The Search for Elle - Part 2

I finally got a chance to watch the second episode of the reality show Legally Blonde: The Musical: The Search for Elle, which airs every Monday night on MTV (thank you, Tivo).

It follows the tale of 10 young women auditioning to fill the lead role in the Broadway musical.

I'm still enjoying the show, although it seems to be trying awfully hard to focus on the competition part of the audition process. The funny thing about auditioning is, you're not really competing against the others who are trying out - it's more of a competition between your abilities and what the judges are looking for. If they see you in the part, then you'll get it - and if they don't, you won't. It doesn't matter what anyone else does - all you can do is give it your best shot and hope you hit the right marks.

In the second episode of the "Elle" series the focus is on acting auditions. The women go through a mini-acting audition, which included a vulgar tongue-twister and a brief scene with another actor. The one who most impressed the acting coach was Bailey (that's her on the left in this photo from MTV), so she and another auditioner (yes, they made her choose one) got to meet Nikki Snelson, one of the stars of the musical.

The next day each auditioner did a longer scene on stage with Nikki, but the judges threw in a curve - they had Nikki deliberately drop a line to see how the hopefuls would react. That's a really dirty trick and it was painful to watch. Those things do happen on the stage, but after enough rehearsal, it's a bit easier to cover for another actor's flub. To put them on the spot in their first reading seemed a bit much - but it is something any actor has to face.

Once the auditions were finished, the bottom three had to face the judges, where they learned why they were chosen for possible elimination. That was interesting, because (as one of the judges pointed out) usually when you don't get cast after an audition you have no idea why you weren't chosen. In this show, the judges explain their choices.

If you want to be surprised, stop reading now, because I'm about to tell you that Cassie O. got eliminated (probably because they only wanted one Cassie on the show). So far, the show continues to be interesting and shines a spotlight on the fun - and incredible stress - brought on by auditioning. So far, so good.

(Oh, and you have several more chances to catch the show - it'll air Wednesday, June 11 at 2:30 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. and Thursday, June 12 at 6:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. on MTV.)