We got back last night from a 3 day trip to Memphis. My middle daughter has wanted for 3 years to try out for American Idol or America's Got Talent. We had put her off by telling her how good the talent on those shows were, blah, blah, blah... A couple of months ago, she made the pitch again... "America's Got Talent is going to be in Memphis for auditions..." I guess I just didn't want her to wonder "what if" in 5-10 years down the road. Sooo, Monday AM we made the 6 hour drive to Memphis. The auditions were on Tuesday AM, so we found the convention center to mark on the GPS, then headed to Beale Street to do some sight seeing. We checked out a few gift shops and looked at the exhibits in the Hard Rock Cafe. My daughter got to see her first panhandlers on the street. The first one was asking for $.70 to get a "bologna sandwich". I got him to promise me he was going to buy food and gave him a dollar. As we walked off, I told my wife and daughter he would be going somewhere to get a "drink". I have seen folks that the company I work for request exact change, and know what they were going to do with it...
As it got closer to time for dinner, I began to get more excited. Memphis = BBQ! I had done some internet searches for the best barbecue in Memphis. We searched the GPS for barbecue restraunts and found the address for Central BBQ. Oh, my, gosh! If you are ever in Memphis and want BBQ to die for... Central BBQ is the place to go. Their dry rub ribs are out of this world! They had just the right amount of smoke, were tender enough to fall off the bone and were not corrupted with mass produced sauce. Their brisket was great with their vinegar based sauce. I left the bread on the plate, as I wanted to savor the flavor of the meat.
On Tuesday we went to the convention center for the auditions. We didn't see the huge lines like you see on TV. I suspect those are at the second call auditions. My daughter made all state choir and all region choir in junior high and high school and loves to sing. Auditions were 90 seconds long. Singers, unless they played their own instruments, had to try out accapella. My wife was able to go in to the audition room while I stayed in the "holding" area watching their purses and stuff. I heard some awesome talent in the holding room, and then some that was... not so awesome.
My wife was beaming when they came back from the audition. She said that my daughter did great and mentioned the producer watching the auditions made some notes as my daughter sang, which she didn't do with some of the others. My daughter sang Adele's "Rolling in the Deep". They don't notify the contestants until sometime between January and April about coming back to perform in front of the judges like you see on TV. It's going to be a long wait, but she was pleased with her performance and the fact that she did get to audition.
My wife and daughter picked "mexican" for lunch, so we tried "Happy Mexican" just a few blocks off of Beale Street. It was in a kind of sketchy looking part of town, but the food was great. We later found out there is another location inside the Galleria mall East of Memphis, past Germantown. I would suggest trying the "pollo chipotle", or chipotle chicken if you go. It was spicy and very tasty. Their salsa was fresh and had a good kick.
If Brittaney gets a callback audition, I know where we will be dining...
