Aubree Flores: I was informed that you competed in American Idol recently, can you please elaborate on that story?

Victoria Vredevoogd: Yes, so I went through the audition process; I woke up at five in the morning to leave at six and get there at seven. And then I ended up waiting probably three hours until I had the opportunity to sing. The process is a lot different than what you see on TV. They actually had me say that I was from Albuquerque, Kansas City, and San Diego.

AF: Why would they make you say that?

VV: I was auditioning in Scottsdale and they needed more film from these cities. And so it was definitely not what I expected, it was very interesting.

AF: Did anything else unexpected happen?

VV: I was waiting in line and I met a girl named Marcella and her brother is one of the biggest stars on the show Survivor, Joe, and I was able to facetime him. Her whole family was there and she has her own band.

AF: So once you got to American Idol, what was the process like?

VV: When we went into the audition room, we separated into these little sections with black curtains. And then you’re put into groups of four and you sing for a man. We had to give him these story sheets that we filled out in advance. We had to have a struggle that we’ve been going through, how we overcome it, and an unique trait and then we had to turn that in. While we were sitting, he read over that. So I got to sing once and then they asked me to come again. The first time they had me sing, I sang my original song Neverland and then when they asked me to come sing again, I sang Sober by Demi Lovato. All the people in my group were pretty young. The girl next to me, she had a VIP bracelet, which means that they found her online and asked her to come. All four of us didn’t make it to Hollywood week. But it was a fun experience and they never come to Arizona. It was so different and unique.

AF: How did you get this opportunity to be a contestant?

VV: I sing worship for the grove for the highschool service. One of the techies who runs the lights and the music came to me and told me that they were coming to Arizona. That’s how I found out about it. I was like, “Oh my goodness”. I’ve always told myself since I was little girl that I would audition for American Idol. When I was fifteen years old, they stopped the show and I was like, “Excuse me? I never got a chance”. And then they started it back up and I told myself I would go and so I signed up the day before. Everything was super last minute and I actually was supposed to go to a STUGO conference and I thought I wouldn’t be able to audition, but I talked to Ms Johnson and she told me that I have to follow my dreams, this opportunity only comes once in a lifetime and she let me go.

AF: That sounds amazing. What would you say to someone else who might want to compete in American Idol?

VV: Go for it, but don’t have super high expectations. Go there for the experience and have fun. Even when I was there, I got connections through the Diamondbacks for singing the national anthem and even though I didn’t make it to hollywood week, I got that opportunity. They probably only pick five people from each state to go to hollywood week and your chances are small, but it’s a lot of fun and a good learning experience.