When "American Idol" airs Wednesday and Thursday Angela Cheslock will be as interested as
anyone else about how much screen time she gets.
The Hollywood episodes were recorded last December, and this week’s capture "group week," on
the show when all the contestants who earned a spot in Hollywood work together with other singers to put
together an act.
And while Cheslock, of Bowling Green, has to keep mum about details, she admits that performance included
a surprise thrill for her.
It’s during the Hollywood round that the field of contestants is winnowed down to the 24-member cast that
will vie for the title of American Idol.
This is the second year in a row when a performer from Bowling Green has made it this far. Luke James,
formerly of Bowling Green, also made it to Hollywood before being knocked out of the competition. Last
year Toledo area singer Crystal Bowersox was the competition’s runner up.
This was Cheslock’s third try auditioning for the show. And she said Friday while back home in Bowling
Green, she first auditioned in 2008 right after turning 16. Then she ventured to Louisville, Ky., with
her cousin Megan Rouse.
She wasn’t that excited about auditioning … and possibly getting rejected again … but her family
convinced her to give it a try, so she traveled to Milwaukee.
The whole set up was familiar to her. She opted not to camp out, and instead show up the morning of the
audition.
"It just feels like a cattle call," the 19-year-old said. "Everything is hurry up and
wait."
Everyone is heard though. That meant a late arrival – 7 a.m. that morning – gets heard late at night.
"I didn’t get out till around midnight," Cheslock said.
Cheslock is a sophomore majoring in commercial voice at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn. She’s a
2008 graduate of Bowling Green High School, where she was a cheerleader and a member of the Madrigal
Singers and choir, and started her college career at Bowling Green State University where she majored in
vocal performance.
She transferred to Belmont, she said, because it offered a program more geared to the pop and country
music she loves.
Her parents are Carol Cartwright and stepfather Wes Cartwright, and Mark Cheslock and stepmother Brenda
Hill.