Sarah and Samy’s Scoop on “The X Factor” Auditions

Friday, May 6, 2011 

Next week, a few of Northern Virginia’s favorite things will be coming together for an entertainment extravaganza when Hot 99.5 and Fox 5 bring you “The X Factor Audition Pass Contest.” Eight lucky NoVA singers have been selected via their video entries by a panel of celebrity judges to compete for a guaranteed audition for “The X Factor,” Simon Cowell’s singing competition to find America’s next superstar. The final eight will compete on the nine o’clock hour of Fox 5 Morning News next week. Four of the contestants will win an audition pass to get them to the front of the line in Dallas and $750 in travel expenses. 

The judging panel includes Grammy-nominated artist Raheem DeVaughn, Grammy-nominated producer Chucky Thompson and radio personalities Samy K and Sarah Fraser from Hot 99.5. 

“It’s a very diverse group of judges,” says Samy, “so we can all focus on different aspects to find who that true ‘X Factor’ is. Raheem will bring that producer perspective; Chucky will bring the artist perspective. Sarah will be watching ‘The X Factor’ and buying songs from it on iTunes, so she will be asking herself, ‘Do I like it?’ and I will be looking at what it takes to get a song on the radio.” 

The judges have been busy narrowing down the audition videos to the top eight this week. Sarah named her picks by closing her eyes and listening for someone who seemed to have a wide range of talent and lots of potential. “I’ve been a diamond in the rough before,” she says, “so I think I can recognize a diamond in the rough.” 

Samy says, “It’s been tough. I was hoping for a lot of train wrecks. I was actually quite surprised.” 

It often flies under the radar that Samy has a background in music outside of radio. He plays guitar, bass, piano, violin and sings. He’s also not afraid to rock “The Kane Show” boat with a comment on his co-star’s singing skills—or lack thereof. 

“Sarah’s new favorite song is ‘Rolling in the Deep’ by Adele,” he says. “She’s been singing it nonstop lately. It’s gotten so bad that I keep my headphones on when we are on break during ‘The Kane Show.’” 

Sarah’s retort: “If Samy wants to talk about my singing, then let’s have a trend-off. I dare him to find the hottest shoe trend for summer 2011. He may have me beat on the voice, but I’ve got him beat on trends.” 

Sarah admits that as someone who is all about trends, she’s a sucker for a clever marketing strategy, and that’s exactly what she will be looking for next week. 

“I always want what’s hot right now, so I think I’m looking for someone who can be a trendsetter. Because I do so much with social media and branding for ‘The Kane Show,’ I think to be successful now you have to be able to utilize lots of tools in media. You can’t be one dimensional. I’m going to look more outside the box for all-around talent.” 

As usual, Samy plans to be “the funny one” on the show, but he will be on the lookout for a singer with a big personality, too. 

“Are you going to be some boring interview when you become famous? When I ask you questions after you sing, do you sound nervous or completely confident? 50 Cent is one of the coolest interviews I’ve ever done. He’s really social and that’s part of being the ‘X Factor.’ I want to see, how does your singing make me feel?” 

Samy predicts what Sarah’s ‘X Factor’ will be. “Sarah is going to go straight for looks. I think she’s going to be deciding who’s the hottest guy there.” 

Sarah doesn’t deny it. “Who doesn’t like a cute guy,” she says. “Let’s be honest.” 

It’s fairly safe to say that Samy wouldn’t deny a cute girl a few extra points either. “No!” he responds. “OK, I’d be completely lying if I said that. I think the cute girls are going to sit there and try to flirt with me, but when it comes down to it, I’m there to be honest. Your grandma could be the most talented person ever, but you would never want to buy her CD. Basically, I’m going to make sure that your look ties into your sound.” OK, Samy. We’ll leave it at that. 

Samy, known for his colorful comments such as these, hopes he won’t have to tone down his humor too much for the morning news hour. 

“That’s the one thing I’m worried about more than anything,” he says. “I’m so trained to not swear when I have headphones on, but when I take them off, I all of the sudden sound like a sailor who just gave birth.” 

So, how does Judge Samy plan to walk that fine line between tact and honesty? “Screw tact!” he says. “If you aren’t good, the best thing someone can do for you is tell you that you aren’t. Someone told me in eighth grade, ‘I know you like basketball, but you suck.’ Thank God he told me that because it got me into theater, and here I am today!” 

Sarah sees a potential babysitting job lining up for her next week. “I don’t really want to sit next to Samy,” she says. “Whoever does is going to be on damage control.” 

Samy’s not taking judging advice from anyone, not even the American Idol crew. “The last thing I want to do is walk in there like I’m 60 years old with a pink scarf; I don’t want to be Stephen Tyler. I’m not as good looking as J-Lo. I can’t be Simon; I don’t have a British accent. I can’t be Randy; I’ve never played in Journey. I’m just going to be myself, I guess.” 

Sarah, on the other hand, says, “I’m a combination of Simon and Paula. I get bored easily, so I can relate to Simon. You better catch my attention fast. Like Paula, I can usually find something good about everyone and I always love when people put themselves out there, so it will be hard to pick.” 

Sarah and Samy will be taping “The X Factor Audition Pass Contest” next week after “The Kane Show” and “The Sarah Show” air, so have no fear—your regularly scheduled morning radio laughs will not be interrupted. (That is, as long as this article doesn’t cause a fight.) And, Samy, here’s a hint for your upcoming trend-off—‘flatforms’ are in this season! 

-Rebekah Lowe 

 

 

Tags: 50 Cent, Adele, American Idol, Buzz Bin, Chucky Thompson, Fox 5, Fox 5 Morning News, Hot 99.5, Northern Virginia Magazine, Raheem DeVaughn, Rolling in the Deep, Samy K, Sarah Fraser, Simon Cowell, The Kane Show, The Sarah Show, The X Factor, The X Factor Audition Pass Contest