Idolized

Season 8 of the hit FOX talent show American Idol begins this month, and though Baton Rouge-raised music producer Randy Jackson has been an Idol judge from the beginning, one local musician will be watching the drama more closely than ever. Soul singer Katrell Joseph, a New Roads native and administrative assistant at Object 9, tried out for the show last August by attending a mass audition in Jacksonville, Fla., with thousands of others hoping to earn a chance to impress Randy, Paula and Simon in subsequent rounds of competition.

After arriving at 5 a.m. to wait in line, Joseph and the other contestants were rained on, then herded in groups of 20 inside the arena where they met Ryan Seacrest before performing Katrina and the Waves’ “Walking on Sunshine” and The Temptations’ “Get Ready.” Whether by design or default, the conditions were daunting.

“Everyone was singing at the same time for different judges at a dozen tables on the floor of the arena,” Joseph, 28, says. “It was kind of hard to focus.”

She wouldn’t describe the audition as nerve-wracking, though, just tedious. Back home her friends were nervous enough for her. While waiting for her turn, Joseph witnessed plenty of tears from those who’d been denied. But when Idol officials cut her wristband and broke the bad news, she held up pretty well.

“I felt good about it,” says Joseph, who performs occasionally with New Orleans pianist Eddie Bo. “It was a great moment, and why not go for it? I know there’s something else out there for me in music. I just need to be patient.”