By Jesse Fruhwirth
Standard-Examiner Davis Bureau

OGDEN -- A young man with dyed-blond, shoulder-length hair strums a guitar and sings a polished rendition of Eric Clapton's "Tears in Heaven" in front of two judges, a pianist and the watchful lens of a video camera.

The musician tried but failed to land a coveted spot in a theater troupe that performs at Lagoon each summer.

Music USA, Lagoon theme park's musical performance company, brought its critical eyes and ears to Weber State University on Saturday to hold auditions for its summer shows. This day and on a handful of others, about 150 performers are expected to audition for 20 spots.

Like any job interview, appearances are as important as talent, and the Clapton-crooning young man with long golden locks just didn't cut it.

"How attached are you to your hair?" artistic director Ken Plain wanted to know.

"Fairly," the singer replied. "Is that a problem?"

He was not asked to perform again in the next round of competition.

However, 16-year-old South Weber resident Morgan Richards was asked to come back. The petite teenager with a sparkling smile said she hopes to land a part on "Music USA Presents a Broadway Revue," one of three shows the company will produce.

Her voice impressed the judges enough to earn a call back, but Richards said auditions always make her nervous.

"Auditions are never fun. I shake like crazy," she said. "I get a little nervous for performances, but there doesn't feel like as much pressure."

The Northridge High School student is just barely old enough for the job, but that might be exactly the right age.

The five-month commitment to Music USA is physically demanding,

Plain said, and usually it is people with youthful physiques who manage to keep up.

"It's a great training place to build up stamina," Plain said. "We do shows six days per week. It's hot. And there's a lot of dancing. ... We have a few performers in their late 20s or early 30s, but they're hating it. They're saying, 'I don't know how long I can do this.' "

In the hallway, where the young hopefuls warm up for their auditions, 15-year-old Mariah Liechty of Centerville is stretching her muscles and jumping and turning in the air.

She's too young to be hired by Music USA -- performers must be at least 16 years old because of the long hours they work.

She came to audition, she said, for experience.

"It's fun (to audition)," Liechty said. "If you want it, you go for it."

Liechty first saw "Rock U2 the Top" -- Music USA's Top 40 show -- when she was only 2 years old. She has been training as a singer and dancer ever since.

She said she hopes auditioning this year will expose her to the show's producers so that she might land a part next year.

Her hopes only get higher from there.

"Her voice coach tells her he's going to make her try out for 'American Idol' next year," said Mariah's mother, Michelle Liechty.

Television talent competitions have come and gone, but no other show has glamorized and satirized the audition process quite like "American Idol," so perhaps it's no surprise that the show is mentioned many times throughout the day.

"When 'American Idol' first came out, we were inundated with people," Plain said. "A lot of the auditioners suddenly became very defensive and were throwing attitude at us."

Plain said many of the less-talented auditioners have stopped coming out now that "Idol" -- in its sixth season on Fox -- has made the duds as big a part of the show's repertoire as the "idols" themselves.

Another audition for "Rock U2 the Top" is set for 10 a.m. Saturday at the Redwood Campus of Salt Lake Community College, 4600 S. Redwood Road.

Lagoon opens April 8. Music USA performances begin in May.

Jesse Fruhwirth