Adam Kontras.com - Freezing the Fire...





YouTube link added 02.21.09

10:30 AM, Wednesday, May 10th, 2006: Alright, first and foremost - unblacking the entries. It was not because I'm off the show. It was simply because I truly haven't said or disclosed anything. I've searched out some other message boards and found other contestants talking about callbacks, VIP auditions after the initial auditions - all sorts of cool information. Even this interesting tid-bit from the Polkaholics website from April 11th: Simon Cowell, the "most pompous and egotistical" man on television has a new show, a hybrid of American Idol and The Gong show called America's Got Talent and they actually contacted us! We are taping for that on Friday night, so who knows maybe you'll see our smiling mugs on television this summer? Hey we've been on the European channels so now it's America's turn! Funny how a band from Chicago gets more press and cred in other states and even other countries? Hmmm.... were they selected for the promo tapings? Interesting. As well, I haven't gotten the 30 page release/non-disclosure papers or been able to talk to any lawyers. So at this point, it's just too premature to black out anything. Rest assured when and if I do speak with NBC's lawyers I will abide by absolutely everything they say. Now, what's happened since Saturday. I was up around 1 AM Sunday night and decided to see if there were any more promos for the show. I saw the submission page and almost fell out of my chair when I saw this: Open Call Dates/Locations * Doors scheduled to open 10:00 AM * No early lineups. Anyone found camping overnight will be removed. * Registration will take place from 9:30 AM to 3:00 PM You must show up during these times to register and audition. There will be no exceptions. * KEEP CHECKING THE SITE FOR UPDATED VENUE INFORMATION Thurs. May 11 & Fri. May 12 Renaissance Parc 55 Hotel 55 Cyril Magnin Street SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102 The double take I did was rather humorous. I became a cartoon character. I just couldn't believe my eyes. Charlotte and I had assumed they were going on the road again for a taping because the producer's voicemails said they were... but when I checked every voicemail in the directory the next day I heard 3 more voicemails saying the same thing, however for open calls. So obviously they were old unchanged voicemails from the end of April... ...well apparently not. They are going on the road for even more open calls. I emailed Charlotte the page and she called back after talking to the producer and said: Not only is there one on the 11th & 12th, there's more on the 15th and 16th and could even be more after that. !!! No wonder they had to cancel the rehearsals and tapings for that week. The first question you all must be asking: Why the HELL didn't that girl tell me that on Friday? I mean it was posted on their website two days later! Honestly, she probably didn't know. When she said she didn't know in the call...she certainly meant it. She didn't even know the first show was on June 21st, so she is most certainly on a need to know basis and gave me only the necessary info she had. Frustrating to say the least. It really does baffle me that they are still doing more open calls. It certainly doesn't fill me with a lot of hope that they won't somehow transform the show to fit the talent they do have. I just, don't, know. The gist of Charlotte's conversation was: "We're a loooooong way from the live shows" It was repeated 3 times to her. LOL. What we've finally gathered is that the first couple of shows are gonna be all packages a la American Idol. Which means, this could be a very, very long waiting period. However, because of the time I'm gonna need for prepping the act - I have to have some advance warning. I can't see my package on say, the third show, and then have the ability to build the new-setup, the sets, the wigs/make-up in a week before I'm on live. As well, if they show a good percentage of my 2 minute bit on the "package show", well I'm fucked... I can't do it on the live/taped show. So I really need to know what's going on. Much moreso than most acts. They have to let me know if I'm in the package and I have to know what part of the act they're using if I am. My biggest concern, because this qualifies more as a game show (because of the $1,000,000 grand prize) than American Idol, is that they can't help me out with info as it would be an unfair advantage. It's a tough position to be in for sure. I believe less and less that my set-up is gonna hurt me, but I certainly still have the fear. The only reason I feel better about it is that they clearly don't have a plethora of acts and I find it hard to believe they're gonna make a stipulation against set-up time. Especially since the description of the new open-calls are identical to the first ones. All we can do, is wait. To explain the title though, the 24 hours that I thought I was "in" my whole being seemed to transform. I really became very serious, incredibly focused and had this mindset of KILL or be killed. I was ready to fight and this fire started in me that I haven't felt in years. It was this build-up that was instantly removed a day later, and now I'm in a bit of a floating period. I really have to freeze that fire. Psychologically it's just too much. I have to find ways to release the stress of this past month and upcoming months so I decided to set my crotch on fire. In my 30 years on this planet, I don't believe I've appeared in a funnier picture. Ho, lee, shit, that's funny. Cassi took some amazingly cool shots around my campfire (which as some of you know has become my favorite realaxing place) and I just had to share them with you guys:
Aren't these amazing?!!? The camera I bought from Chad is just on a whole new level. It's with a subject as difficult as fire where you really see the difference between a professional camera and the consumer level. It's so much more than megapixels. A big thank you to Cassi who literally had to lay on the ground, eye level with a raging fire to get these shots. "For relaxing times, make it Sentori times." LOL. I don't know what it is, but there's something so old school about sitting around a campfire. I really never camped much as a kid, so it surely doesn't bring up a plethora of great memories - but concentrating on the flames, there are no cares. The trees in my backyard can give me the illusion of being far, far away - and I don't feel driven to work or produce. Not sure if I ever explain that process, but I have an extremely difficult time stopping my brain. I mean I look at this site sometimes and I'm almost embarrassed. It's clearly obsessive. Granted, it's obsessive in a productive and creative way which is positive, but it's still obsessive. So when my only job is to keep the fire burnin... ...I'm Smiley Boy. If not Slightly Inebriated Boy. ;-) Adam

10:30 AM, Wednesday, May 10th, 2006: Alright, first and foremost - unblacking the entries. It was not because I'm off the show. It was simply because I truly haven't said or disclosed anything. I've searched out some other message boards and found other contestants talking about callbacks, VIP auditions after the initial auditions - all sorts of cool information. Even this interesting tid-bit from the Polkaholics website from April 11th: Simon Cowell, the "most pompous and egotistical" man on television has a new show, a hybrid of American Idol and The Gong show called America's Got Talent and they actually contacted us! We are taping for that on Friday night, so who knows maybe you'll see our smiling mugs on television this summer? Hey we've been on the European channels so now it's America's turn! Funny how a band from Chicago gets more press and cred in other states and even other countries? Hmmm.... were they selected for the promo tapings? Interesting. As well, I haven't gotten the 30 page release/non-disclosure papers or been able to talk to any lawyers. So at this point, it's just too premature to black out anything. Rest assured when and if I do speak with NBC's lawyers I will abide by absolutely everything they say. Now, what's happened since Saturday. I was up around 1 AM Sunday night and decided to see if there were any more promos for the show. I saw the submission page and almost fell out of my chair when I saw this: Open Call Dates/Locations * Doors scheduled to open 10:00 AM * No early lineups. Anyone found camping overnight will be removed. * Registration will take place from 9:30 AM to 3:00 PM You must show up during these times to register and audition. There will be no exceptions. * KEEP CHECKING THE SITE FOR UPDATED VENUE INFORMATION Thurs. May 11 & Fri. May 12 Renaissance Parc 55 Hotel 55 Cyril Magnin Street SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102 The double take I did was rather humorous. I became a cartoon character. I just couldn't believe my eyes. Charlotte and I had assumed they were going on the road again for a taping because the producer's voicemails said they were... but when I checked every voicemail in the directory the next day I heard 3 more voicemails saying the same thing, however for open calls. So obviously they were old unchanged voicemails from the end of April... ...well apparently not. They are going on the road for even more open calls. I emailed Charlotte the page and she called back after talking to the producer and said: Not only is there one on the 11th & 12th, there's more on the 15th and 16th and could even be more after that. !!! No wonder they had to cancel the rehearsals and tapings for that week. The first question you all must be asking: Why the HELL didn't that girl tell me that on Friday? I mean it was posted on their website two days later! Honestly, she probably didn't know. When she said she didn't know in the call...she certainly meant it. She didn't even know the first show was on June 21st, so she is most certainly on a need to know basis and gave me only the necessary info she had. Frustrating to say the least. It really does baffle me that they are still doing more open calls. It certainly doesn't fill me with a lot of hope that they won't somehow transform the show to fit the talent they do have. I just, don't, know. The gist of Charlotte's conversation was: "We're a loooooong way from the live shows" It was repeated 3 times to her. LOL. What we've finally gathered is that the first couple of shows are gonna be all packages a la American Idol. Which means, this could be a very, very long waiting period. However, because of the time I'm gonna need for prepping the act - I have to have some advance warning. I can't see my package on say, the third show, and then have the ability to build the new-setup, the sets, the wigs/make-up in a week before I'm on live. As well, if they show a good percentage of my 2 minute bit on the "package show", well I'm fucked... I can't do it on the live/taped show. So I really need to know what's going on. Much moreso than most acts. They have to let me know if I'm in the package and I have to know what part of the act they're using if I am. My biggest concern, because this qualifies more as a game show (because of the $1,000,000 grand prize) than American Idol, is that they can't help me out with info as it would be an unfair advantage. It's a tough position to be in for sure. I believe less and less that my set-up is gonna hurt me, but I certainly still have the fear. The only reason I feel better about it is that they clearly don't have a plethora of acts and I find it hard to believe they're gonna make a stipulation against set-up time. Especially since the description of the new open-calls are identical to the first ones. All we can do, is wait. To explain the title though, the 24 hours that I thought I was "in" my whole being seemed to transform. I really became very serious, incredibly focused and had this mindset of KILL or be killed. I was ready to fight and this fire started in me that I haven't felt in years. It was this build-up that was instantly removed a day later, and now I'm in a bit of a floating period. I really have to freeze that fire. Psychologically it's just too much. I have to find ways to release the stress of this past month and upcoming months so I decided to set my crotch on fire. In my 30 years on this planet, I don't believe I've appeared in a funnier picture. Ho, lee, shit, that's funny. Cassi took some amazingly cool shots around my campfire (which as some of you know has become my favorite realaxing place) and I just had to share them with you guys: