After waiting in line since 6 a.m., Mike Cristal, 17, finally sat down in the light-filled audition room at the famous Apollo Theater. Hoping for a spot in the Harlem landmark’s Amateur Night 2011 season, he watched the  contestants before him step onto the makeshift stage to perform before two black-clad  judges.

“I’m going to sing ‘Ordinary People’ by John Legend,” he said. “I have confidence when I sing that song. I love it.”

Amateur Night, held on Wednesdays since 1934, has launched the careers of  Ella Fitzgerald, Billy Holiday, Jackie Wilson, Gladys Night & the Pips and the Isley Brothers, among many others.

Contestants who attended the newly added Brooklyn auditions and the second annual Atlanta auditions, both earlier this month, experienced a similar process to Cristal’s. Different this year, however, is the addition of  “virtual” online auditions.

“We began online auditions in an effort to reach a national talent pool,” said Nina Flowers, an Apollo spokeswoman. “Not everyone can come to New York. In today’s day and age, the way to do that is through the Internet.”

Having started Oct. 16, the online auditions ran until 5 p.m. on Oct. 23. Using a customized Apollo micro-site, the first 300 applicants were accepted. From these, 35 applicants will be picked from the pool, one for each of the 35 Amateur Night shows beginning Jan. 26.  Caffey and the judges now begin the difficult task of choosing contestants  for the $10,000 grand prize.

“We will not tell you today if you made it or not, because we have other auditoners to see,” Caffey told Cristal and the others in the room. “Then we put the season together.”

Some who auditioned in Harlem saw auditioning online as a disadvantage.

“People have always been willing to come to the theater to audition,” said Mary Walters, 35. “I guess it could be a good thing that they choose to go into people’s homes. But it makes me wonder as to why they would need to do so.”

Cristal, who spent 10 hours traveling from Calera, Alabama, said: “I would consider online auditions if I couldn’t get a chance to fly. But it is not as exciting. I like that adrenaline.”

He believes that the wait, the people and the judges are part of the audition process. “I don’t know why you’d do it at home,” he said. “You can’t show your personality as much.”

Online auditions provide another way for the Apollo  to compete with the likes of Fox’s “American Idol” and NBC’s “America’s Got Talent,” which have become popular through a formula similar to the Apollo’s 76-year-old contest.

“I am too old for ‘American Idol’ and all the other shows,” said Beverly McClain of Brooklyn. “I am 48 years old.” McCLain discovered her musical talent late in life, and felt that the Apollo was the best place to audition. “The Apollo is a legend,” she said. ” You know you’ve arrived when you’ve stepped  on the Apollo stage.”

“We are the great grandfather of them all,” Caffey agreed.

McClain felt at peace after she performed “Dr. Feelgood,” popularized by Aretha Franklin.

“I had to shimmy a little bit,” she laughed.

She vowed to keep singing at her Seventh Day Adventist Church in Brooklyn, whether she made it or not. “I refuse to allow myself to go there mentally in a negative way,” she said. “I’ll just trust in God and believe what is for me is for me.”