That is true for Ben Bethoney, a junior at McCann School in North Adams who completed two successive round trip journeys with just two hours sleep and a wait of seven hours in a chilly, wind-driven rainstorm, to attend the American Idol auditions. Although he could not progress to the next level, he is hopeful and will try his luck again next year. He was with his mother, Colleen, at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, where the auditions were held.

Bethoney said: although he had a very short try out, it was an awesome experience. He is happy that judges said though the competition was not for him now, he had a great voice. Bethoney stood second in 2006 in the Berkshire Idol youth category. He performs locally and has sung the National Anthem at C.H. McCann Technical School’s Skills USA events. He is a student of information technology curriculum at the school.

Music and singing are not just Bethoney’s hobby, they are his passion.

“I eat, breathe, live and think music,” he said. “My career has to be something with music.”

Bethoney, who was working at a part-time job on June 13, the audition day, drove about three hours to the site to register. He then went back to work his shift. After finishing his shift, he and his mother drove back to Foxboro and spent the rest of the night at a hotel.

They were at the stadium at 5 a.m., which was already crowded by then and his chance came at noon. He was drenched from the rain, from head to toe. His mother later said him that she wanted to cry but she didn’t say anything because she wanted him to have the audition.

Bethoney chose Michael Buble hit “Home,” for the audition. He had planned to power out the song’s emotional mid-section, but when the audition began — “I forgot the words, and I had to start at the beginning,” he said.

He admitted that not getting selected hasn’t weakened his desire for a music career. In fact he feels that people complaining that these kinds of shows actually destroy your hopes is not true. He says: “You need to have 100 percent confidence. You have to believe in yourself more than what others believe in you. I want a career in music, and I’ll do whatever it takes.”