The rumor mill was validated tonight as 2013 West Fargo High School graduate Andrina Brogden, walked out of her American Idol audition with a golden ticket in hand. While the excitement fumes around the community, it is only the beginning of what is to come for West Fargo’s own rising star.
The next step in the process for Brogden is surviving Hollywood Week, which airs in early February and features the other golden ticket contestants in a battle of individual and group competitions. The judges will then weed through the group for a second round of cuts and send the best of the best to Las Vegas.
In the midst of pressure and preparation during her time from the audition to today, Brogden is establishing her own way of development.
“I have been singing and just kind of relaxing,” Brogden said. “I have been thinking about myself and how I want to be presented to everyone, and what I can do to make myself a better artist and make my performances watchable and fun.”
Brogden was involved in numerous West Fargo theater productions her freshman, sophomore and junior year, but decided to take her senior year off and focus more on building her strength as a singer. Brogden was brightly highlighted in the 2012 production, “Cinderella.” Brogden’s former director, Adam Pankow, who was also a reference for America Idol, said she was a significant individual in “Cinderella” because she led the cast and crew in dealing with the abrupt death of senior Eleni Wilson, who was also involved in the play.
“She [Andrina] would have been wonderful no matter what, but I think she really helped and stepped up in a different way, and was really a big part of that healing,” Pankow said. “To see such a beautiful and talented girl really embody this particular role, I think that will be something she will be remembered for for a super long time.”
Brogden’s former choir teacher, Jeffrey Mueller, referred to her as the “full package” and said she had the beauty, voice and acting skills needed to play Cinderella. After having Brogden in class, Mueller noticed a leadership in Brogden that helped push other students to improve.
“She is a good overall musician,” Mueller said. “They trusted her kind of to the point where her friends trusted her and her skills and if there was anyone that they were going to follow, she would be the one because you could depend on her. She had the right notes and the right words. She sings beautifully musically.”
Brogden started her freshman year last fall at Minnesota State University Moorhead (MSUM), but she will be taking her second semester off in hopes of advancing further into the national competition.
“Obviously I wanted to finish it out [second semester] because I was making more friends and starting to get settled in,” Brogden said. “But this is an experience, no matter what happens. I wanted to take a semester off because whether it was a good outcome or a bad outcome I wanted to try and develop myself, and think about what I had just experienced.
With the goals in the back of her mind, Brogden is laying out the process and taking it one step at a time in hope to endure the unpaved road that leads to round three in Sin City.
“I just want to get as much experience and make as many connections as I can while learning throughout this thing,” Brogden said. “Obviously I would like to keep going and win this thing, because that would be the ultimate dream. That would be incredible.”