photo by Stefan Rogenmoser

From left: Moncks Corner residents Robin Bone, Cat Austin, Liz Branton, Iris Gadsden, DeAndrya Gadsden (sister), Tiffany Morrison (of Chalreston) and recent BHS graduate Charmia Horton at the front of the line around 6 a.m. Friday.

photo by Stefan Rogenmoser

“American Idol” host Ryan Seacrest (center) cheers with the crowd waiting in line during while a production crew tapes a segment of the show.

photo by Stefan Rogenmoser

Just one of many lines waits to enter the coliseum Friday morning.

Nearly than 10,000 contestants rushed into the North Charleston Coliseum to see if the sounds their vocal chords are what “American Idol” judges are looking for.

The auditions for the show’s 11th season began 8 a.m. Friday. Many contestants came from all over the east coast to wait in line all night and into the morning. Those at the front of the line arrived at midnight and had already registered their names on Wednesday or Thursday.

Contestants sang songs like “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” and countless others to keep themselves entertained. But they mostly joked around and hung out with their friends – fellow contestants and moral supporters. Camping chairs and homemade signs eased the wait and mounting tension.

Lines stretched from the North Entrance to the end of the west parking lot, back into the lot and along a hill behind the lot.

The thousands of Idol hopefuls showed no singns of slowing down as they threw their arms up and screamed woo-hoo each time a TV camera was pointed in their direction.

Before the real American Idol host Ryan Seacrest arrived, a local look-a-like was told to go in front and speak introductory lines into a microphone.

The doppelganger was Shaun Kraisman of Mount Pleasant. He wore a black suit, tie and white shirt similar to Seacrest’s typical TV attire.

The crowd went wild and remained rambunctious when Seacrest arrived shortly after 7:15 a.m. The real Seacrest, wearing a plaid blue shirt, jeans and no tie said: “Today is the one day I didn’t wear my suit.”

Girls shouted “I want to have your babies” and “I love you.”

“Thank you,” Seacrest said enthusiastically when he turned his head around and spoke to the audience while being interviewed by a press mob.

A production crew from the TV show with a camera on a crane filmed filler segments with Seacrest for the show that had the auditioners raising their hands and cheering.

Seacrest then disappeared into the coliseum as quickly as he’d arrived. Around 8 a.m. contestants began entering the coliseum a few hundred at a time like ants marching into a mound.

Among those trying out were lots of Summerville, Goose Creek and Moncks Corner singers.

Among them was Brandon Wallace who was in town for the month visiting his dad, Summerville resident Wayne Wallace.

“This just happened to be going on while I was here and I figured I’d try out,” he said. Brandon lives the rest of the year in Nebraska where he is a junior at the University of Nebraska.

Goose Creek resident and cosmetology student Alyssa Jordan planned to sing a Beyonce’s “Listen.” “It’s my first audition for American Idol,” she said.

Toni Josefat, a 2005 Summerville High School graduate, said this would be her fifth audition for American Idol.

“I auditioned twice in Atlanta, and this is my third time here.”

She’s joined a band last year, The Copycats, and felt better prepared this year. She planned to sing Halestorm’s “Innocence.”

Ashley Ridge High School senior Shelby Gossett got in line to audition at 5:30 a.m. It was her first time trying out for Idol and was singing Nirvana’s “Come as you Are.”

Ladson resident Kristina George, a 15-year-old 10th grade student at Faith Christian Academy in Summerville, was just old enough to be considered. The cutoff is 15. She was there with her grandmother Genevieve Henderson. Kristina had prepared “Jar of Hearts” by Christine Perry for her audition.

The contestants didn’t start coming back out until about 10:45, when those who didn’t make the cut walked the walk of cracked but no broken dreams as they exited the loading dock . . . Some tearful, some smiling, some texting, but most were escorted by their mothers.

Cat Austin and Liz Branton of Moncks Corner were among those whose voices didn’t have the caliber the judges’ were looking for, they said. Austin sang “One and Only” by Adele and Branton sang “Stand Up For Love” by Destiny’s Child. It was the first audition for the Berkeley High School chorus students.

Robin Bone, Austin’s mother, said they are young and have more auditions ahead.

The judges had chiseled into some fraction of their emotions.

They were among those who arrived at midnight and stood near the front of the line with some of their fellow chorus classmates Iris Gadsden, DeAndrya Gadsden (sister) and recent graduate Charmia Horton, who was there to support her friends.

Iris sang “Falling” by Alicia Keys and DeAndrya sang “All I Can Do Is Cry” by Etta James. As of this update there is no word on how they fared.

By 11:30 a.m. the first round of 20 or so winners made their way down the ramp. Only one who made the first cut was from South Carolina – from Chapin. The group included someone from Maine, several from Florida, and one from Connecticut.

Click here to read our follow-up story, ‘American Idol’ competitors reflect on experience.

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