road to stardom, at least via the Idol route, is neither glamorous, fun, nor easy. No food or even water, except for what was available at the concession stands according to her mother. “We just sat and watched and listened,” Flege said, “there are people everywhere practicing and asking others to critique them, and it slowly dawned on me, 16,900 of these people can’t carry a tune, Courtney’s going through.” When it was finally Courtney’s turn to sing, as one of ten in her group, the judges let out an audible gasp as soon as she began, and just like that Flege earned her “first” golden ticket. From 17,000 hopefuls to 400 in a single day of tryouts, Courtney’s talent carried her through. “So we grab the bus and 6-hours later, we get back home,” Dena said, ‘until round two, back up in Pittsburgh.”
For the second round, the entire Flege clan of family and friends formed a caravan and headed north.
”Biggest crowd of supporters ever to attend, is what A.I staff told us,” her younger brother said, “17 people in day-glo green ‘support Courtney t-shirts’, waiting for her chance”. After an emotionally draining two-days of more try-out rounds, Flege survived all the cuts to finally earn the chance to go before the ‘stars’ of the show and sing for Randy, Steven and J-Lo.
“Oh my God, were we nervous,” her mother said, “they take her away and leave us with Ryan Seacrest and we all just stare at one another and pray.”
Idol host Ryan Seacrest waits with each contestant’s family while listening to feedback via an earpiece, from the producers’ down the hall. “So Ryan says, ‘Do you wanna go on a field trip’ and all of us follow him through all these long hallways until we get outside these double doors and he stops us,” Dena revealed, ‘then they ask us all to come in, and we see Courtney standing in front of the judges, and my heart is about to bust out of my chest.” What they heard next broke Flege’s family down. “Baby-girl: you got something special, it’s a yes for me,” Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler said. J-lo through her tears of appreciation, added, “it’s a yes for me,” and Randy chimed in, “it was always going to be a yes for me, welcome to Hollywood baby!”
Courtney’s twin brothers impromptuly grabbed Ryan Seacrest and hoisted him over their heads to body surf him through the group in their excitement. “I wish now that her story could end there,” said her father Andrew. “I hate American Idol and no one in my family even watches it anymore,” he added.
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Earning a golden Hollywood ticket comes with many strings attached, according to her family. All the TV viewer sees are contestants skipping away with their tickets and family, but the reality of Reality TV is something different. “Five hours of stuff like B-roll film of her at Pittsburgh landmarks and the paperwork: unbelievable amounts of paperwork. Psychological tests on all of us and background checks on Courtney, her dad and I,” Dena said.
“We had to basically sign away her life to the show for the entire season: they owned her,” Andrew Flege said.
According to the Flege family, once the contracts are signed, the false face American Idol producers wear comes off and the reality sets-in. “Lord,” Flege said, “Even how they speak to you changes, they do not ask for anything-they command.”