The X Factor – Long Island Auditions in Less Than Two Weeks

Season 3 auditions for The X Factor are underway!

On Tuesday, April 23rd, auditions come to The Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Long Island, NY – the only audition city in this part of the country for this season. So people in and around the tri-state area, this is your shot!

Wristbands will be distributed to auditioners from approximately 8:00 AM on Tuesday, April 23rd until approximately 11:00 AM on Thursday, April 25th. Auditioners will not be permitted to camp out. Once auditioners obtain their wristbands, they will be asked to return to The Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum by 7:00 AM on Thursday, April 25th for their audition.


Photo Credit: Richard Ellis / FOX.

The X Factor Executive Producer, Andrew Llinares took some time to talk to Hollywood the Write Way about auditions and what we can expect this upcoming season! Check it out:

So far, Demi Lovato has been confirmed to return as a judge for season 3 of The X Factor. What do you look for when deciding who to approach as a judge and when can we expect to find out who the remaining judges are?
I wish I could tell you! We’re in the process at the moment of looking so I think it will be a few weeks before we make more announcements. We really want to focus on the contestants so we need to find judges who are going to be interested in finding the best talent, drawing the best out of the people, and mentoring the contestants.

Is there anything in particular you’re looking for when you screen the online auditions as opposed to the live auditions?
We’re very conscious of making it the same process, the same level of people who are looking at the auditions, the producers from the show and the people from record companies…I think it’s the same level when during the live auditions. We’re looking for people who have that star quality and really stand out of the pack. We’ve already had thousands and thousands of online auditions. It’s been an amazing response. But to stand out, people really have to make sure that they’ve thought about everything. What are they going to sing? What are they wearing? How are they presenting themselves? What’s the performance that’s going to make us think, “this person is exciting?” Really think about what you’re going to do and give us something that shows us why you’re unique and deserve to be a star.

Are there certain songs that you’d encourage people auditioning to stay away from?
Think of the song that really defines who you are as an artist. Sometimes it’s interesting not to necessarily do an exact copy of the song. If you’re a guy, you might want to sing a girl song, or if you’re a girl, you might want to sing a boy song. That’s something that’s a bit interesting. It’s really abut working out who you are as an artist and what makes you unique so you’re not a copycat of Adele, or Katy Perry, or Justin Bieber. Pick a song that can show off how unique you are.

Do you think more or less people auditioning this year will choose to perform original songs based on prior seasons?
It’s always been a mix. When you’re listening to the contestant for the first time, it’s nice if it’s a well known song because you have something to gauge it against but there are no rules. It’s all about doing what’s right for you

The X Factor has done a fantastic job getting relevant artists to perform during the live shows. When do you compile a list of people you want to approach for this?
We start seeing who’s out there and start approaching them right about now. You want to feel on that stage in the live shows that you’re seeing people who the contestants actually aspire to be one day. You want to see success on this stage. That’s why these contestants enter the competition. They want to have the opportunity to live that dream so it’s wonderful to have people on the show who are living their dream. That’s kind of what the show is all about.

Many viewers have expressed their exhaustion with two hour episodes of competition series in general so will you be limiting the number of two hour shows there will be this season?
(laughs) It’s a little bit early to say, we’re still working all of that out but I think the challenge is making these shows very entertaining and making people come back for more because there are a lot of these shows out there.

While there are a number of great ways to vote for acts, has there been any talk of including Pinterest and Tumblr as a way to count votes?
We’re always talking about how we can keep the voting fresh. I’m sure we’ll have new ideas this year. We look at every element to try and keep everything fresh and feel like it has a new energy to it, so hope that we can expect that feel for the whole show.

Finally, what can viewers expect to be different in season 3 from the first 2 seasons?
Last year we had a great country winner with Tate Stevens. I think he summed up in many ways what the show is about. The X Factor changed his life and it’s really exciting. The X Factor is about finding an amazing contestant who can go on…we hope to find someone who can become an international superstar. It happened in the UK with One Direction. They became the biggest boy band on earth. It’s amazing to see how the English version of the show changed these boys’ lives. We would hope for something like that, a group or solo artist who can blow everybody away.