The Mix
By NIRMIK A SINGH
I
T’S AROUND NOON and Studio
36 at Los Angeles’ CBS Television
City is abuzz with usual activity. The
production and creative crew, most of
them dressed in black, are swiftly going
about their business in the area, which is
a labyrinth of stairs, corridors, makeup
rooms, equipment coves and elevators. The
long workday is about to begin and there’s
chirp in the air — people are hollering out
hellos across hallways, making small talk or
fixing themselves some coffee. Everything
looks absolutely normal till I spot the first
signboard on a wall with the inimitable
American Idol blue logo, a sight that
instantly takes me back to all the thrilling
episodes of the show I had been following
so far on Zee Café. It is also the moment
when the full force of what I am to shortly
witness that day dawns on me.
The next instant I find myself led
through a long hallway lined with racks
and racks of outrageously shiny clothes.
There’s tasseled dresses, sequined blazers
and velvet pants all screaming for
attention, and just when I overcome the
temptation to graze my hands over an
exquisite rhinestone jacket, I am led into
a parlor and greeted with the sight of six
very familiar faces. You know that feeling
when you find yourself in the company of a
stranger you follow closely on Instagram?
When you know their favorite brand of
shampoo, what they did last weekend and
exactly what they were doing till about two
minutes ago? When a part of you wants to
immediately launch into discussing that
opinion article they posted the other day
but realize that hellos come first? That’s the
stuff that was going on in my mind when
I shook hands with the top six contestants
of American Idol: Laci Kaye Booth, Wade
Cota, Laine Hardy, Madison VanDenburg,
Alejandro Aranda and Jeremiah Lloyd
Harmon.On The Sets of
‘American Idol’
in Hollywood
ROLLING STONE EXCLUSIVEYou watched it on Zee Café. Now
here’s a rare glimpse of what goes
behind the scenes in making
the greatest reality show on
television