The Filipino boy band behind us harmonized to a Boys to Men tune for their warm-up. They were from Oakland, drinking designer coffee, and sounding good. Angela opened her umbrella to protect her fair skin from the sun, while Sheila an...

"Kim. What part do you sing in the choir?" It was a simple question asked in the women's locker room of the gym on a Monday morning. Yet, somehow my intuition could feel an adventure brewing by the tone of Angela's voice when she said my name. A few seconds later, I had agreed to help her with a singing audition on Friday. Wednesday, Angela, Sheila and I rehearsed for the audition. As we ended the rehearsal with string cheese and fruit as a snack, Sheila and I asked Angela to tell us more about the audition. That's when things took an interesting turn. We weren't just helping Angela with her audition, we were auditioning for a cable network reality show! And we were doing this after forming a trio two days before the audition and with only two hours of rehearsal. As we had no time, we decided to adopt the k.i.s.s. system--keep it simple sweetie. We planned to wear black bottoms and colorful tops on Friday. When we arrived for the audition on Friday at Smashbox...