Hollywood is a small town. Though it sometimes seems like the place is bursting at the seams with millions of fresh-faced, corn-fed rubes just off the bus (we're looking at you, Axl Rose in the "Welcome to the Jungle" video), when it comes down to it, it can be more like your high school cafeteria than a sprawling state university.
Case in point: Emily Wynne-Hughes. The tattooed and earplug-wearing singer from Go Betty Go revealed on Tuesday night's "American Idol" season-eight premiere episode that all she's ever wanted to do is rock. Of course, every aspiring rocker has to spend some time flipping burgers, delivering packages or doing some other demeaning job while the stars align for their big break.
As it turns out, Wynne-Hughes has a great sense of timing (well, except for that whole DUI thing from last year). In 2006, she joined Betty, replacing the band's original lead singer, Nicolette Vilar (which is ironic in itself, since one of the band's bios touts a four-word motto plastered on the wall of their rehearsal space: "No One is Replaceable." Oops!
I love working for MTV News because I love music. And as a singer, I knew "American Idol" could be an awesome opportunity, though I wasn't sure about the reality-show scene. But my curiosity won in the end — what was trying out really like? I had to go see what it was all about, so off I went to try out for season eight at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey.