Wow, so I think it's time to tell you guys about the semifinal round which happened back in February!

They flew about 58 of us guys to New York, where they put us up in the New Yorker Hotel. We each had our own room, which was awesome, and the camera crews were out from the moment our planes landed in the airport. They filmed me while I was unpacking in my room, and later that night when I was practicing. We got there on Sunday, and we had Monday and Tuesday to work closely with Laurieann, the choreographer, and Ankara, the vocal coach. On Wednesday we would be presented to Diddy, and he would select about 20 guys to go in the house.

We did our on-screen interviews with one of the producers, and it was cool. He said I was a natural, I was so excited to be there! He said we'd be seeing alot more of each other, trust. I saw some of the guys that made it through with me from D.C. I realized quickly that I was one of the few white guys. On Monday when we were having our first rehearsals, I counted 6 white guys. There were 2 Asian guys, and a bunch of multi-racial guys, and the majority were black guys. So...I definitely stuck out in the competition. I realized I was in good company with alot of really talented men; a pretty diverse group in terms of looks and vocal style, but alot of guys with drive, heart, and passion for what they do!

Day 1 (Monday) was great. Ankara had us sing End of the Road as a group and it sounded soo good! Then Laurieann came in with her assistant Richie, and it was so great to see her! She was saying hi to everybody, and her energy as always was amazing and inspiring. When I finally got her eye, she came over and hugged me, and was glad to hear I had made it through in D.C. It's hard to quite describe the awe she inspires in me and many others.

Ankara had us all sing either My Cherie Amour. Burn or Can You Stand the Rain to see which one was best. I sang My Cherie Amour, and he said I needed to watch my pitch, but decided it was the right song for me.

We were divided into 6 groups, and rotated through choreography with Laurieann and vocals with Ankara. I was with guys who were singing My Cherie Amour, and we had a good session with Ankara, doing vocal exercises and then performing for him. Ankara called me out in front of the guys, telling the guys I had done everything the judges told me, losing weight, cutting my hair, and "not trying so hard." He told me again, though, to not try to so hard. He said "try to walk," so I walked and then he said, "You're walking." It made sense.

We did choreography and Laurieann told us about "ASSASINIMARIFICATION," how we would assasinate the world with the gift, and then let them marinate in it. I don't know, I loved it. I attacked the choreography, and when Laurieann was walking around, I did the choreography for her, and looked her right in the eyes when she was in front of me. She was like, work, and she said she loved me, which......is...pretty unbelievable, to be so close to someone who inspired you on TV. It makes things....real.

DAY 2 was intense. They had us get up really early and told us to dress warm but wouldn't tell us what we were doing. I thought they'd make us run 10 miles, but it was actually nothing big. We just walked to the park and lined up on some bleachers, Michael Bivens was there! And he joined Laurieann in getting us pumped for the day. Michael Bivens is another inspiring individual who really made us want to give the best of us.

My group was in choreography for what seemed like forever. Laurieann and Richie were making various changes to the choreography. I got some great tidbits from Laurieann, and really good advice. She told me not to do the stinky face when I dance cuz it's not hot, and I agree! LOL. Later when I was dancing, Laurieann was like, yes that's the face that I want. She was like, you can be Casper and whatever when we're on our lunch break, but when you're on stage, I want those panties being flung at you! HAHA it was awesome. She also would go down the line and have us repeat "Assassiminarification" and I would kill it. She told me I had the bed right in the center of the house, said I was "international" or something. I was humbled every time, and am still humbled.

They kept rotating through the groups, and my group stayed in choreograph for most of the day, and we were all really exhausted but pushed through it. At one point I almost threw up. At one point, this other kid was trying to show me how to do something, even though I think I was handling it fine, and Laurieann totally caught us talking while she was talking! She literally sidestepped over to us, with the cameras following her, like what is going on? I said that he was giving me a note, and then she made him do it in front of her, and then went into a whole thing about race. She was like calling him out for trying to help me, because as a white man I have an advantage over them. IT was really heavy stuff. She was like, that doesn't mean you and me aren't cool (referring to me) but that the rest of the world isn't like that, and I agree! There are still so many racial issues, and prejudices that go beyond just race. It is important that we understand the problems, and also know that we are able to change these things with the actions that we make everyday.

At one point, Laurieann was just working us to our breaking point, telling us to have that "eye of the tiger." I was pushing my body and really going for it. She had us do it 5 times facing each wall, coming back to the front. I think we did it 25 times in a row, then she had us hold the last pose....then....something happened. She was talking to us, telling us to hear that roar....the roar of the crowd, in our head....because even though people said we couldn't do it, we had done it...basically I felt as if I had already performed on a stage in front of millions of people. But I still had this thing to let go of, this feeling that I had to prove myself. Laurieann said that R. Kelly had written a great song, called 'I believe I can fly." It may sound corny, but suddenly we were all singing it, and the words never rang more true. "See me walking through that open door, I believe I can fly." I realized I really believed it, despite certain setbacks that I've had....despite what people said, I believed I could do it! I started crying soon after we started singing, and as Laurieann was walking around, she saw me. She came up to me, and I could tell she was getting emotional too, and she gave me a big hug and I just let it out. She was like, "Let it go. Casper, you're good, it's ok," and it was just a huge release for me. Another guy, who she called Gemini, was behind me, and he was crying too, and she just hugged us, it was amazing.

When we were done, I just kinda still had more tears to let out....but.....it was like a weight off my shoulder. I realized that I can do this....I proved to myself that I believed. Michael Bivens slapped my hand, and said keep it goin Casper, and I told him I would.

When we finally met with Ankara, the vocal coach, we were just exhausted. I started to get stressed for some reason about singing, and Ankara just basically told me again not to try so hard, and he emphasized to all of us that we needed to tell a story with our lyrics, which sounds easy enough, but sometimes when u get up there, your head just does its own thing.

It was good to finally get some food and get some rest, though I was anxious about meeting Diddy the next day.

For the conclusion, go on to part 4.....