Those of you who know me are already aware that I’m not the most outspoken person in the world. In fact, I’m more the sit back and observe type of girl. In normal circumstances this isn’t the end-all, but when trying out for a reality show it definitely won’t get you hired. At least that’s what I learned today, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
I have to be honest, I was debating all week about auditioning. After watching countless videos about Diddy and doing some research, he doesn’t seem like the easiest man to work for. One of the most highly regarded figures in the Hip-Hop world, Diddy is as business savvy as they come. Musician, producer, actor, designer, — the list goes on and on. Does he ever sleep? Nope, that’s what I learned. His personal mantra is “You can sleep when you’re dead.” You can get a pretty good idea of how intense working for Diddy really is from the video below.
So, after watching this video you can understand why I was a bit hesitant to go to the audition today. But, I stuck it out and since many of you voted for me to apply and have been giving me tons of encouragement, I decided to go. If anything, it makes for a good blog post, right?
I arrived at the audition location shortly after 9:30 a.m. and there was already a line. Thankfully, I befriended two girls in front of me, one who also turns out to be a writer, so the nearly two hours didn’t seem so bad. When they finally ushered us into the venue there was yet more waiting and my nerves started to get the best of me. You know, your heart pounding through your throat and feeling like it’s going to explode out of your chest. Ten of us were showed into the room and asked to sit down so we could see each other and then the introductions began.
“Tell me your name, where you’re from and why you’d be an asset to Diddy,” Douglas told the crowd. “And pay attention to familiarize yourself with each contestant,” he continued.
The first seven people before me introduced themselves before someone came over to Douglas (the moderator) and he stepped away for a minute — of course right before my turn. My heart was beating and I could feel myself break out into a cold sweat. “Why am I an asset to Diddy?” I kept thinking. Dedicated, hard working, blah blah blah that’s what everyone says.
Douglas came back and it was my turn and I’m pretty sure my voice was shaking. “Hi, I’m Annie Reuter — also a Jersey girl (most of the people in my group were from Jersey).” To be honest I really don’t know what I said after that. I’m sure it was something along the lines of “I’m a freelance writer” but I just blanked out and just said whatever came to mind.
The two people after me introduced themselves to the group and then Douglas said, “Alright. So now you all know each other. I want you to tell me who in this group doesn’t deserve to be here.” I had an idea this was coming, but never really imagined what would happen next. Right away this girl called another girl out, making some remark about the heels she was wearing and how she seems to think she’s better than everybody else. A verbal fight erupted and I’m sitting there flabergasted. I mean, I know girls can be mean but this was pretty intense. Then a few guys got into it and start insulting everyone. While I know I should speak up to show that I could handle a situation like this, I just had nothing to say. How am I supposed to tell how well of an assistant a person could be if I just met them? It was all a bit bizzare to me.
Obviously, the people who made it to round two were the outspoken insult-throwing leaders of the pack and that’s just fine with me. While I’m sure I have to be a bit tougher to thrive in this industry, name calling and harping on a person’s choice of clothing attire are just not something I care to be involved in. At the end of the day, you have to live with yourself and the decisions you make.
A wise man once wrote (aka Mark Twain) “Always do right. This will gratify some people, and astonish the rest.” After today, I couldn’t agree more.