i love the new judges jmo it will make idol stay for a while. steven is funny j lo is awsome and i think randy is trying to play the simond roll of bad cop, we will c so far his trying is a little anoying. i am so happy they r showing bk storys and good auditions, i was 1/2 watching till they got to hollywood for the past 9 yrs.
to answer the question on auditions i have friends who have been trew the process and frist u go to the big audition in like nashville or where ever, there they have judges we don't c and thease booths set up u get in a line at the booth or stall with a random person judgeing u, i know a season 6 contestant who got to 4th place , he whent trew this process 3 yrs in a row before he got past it. any way if u get picked frome there u go bk to the city u audition in for a call bk ,and sing for more random judges, if u get trew that round and get another call bk u go to the last round where u go before what we c on tv. u have to where the same clothes for every audition for editing, so it seems like it is all one big day but it is not. i think the whole process takes like 3 or 4 months..