By Althea Peterson

Transcript Staff Writer

Eight University of Oklahoma students took a trip down Interstate 35 to the American Idol auditions in San Antonio last August.

After a round of eliminations out of 19,000 hopeful auditioners, five Sooners remained for the television round -- the "Oklahoma Five," who will appear later this month on American Idol.

The "Five" include Heather Appel, Grant Fisher, Tony Foster Jr., Laura Gossett and Michael Preston, who coincidentally were all involved in the University Choir last fall. Producers caught wind of their story of carpooling down to the Alamodome together and later dubbed them the "Oklahoma Five."

"They found out the five of us rode in the car together from Oklahoma," said Fisher, a music senior. "They kept saying, 'The five kids from Oklahoma, the five kids from Oklahoma.'"

While the "Five" could not reveal the results of their final San Antonio audition in front of judges Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson because of confidentiality agreements, they could talk about their experiences of becoming the "Oklahoma Five."

"I did expect the cameras to be everywhere, but I didn't expect them to be following us," said Gossett, a vocal music education alumnus who graduated in December. "We would go crazy anytime one of our friends came out of the audition room."

Aside from being part of University Choir, four of the "Five" were part of an OU talent competition, "Sooner Idol."

"Sooner Idol is more of a talent show," said Foster, a journalism and music sophomore. "We were picked by the judges, not the audience."

The "Five" also had the chance to meet and speak to the show's personalities, including show host Ryan Seacrest.

"He's a lot smaller in person than from what you think," Foster said. "I kind of compared him with Timon in Disney's 'The Lion King.'"

Fisher said he was surprised when he met the judges in person.

"They look larger than life on television, but in person -- Paula Abdul is like three feet tall," Fisher said. "It's pretty high octane, it's pretty intimidating walking in that room with the judges."

They also got to experience the intimidating audition room, where the three judges determine whether they will send the contestant to the next stage of the auditioning process in Hollywood. Appel, a music education graduate student, said while some made it to the audition round with the judges, it wasn't necessarily because they were good singers, but rather, because they would be fun for television.

"We always joked about that," Appel said. "We were hoping that we wouldn't become the joke people ... you know those people are going to be made fun of. You feel bad for those people."

To keep from becoming "joke people," the "Five" sang for each other the night before, during the ride down to San Antonio and while waiting to audition.

It's been nearly five months since those auditions and soon, the "Five" will have their story revealed to millions across the country 7 p.m. Jan. 31 when San Antonio's auditions air on Fox. Looking back at their experience, the "Five" have mixed reviews.

"I really had no idea what to expect," Gossett said. "I think it's a great thing and it's been great for my singing. I've grown a lot through the experience."

Foster said there were quite a few misconceptions about the show and how difficult it is to make it into the audition room with Simon, Paula and Randy. Knowing what the experience is like now, Foster said he would encourage others to go for it.

"It's well worth it," Foster said. "It could be a life-changing experience with a million-dollar recording deal."

Fisher, who said he was in Nashville, Tenn., this week working on future recording opportunities, said with his musical background and education, he did not think "Idol" was the route to go.

"It goes against everything I've worked for," Fisher said. "The route I'm going with my network is going to be my ticket to the industry.

"It was a cool experience, but in terms of being a trained musician, it's so much more work once you're on the show."

Appel said the auditions were tough with "Oklahoma and Texas being very artistic," but that the chance to audition was a "blessing."

"The experience was amazing," Appel said. "We met some cool people in line. You get to see what the directors and producers go through... It was a blessed experience."

Althea Peterson 366-3539 apeterson@normantranscript.com