When Kristen Brewer, 22, found it difficult to afford food after she spent the money from her four jobs on bills, Brewer would grab her guitar and head to New York City's subway stations or 59th Street, just south of Central Park, to perform for spare change.

Brewer's talent and passion for singing led her to NYC last June and almost inside the door of the first "American Idol" auditions, but lack of money drove her back to Oklahoma before she was ready.

Brewer has a second chance at her big dream at an audition this weekend.

Oklahoma City Fox affiliate KOKH, Coca Cola, and other local companies are sponsoring an audition in Oklahoma City for the show "American Idol" from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at Quail Springs Mall.

"After missing the 'American Idol' audition in Manhattan I was really upset," Brewer said. "It's one thing to try and give it your best shot, but it's something else when you miss the opportunity altogether. The 'what if' is really hard to live with."

Brewer said she has had a love for music since she could remember and has talked about living in NYC since she was nine years-old. At the end of her third year as an OU undergraduate, Brewer took a chance and moved to Manhattan's upper west side.

"My objective was to get to New York and see how it works out," Brewer said. "There's just some things in life you can't pass up."

Because of NYC's high cost of living, money was an obstacle in her quest of musical success and ultimately became the reason for her return to Oklahoma after two months.

"I had about five different jobs in NYC, if you count my performing in subways stations and sidewalks for tips."

Brewer's part-time jobs included employment at Bed, Bath and Beyond, working the after-party of a Gay-Pride parade, clerical work at Columbia University, pet-sitting for random people, and the one job that required an unusual amount of humility and bravery: sitting on the floor of subway stations or sidewalks to play for the passers-by.

"Playing for tips was a lot of fun, I made so many friends performing around the city," said Brewer.

"Depending on how busy, I'd make a quick $40 per hour singing mostly covers, people like what they can nod their head to."

In her life, Brewer has written about 50 songs and independently recorded eight. She describes her music as folk chick rock. "But, although it's extremely clich
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