Lets get this party started! 'Idol' auditions arrive

Video: LA Audition Mania Thousands of American Idol hopefuls descended on the Rose Bowl in California before dawn Tuesday with wide-eyed dreams of becoming the next Taylor Hicks or Carrie Underwood. The competitors taking the field Tuesday had American Idol fame in mind, not football. Pasadena was the first of seven cities where producers of Fox TV's talent show planned auditions. Roads leading to the Rose Bowl were clogged as auditioners hurried to meet the supposed 6 a.m. PDT deadline to line up. Outside the stadium, early arrivals gathered " some huddled under blankets, some wearing headphones and silently mouthing lyrics. Others did last-minute makeup checks.The generally subdued early morning crowd roused itself occasionally, once when sample breath mints were tossed into the crowd and another time when TV news crews went on the air. "I've been wanting to do it for a long time," said Corrin Moore, 19, of Oceanside. She finally got up the nerve, she said, when friend Candice Starks, 21, also of Oceanside, agreed to join her for the tryouts. Surveying the growing crowd, Moore said: "It makes me feel nervous. There's a lot of talented people out here." Upcoming auditions for singers: Alamodome, San Antonio, Friday; Continental Airlines Arena, East Rutherford, N.J., Aug. 14; Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex, Birmingham, Ala., Aug. 21; FedExForum, Memphis, Tenn., Sep. 3; Target Center, Minneapolis, Sep. 8; Key Arena, Seattle, Sept. 19. Those intending to try out were asked to register up to two days before an audition, but that offered no guarantee of being seen and heard on the big day. Those rejected in one city can jump to another and try again.