Monday, Feb. 21, 2005 | 8:16 a.m.
Perhaps it was fate that brought strangers Amanda Avila and Mikalah Gordon together during the open tryouts for "American Idol."
After all, what are the odds that, of the 6,000 contestants who auditioned at the Orleans in September, the final two Las Vegas "Idols" were side by side from the beginning?
"We stood next to each other in line and we've been together ever since," Gordon said.
Today the two are among the 24 contestants vying to be this season's "American Idol." At 8 tonight on Fox (Channel 5), the group of 12 men perform; Tuesday at 8 p.m. the group of 12 women perform. Viewers nationwide will vote for their top contestant, with the results announced on Wednesday's show at 9 p.m. The bottom two vote-getters in each group go home.
The gender-specific process will be repeated for two more weeks until there are 12 finalists, who will then be voted off one at a time each week as in past seasons. Taking a break from rehearsals Thursday in Los Angeles for media interviews, Avila and Gordon remain confident in their abilities even if they are unsure of their chances of becoming the next "American Idol."
"I sometimes feel, Oh yeah, I can do this,'" Avila said in a phone interview. "But then I look back at the 23 other people and it hits me ... the other contestants are so amazing, so talented. It's definitely intimidating.
"All I can do is give it my all so I'm not disappointed."
Avila, a 23-year-old native of Los Angeles who moved to Las Vegas a year and a half ago, is a performer in the free show "The Sirens of TI."
Although she's worked at Disneyland as a performer, as well as a backup singer for Smokey Robinson, a successful career in music eluded her. Even in Avila's previous "Idol" auditions, she never made it past the first round of open tryouts.
As it turned out, Avila didn't learn she was among the 12 women finalists until near the end of the contestant cuts in November.
"That whole day was really emotional," she said. "In a way you were relieved when someone got cut because it meant I may make it. But you also felt bad because you were friends with each other.
"At the end of the day, as more people were told yes, I was happy for them. But I knew my odds were lower."
In a bit of calculated drama by the "American Idol" producers, Avila and the only other remaining member of her group, 16-year-old Jacklyn Crum, faced the show's judges -- Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul -- together to learn their fate.
Fortune, though, favored Avila, and it was Crum who was sent home.
"Jacklyn is such a sweet girl," Avila said. "It really felt awkward that they told me I made it and she didn't. But she handled herself well."
While Avila had to wait for the news, Gordon was one of the first performers in her group to find out if she made it to the next round.
She didn't like her odds.
"I swear I thought I was going home," Gordon said in a separate phone interview.
So when the judges told her she was among the 24 finalists, she was stunned.
"It took a long time to process it," Gordon said. "And my pants had gotten a little big, so when I got up, I was thinking I had to pull up my pants."
A 17-year-old junior at Cimarron-Memorial High School, Gordon is the youngest "Idol" contestant remaining.
In fact, she is required to spend three hours each weekday with tutors, along with 17-year-old contestant Janay Castin. Gordon's teachers even pass along her schoolwork.
"It's fine," she joked. "It's the life of a star."
Gordon also joked that she would take it personally if viewers don't vote for her each week.
"I'm a part of America and I'm not going to worry about it," she said. "(But) if you don't vote for me, I'm never speaking to any of you again."
If she seems unusually calm considering her upcoming live performance for a nationwide audience of millions, it's partially because Gordon knows she can count on hometown fans.
"On Tuesday all the school is getting together ... and watching it just to show their support," she said.
Likewise, Avila said she can count on support from her friends in Las Vegas. She frequently receives encouraging text messages from co-workers, and her employers have even told her she can return to "Sirens" if and when she's eliminated from "American Idol."
But if her "Idol" dreams should end Wednesday, Avila isn't sure she'll continue to pursue a singing career.
"I've been trying to be a singer for 15 years," she said. "There comes a point in time when you kind of exhaust your opportunities.
"If this doesn't work out, maybe this is not the route I'm supposed to take."
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