Although the mood of Valentine’s Day began to subside for many after Friday night, there were still a few who were out looking for love on Saturday at Surly Brewing Company.
Upon walking into the brewery, you were greeted with two options — grab a beer or audition for season two of “Love Island USA.”
People in baby pink shirts guided you up the stairs, where “Love Island” backdrops were set up on one side of the room and a table of water bottles sat at the opposite end.
Going into the casting call, I thought I would be among hundreds of tall, beautiful people looking for a two-month, all expenses paid vacation in Fiji. What I walked into was not quite as glamorous.
About 50 people showed up within the first hour of the event — a handful of them just there because their friends watched the show. It was obvious who came to be cast and who came just for the novelty.
“I was watching the UK version of the show the other day and I thought, ‘I want to be on ‘Love Island,’” said Mimi Ewuakye, a junior at the University of Minnesota studying retail merchandising. “When I saw a picture of the casting call, my friends were all like ‘You’re on your own.’”
Women in full-face makeup and faux fur jackets played with their hair while frat bros giggled to their friends as they waited to begin registration.
The staff working the casting call were the most eager to be there. They herded the participants toward the “Love Island” backdrop for press photos and urged any spectators to sign up for an audition.
I was approached by a staffer every few minutes, urged to sign up because this could be my chance to find true love. Knowing the track record of the various versions of the show, I replied with a quick “no.”
Some were persistent. I’m not sure if it was desperation because of a low turnout or boredom, but it seemed as though they were trying hard to get rid of the 600 water bottles ordered for auditioners.
Once registered, they hand you a number and off you go into the next room. At this point, you get two minutes to answer five questions about your past relationships, your ideal romantic partner, what makes you a good candidate, and my personal favorite: what your closest friends will tell them about your dating history.
One man told the camera, “My friends would say that I’m seeing a different person every week, but I see that as an opportunity to get to know people.” Good save.
It’s sort of impossible to imagine that the producers of the show are able to pick the perfect candidates after watching only two minutes of video. I’m sure there’s a method to the madness, but watching people anxiously shuffle their feet and insert “um’s” into their scripted responses made it highly doubtful.
Through it all, season one winner Elizabeth Weber watched participants put their love lives on the line.
“The thing about ‘Love Island’ is that it’s real,” Weber said. “All of the drama is so stripped from it because they go after real people that are truly there looking for connections, wanting to make friends and are out there for the adventure.”
Whether this rings true or not is up to participants and, ultimately, viewers. However, it was worth a shot for those eager to win $100,000 and maybe, just maybe, find true love in the process.
