This year fifteen hundred competitors sang their hearts out in front of a table of judges for the chance to be launched into stardom. But they weren't singing pop ballads to get on television screens -- they were singing opera arias for a chance to compete on stage at the Metropolitan Opera. The Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions have been a tradition since the 1930s and are designed to find budding opera stars in their formative years. "[Winning the National Council Auditions] was a direct link to starting my career," famed soprano Angela Meade told The Huffington Post. Before the auditions, Meade was a student at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia.