HOUSTON – It was an early start to the day for thousands over at Minute Maid Park, who auditioned for the "The Voice."
The open call for the hit NBC-TV show was Saturday morning, and Houstonians weren't the only ones chasing their dreams of stardom.
They were there to hopefully sing their way to stardom on an upcoming season of one of the most popular shows on television. The casting crew for "The Voice" said more than 10,000 hopefuls turned out for the open call, the first step toward becoming a contestant, and they had their voices tuned bright and early.
"What would I do without your smart mouth? Drawing me in and you kicking me out," D.A. Davies said.
Houston is one of only four cities picked to host one of the current open calls and people came from as far away as Florida.
"I'm pretty excited. This is one of the things I want to do to make it towards my dream," Austin resident Jacob Essary said.
Some are inspired by potential fame. Others have more personal motives.
"If I get through I'd like to dedicate it to my son, Julian, who's 15, and he has muscular dystrophy. So they're all over there rooting for me," Angela Martinez said.
The Houston area has produced success for the show in the past -- Season 8 runner-up Jake Worthington from La Porte and Season 6 winner Danielle Bradbery from Cypress.
Today's question: Will one of these faces become the next "Voice"?
"It's the excitement of them not being able to see you. You know, it's about vocal ability and nothing else," Jermain Hunt said.
If any of these people catch the judges ears they will punch their ticket to return next week for the next step in auditions.