When I was in labor with my daughter (18 hours worth) I could barely see straight, never mind trying to belt out a song in front of a panel of judges. But that’s exactly what Antoria Gillon did Monday while auditioning for TV’s “American Idol.” No joke. The Dallas contestant performed her audition while in labor.
And not only did she manage to endure contractions while she was on stage, the “Idol” hopeful also spent hours standing in line at Texas Stadium with 13,500 other contestants prior to getting her shot in front of the judges.
Gillon told news reporters that she knew she was close to giving birth, but she wasn’t about to let her contractions crush her dream of getting on the popular singing show.
“I was more than willing to have my baby right there,” Antoria reportedly said. “I wasn’t leaving without my golden ticket to the next round.”
The young mother’s determination paid off. Producers of the hit FOX show announced that Gillon made it to the next round.
As for the rest of her labor, a waiting ambulance reportedly took Gillon to a local hospital after her audition, where she gave birth to a healthy baby boy she named Jamil Labarron Idol McCowan.
In other “Idol” news, season six finalist Gina Glocksen has exciting news of her own… she’s newly engaged to her longtime boyfriend, Joe Ruzicka. And like Gillon’s labor pains, Glocksen’s proposal took place on stage.
According to news reports the 23-year-old had just finished a song at Tuesday’s “American Idol Live” concert near Chicago when Ruzicka came onto the stage. In front of a “clearly puzzled” Glocksen, Ruzicka told the audience that he was “the biggest Gina Glocksen fan of all” and proposed. She accepted – with a kiss.
“Idol” fans may be familiar with Ruzicka as Glocksen frequently mentioned him while she was on the show and he was often seen cheering her on from the audience. During one episode, Glocksen dedicated her performance of Heart’s “Alone” to her Ruzicka. Later she thanked him for his support – and praised him for encouraging her to audition again after being rejected from the show the year before.
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