Who said that you can’t find your dreams in Colorado? To put it more accurately, who said your dreams won’t just come to you? That was the question everyone considered as MTV’s “Made” came to the University of Colorado for a stop this past Thursday to hold auditions for their upcoming season.
Everyone’s favorite teens-and-dreams show came to our own Club 156, courtesy of Program Council, to see what talent, or lack thereof, CU students had to offer. The popular reality show, which portrays various young adults between the ages of 17 and 26 getting trained up by professionals into the singer or beat-boxer or wake boarder they’ve always wanted to be, is currently in its eleventh season with over 200 episodes to its name. As the show has been on the air since 2002, students young and slightly-less-than-young can all appreciate the nostalgic flashback of watching other young adults getting snatched up by hotshot MTV execs and swept away to a magical fairyland, where problems are solved with a little help from a camera crew and absurdly attention-deficit editing techniques.
Above, the Made website. (CU Independent/Robert R. Denton)
Students waiting to be interviewed congregated at the tables outside Club 156, making small talk,with questions like, “What do you want to be made into?” and “Isn’t this usually for high schoolers?”
Most of the people waiting were freshmen, although a few older students showed up. The application called for people that “appear to be between 17 and 25” and was filled with questions like: “What has held you back from [achieving your goal] in the past?” The students all had different goals, from comedian to motocross racer to reality TV star.
Freshman Stephanie Thwaits hoped “Made” would help her gain the confidence needed to promote clubs or organize red carpet events.
“I want to be an event coordinator, but I’m really shy and I would never be like, ‘Alright, let’s throw a sick event,’” the 18-year-old communications major said.
“I want to do it for snowboarding– it could open up an opportunity that I might not get if I kept snowboarding like this. I thought I’d just give it a shot and see how it goes,” freshman Alex Hagan, 18, said.
“We’re just like, straight up trying to be famous,” psychology major Casey Harding-Brown said, who hoped to audition with her friend, dance major Janaye Robinson. The 19-year-old sophomores had considered sending a pilot of their own reality show to MTV in the past, so when they heard about the “Made” auditions, they decided to check it out.
The interviewer was friendly, and it was obvious she wanted the students to feel comfortable answering her questions. She covered family dynamics, relationships and challenges in the short interviews with each student. The auditions were filmed, but students were directed to look at her and not the camera, which eased tensions.
“It was really chill,” freshman Kaylie Spitzer said of the audition. The 19-year-old business major hoped to be made into a barrel racer in a rodeo on the show. Although she had experiences with horseback riding on family vacations in the past, Spitzer hoped “Made” would allow her to try something new.
“I love extreme sports so I figure I might as well just totally put myself out of my element,” Spitzer said.
Kylie Youmans, 19, had a similar plan. The sophomore psychology major wanted to be made into a trapeze artist. After her interview, she gave advice to her friends still waiting outside.
“I feel like they don’t want you to be anything you’re not,” Youmans said. “[The interview] got sort of deep surprisingly in 10 minutes.”
Some students waited up to two hours for an audition but most seemed to think it was worth it.
“I think it’s really awesome that at CU we’re provided with these awesome opportunities to get out there and get in the real world,” freshman psychology major Lizzie Buncher, 18, said.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writers Sam Goldner and Ainslee Mac Naughton at Samuel.goldner@colorado.edu and Ainslee.macnaughton@colorado.edu.
