Laker Girl Auditions: Director’s Blog

Lakers.com:
Director of the Laker Girls Lisa Estrada is keeping a daily diary of the audition process for Lakers.com, starting with a summary of a full Saturday as over 400 hopefuls came to the Toyota Sports Center to show off their skills. Estrada will be checking in with updates throughout the week, covering individual interviews, final auditions and a wrap up once the final 22-odd girls are selected.

SATURDAY, JULY 16: AUDITION DAY
WOW … this fun, exciting day is now over! Today was the 2011-12 Laker Girls auditions and I have to admit that I was very impressed with all the participants that showed up today (despite the closure to the 405 freeway). I just wasn’t sure what to expect, but 400-plus ladies showed up to our “open call” today to be a part of the Lakers organization! YAY!

It seemed that there were many dancers that came from all over, not just Southern California! Some of the ladies came up and introduced themselves to me, and they were from Seattle, New York, Chicago, Florida, Ohio – I believe one of them came as far away as Australia! That is so NEAT!

Anyway, I am happy to say that the day was very productive. As I mentioned we started off with over 400 participants, and throughout the day we made four cuts. It was not easy at all, but the eight judges were able to cut it all the way down to 31 Finalists. This was a very talented group of dancers to choose from (very impressive)!!

Well, that is the day in a nutshell. I sure hope all the dancers that came to the auditions today enjoyed themselves AND I hope they come back next year!!! I guess I will keep you updated from here on out about this week……..thanks for checking in!
~ Lisa Estrada

SUNDAY, JULY 17: INTERVIEWS IN MIND
It’s Sunday, the day after the Laker Girls auditions, and I have to admit that I am really excited about the job interviews this week, which are the next part of the Laker Girls audition process.

Being that a Laker Girls member will have to be ready to do more than just “dance” at our games, I feel that this is a very important part of the process. I feel this way because the Laker Girls do many outside appearances and act as ambassadors for the Lakers Organization; I want to feel confident that, if they are hired for this position, this person can follow through in doing this in a positive way.

These 31remaining individuals will come into our offices from Monday through Wednesday, and I do have to admit that it is also the fun part, because we get to learn more about the individual person and how they conduct themselves as well as how they communicate. I feel that I get to know the ladies and their respective personalities a bit better during this part. They all have signed up for a day and time, and I know it will be really fun to see “what they are made of” and get to know them better. I really need dancers with a fun, positive personality.

Not to mention, being a Laker Girl, one needs to be a person that has the capability of working on a “TEAM”. So, compatibility is something important as well. We’ll just have to see how the chips fall … right?

Today I tried not to work but just couldn’t help it! I read all of the finalists resumes over and over, trying to get a better understanding of each person. Also, in getting ready for the interviews this week, I already started checking on some of the finalists references. (interesting!) Again, I am excited to move forward………let’s see how Monday goes. I will have fourteen interviews that day! WOW – I better eat a good breakfast! Ha ha ha.

Until next time … again, thanks for checking in!
~ Lisa

MONDAY, JULY 18: INTERVIEW DAY 1
Alrighty, it’s Monday, the first day of the Laker Girls interviews now in the books.

What a fun day! I met some really nice, sweet and talented young ladies today. It is truly a treat to get to ask them about themselves and their reason for trying out to be a Laker Girl. I get a plethora of answers – here are a few examples:
– “I wanted to be a Laker Girl from the time I was a child. Not to mention, I enjoy dancing & performing”…
– “I love the tradition, professionalism & classiness of what this dance team portrays”…
– “I am a full Lakers fan. I even wore a Lakers jersey to a home game in Detroit, when I resided there”…
– “It would be an honor to represent the Lakers organization and act as an ambassador for such a premier NBA franchise”…

Those are just a few answers given to me. Now, I have several more interviews to conduct in the next two days, so I am sure I will hear more of the same thing! But, I think that’s great – and hopefully these are honest answers.

It is different interviewing the veteran Laker Girls, though, meaning the girls that are re-auditioning; I basically have to ask them different questions because they have been on the team before. This means they have a little advantage over the new girls, because they have a better insight of how the audition process works.

Well, as I mentioned earlier, I have more interviews this week so I am trying not to get ahead of myself and not panic about making one last cut.

UGH.

Onward. I’m excited for tomorrow’s interviews: new people, new faces, new stories & new energy!

Until then…

TUESDAY, JULY 19: INTERVIEW DAY 2
Tuesday is over, the second day of the Laker Girls interviews now complete. Just like yesterday, I met some really sweet, enthusiastic young ladies.

It seems most of the ladies today were very appreciative for just making it this far in the audition process! They kept saying “thank you for having me here” or “I’m honored to be here,” which was so very nice of them. But, I told them that they got to this stage of the audition process on THEIR OWN. I mean, it was their own actions that got themselves to this final stage – they did it with their dancing and performance on Saturday. It was not me, nor was it the judges: the judges were just voting as they saw it. I really appreciated that some of these finalists were just happy to make it to the interview process!

I am a little over half way through the 31 finalists interviews, which means I am almost finished with all the interviews! YAY. Don’t get me wrong, I really do love this part – but I hear myself repeating the same things over and over (I drive myself crazy)! I even play a game with myself (in my mind) and try to come up with a different way to phrase items or questions that I discuss with the finalist. Funny, huh?

On a side note, the NBA released the Lakers schedule today (it is on our website). Yippee!

Okay, as I mentioned, I have more interviews tomorrow so I am sure you will hear about them too. I’m looking forward to it; as I said before, new people, new faces, new stories & new energy!

Thanks for checking in!
~ Lisa