Stars Rejected by 'American Idol' - See Which Artists Failed to Get Past the Auditions!

11. Mary Lambert

“I auditioned for American Idol when I was 16! I didn’t make it past the first round and I cried all the way home,” she revealed in a Q&A.

12. Alex & Sierra

The X Factor USA winners actually tried their shot at American Idol first.

“Honestly, we didn’t get enough experience [on Idol] to even take much away from it. It didn’t feel quite as real as The X Factor, [which] wanted to make sure that the stories you told were your stories, the songs you were singing were the songs you wanted to sing. Granted, we didn’t make it far enough in American Idol to experience what went on behind the scenes, but The X Factor felt more genuine and artist-centric,” Alex explained.