Brooke Starr of Valdosta visited the bright lights of Nashville, Tenn., to audition for ‘American Idol.’

Family and friends have long told Brooke Starr that she should audition for “American Idol.” This past weekend, she did just that.

The 28-year-old Valdosta resident traveled to Nashville, Tenn., where she joined a record-setting 12,000 people auditioning for a spot on the show.

Though many people have urged her to audition, she traveled to Nashville with one person specifically in mind.

“My dad (Coy Bennett) recently passed away and he always said, ‘You’ve got to try out for the show,’” Starr says. “I wanted to do it for my dad, and the cut-off age is 28, so this is the time.”

In the past, she learned of regional “American Idol” auditions too late. This time, she learned of the Nashville auditions about a month ago. Starr made arrangements to go.

Family offered support. Husband Mark Starr and their 2-year-old daughter, Brooklyn Starr, encouraged her. So did her mom, Denise Hunt. Aunt Kim Beavers, a Valdosta High graduate now living in South Carolina as a chorus teacher, agreed to travel with Starr. Beavers took 15-year-old daughter Camille to also audition.

Family has seen Starr sing throughout her life. She spent her kindergarten through third-grade years in Valdosta, during her father’s military duty at Moody Air Force Base. The family returned to Valdosta in 2000. Brooke had graduated high school in Warner Robins. She enrolled in Valdosta State University.

For eight years, she sung with the Southland Church Worship Team. After her father passed, Starr joined his congregation, Central Church of Christ. She hadn’t sang in a while until this past weekend, with the possible exception of singing to register for her room.

She had contacted the Hilton in Nashville. Saying she planned to audition for “American Idol,” the hotel had one room still available. The cost: $299 per night. The registrar on the phone asked if she would sing for the staff. Starr agreed and sang on the phone while the Hilton staff listened on the speaker phone. For singing for them, the Hilton manager got on the line and lowered Starr’s rate to $199 per night.

Arriving at the Hilton this past Wednesday, Starr had a room looking out on the auditorium. She planned to watch for people forming a line for Thursday’s auditions. During the two hours she slept, the line formed. At 3:30 a.m. Thursday, July 15, she was essentially the 5,196th person in line.

To keep the line orderly, “American Idol” staff divide the people into pods of about 30 each. That way someone can go to the restroom, or move around some without losing their spot in line.

“Entertainment Tonight and Fox News were there,” she says, noting the dozens of media outlets attending the auditions. “I’m not afraid to talk. So, I probably did 20 to 30 interviews with different people.”

The interviews were fine, but leaving the line for the restroom nearly took her out of the running.

Starr tripped on concrete and fell. She sprained her ankle.

“Of the 12,000 people there,” she says, “I was the only casualty.”

A few folks joked with her. They placed her name in a send-up of last season’s popular audition song, “Pants on the ground …,” singing instead, “Brooke on the ground …,” referring to her fall.

She thought the song hilarious and was surprised by what happened next.

Waiving hospital treatment, Starr was placed in a wheelchair and taken to the front of the registration line. She went from 5,000-something to one of the first folks to register.

While her ankle was healing, she maintained her VIP status come auditions Saturday morning. People began lining up at midnight, but she arrived at 5 a.m. at the head of the line, along with winners of the Disney Dream Pass auditions.

Contestants are separated and proceed to partitions of producer-judges who decide who continues along to the more famous judges such as Simon Cowell. In this first round of judging, contestants meet three groups of producer judges.

Contestants sing for the first judges. Starr had three songs prepared. “Hallelujah,” “Don’t Dream It’s Over” and Christina Aguilera’s “Beautiful.” She sang “Beautiful.”

Starr then traveled to the second set of judges. They interviewed her for personality. A third group of judges televised her, seeing how her singing and personality appeared on television.

The first round marked the end of the line for both Brooke Starr and her cousin, Camille Beavers.

“They told me they were looking for more of a Justin Bieber type,” Starr says. “The producer said they liked my voice but they were looking to attract a younger audience. The ratings had dropped last season and that’s why they lowered the age to 15 from 16 for auditions. They want a younger audience.”

Starr has no hard feelings and believes she may even be seen on TV when the next season starts.

“I made my shot and I enjoyed it,” she says. “My dad passed at 54. Life’s short. If you have an idea and a dream, you have to go for it. You have to live it.”