'American Idol' hopefuls, your chance is almost here

The EnergySolutions Arena staff plans on working around the clock for the next few days to accommodate the more than 10,000 singers expected to preregister for the "American Idol" auditions.

Preregistration begins early Sunday morning and will run until 7 a.m. Tuesday.

EnergySolutions Arena general manager Mark Powell said with the way the auditions are set up, it won't matter if a singer is first or last in line.

"When a person registers, he or she will get a ticket and a wristband," Powell said. "The ticket will give a seat and section and time. They'll have to return for the auditions on Tuesday about 9:30 a.m. or 10 a.m., after the sun comes up. Just because a singer is first in line doesn't mean he or she will be first to audition."

At the singer's designated time, he or she will be ushered into one section of the arena, where the singer will sit and wait with others until the section is called over the loudspeaker. When the section is called, everyone in that section will be ushered to the arena floor where there will be 15 separate audition stations. The singers will be separated into 15 groups for the auditions.

The stations will be separated by curtains, Powell said. Each singer will have about 10 seconds to make an impression.

"The winners will be moved to a different room and given further instructions about the callback in September," Powell said. "The losers will be directed out of the building."

Powell said each singer can bring one friend, who also will receive a ticket and a wristband for entry.

"It will be a crazy couple of days, but the way the 'American Idol' producers have it organized, we're not expecting any difficulties," he said.

Powell also said those who want to see "American Idol" judges Paula Abdul, Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson will have to wait until the audition callbacks, which will be sometime in September.

"They aren't going to be here this week," he said. "But we'll see them in a couple of months."

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E-MAIL: scott@desnews.com

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