In the late '80s, I was auditioning for my third year in an after-school orchestra. In the rehearsal room before the audition, I heard another bassist flying through his audition excerpts with ease. I remarked to another bassist, "I think I just heard our new first chair bassist." The other bassist replied, "Really? But he was eighth chair last year." I said, "Yeah, but if he plays as well at his audition as he did just now, I'll be surprised if he isn't named the principal--especially considering that they're doing blind auditions this year, unlike previous years, and won't have any preconceived notions about how to rank us."
I was right. That bassist earned first chair that year, deservedly. It's interesting, though, how heavily previous rankings factor into people's perceptions--and how strongly that justifies blind auditions.
