American Idol Party -12yr- Open Casting Call

For my daughters 12th birthday we had an American Idol party. 

We sent out invitations that were printed on blue cardstock with a coordinating plaid paper.  On the outside we put the American Idol logo that I found on line and printed: Are you the next American Idol?"  On the inside we wrote:  Open casting call - and then the date and time of the party.  We told them to dress the part and come prepared with their favorite tune.  Lipsinking was acceptable.  We invited about 10 girls and when they arrived they were dressed to perform. 

It was fun to see what they all wore. They spent days at school planning what they would wear and what they were going to sing.  We decorated the room with American Idol banners that I made from poster paper and large letters purchased from the party store.  We moved all the furniture from our family room and place a long table in front of the fireplace and decorated it with a silver tablecloth.  We removed everything from the mantle and hung silver streamers on the mantle and an American Idol sign above the mantle. 

We had signs in the yard and a sign on the door that read:  Open casting call - American Idol.  We hung long silver streamers from a doorway the the girls had to walk through to get into the family room.  As the guests arrived we gave each girl a small bag filled with makeup (from the dollar store) and some other accessories.  They also received a plastic microphone that was oversized that they would use to tryout.  All the decorations and supplies were purchased at a party store or the dollar store.  We ordered pizza and had pop and vegtables and then the girls spent the next half hour getting ready with hair and makeup and of course the clothes. 

After they were ready my husband and I sat at the big table and we became the judges.  We had a cd set up so the girls could play whatever music they wanted and a place for them to plug in their ipods.  We told the girls that lipsinking was acceptable which was very important at this age.  None of the girls wanted to sing alone or without the music.  We made it fun and comfortable for all of them.  Each girl or group of girls entered the room through the streamers - they loved making an entrance.  As they sang and danced my husband recorded all the songs.  They loved this part of the night it could have gone on for hours had we not put a limit on it. 

After they finished I gave each girl an award that I had printed out on my computer such as: best coreography best dressed most entertaining.  Everyone received an award and we presented them at the "Awards Ceremony".  Afterwards the girls got in their pajamas and laid out their sleeping bags (it has to be a slumber party when your 12!).  Then we turned on the movie that we recorded of the girls performing and had a good laugh.  They loved every minute of it and were still talking and giggling at 3 o'clock in the morning!"