Union residents might have been surprised to see a recognizable face on the “American Idol” Atlanta auditions on the second night of the Fox hit show’s ninth season last week.

The first contestant on camera was Bobby Devone Robinson — a Union native.

Robinson decided to try singing since music is in his blood. His cousin is Union DJ "Motown Bobby" Robinson.

Devone was amazed at what a process the “American Idol” auditions were.

The first round began at the Georgia Dome several weeks ago. People lined up at 9 a.m. for auditions, standing in line outside the dome for hours, only to get inside and wait for a few more hours.

The “Idol” hopefuls were separated into 15 lines and each line had two judges at the end. Groups of five were taken out of each line and one singer was selected from each group to come back for the next round, which was held a couple weeks later.

When Robinson arrived for the second round at 7 a.m., he had to sign confidentiality forms and line up again to sing in front of the producers. The producers informed all of the contestants of the audition format and — one by one — contestants sang for more than 10 producers. Bobby was informed he was scheduled for the next round.

Robinson arrived a couple weeks later for his next round of auditions. Although several singers performed before him, he was the first one shown on television the night the Atlanta auditions aired — the week of show’s premiere on Tuesday, Jan. 12.

Robinson was nervous to sing in front of the “Idol” judges and said he had more conversation with Simon Cowell that did not air. Robinson was then taken to a confessional room to record his perspective on auditions.

Robinson sang "Lady I Know You," his original song, for all three rounds. Unfortunately, the judges didn’t find Robinson “Idol” material and denied him a golden ticket to Hollywood and the next round of the show.

Robinson was living in Atlanta during the time of the auditions and has now relocated to Spartanburg.

“American Idol” airs Tuesdays and Wednesdays on Fox.