Inside The 'American Idols Live' Tour Rehearsals

Auditions are being held in:

San Diego Monday, July 30 Qualcomm Stadium
Dallas, TX Monday, Aug. 6 Texas Stadium
Omaha, NE Friday, Aug. 10 Qwest Center
Atlanta, GA Tuesday, Aug. 14 TBA
Charleston, SC Saturday, Aug. 18 North Charleston Coliseum
Miami, FL Wednesday, Aug. 22 American Airlines Arena
Philadelphia, PA Monday, Aug. 27 Wachovia Center

Since I was interviewing the top ten Idols who will be on the tour this morning, it gave me the perfect opportunity to give anyone who is reading this and thinking about auditioning this year some first hand advice.

Gina Glocksen: "Make yourself standout. If you are serious about the competition make yourself standout. Do something. Don't sing any Etta James. Don't sing Mariah Carey. Sing an obscure song that they will be like 'oh my gosh I never thought of someone singing that.' They will put you through just because of your guts in trying that.

Sanjaya Malakar : Don't try too hard to impress people because I think that a lot of people lose themselves when they are trying to impress other people. So, I think the most important thing is just to be yourself and go out there and sing a song that you feel and that you are going to connect with.

LaKisha Jones: "Stay focused. Do your homework. Be prepared. Have plenty of tea. Don't worry about the criticism."

Chris Sligh - "Just know that you are going to have super friggin long days at the auditions and come prepared. Get lots of sleep."

Jordin Sparks: "You just gotta keep your energy up. Wear something bright so people can see you. You just have to have a great attitude. People can sense that about you. If you are standing and thinking you are not going to make it they are not going to look at you and say that's a winner right there. You have to be confident but not cocky and you have to think you can make it."

Chris Richardson - "Know you are a star. Just go out there like you are a star, and you have already won."

The AI Tour will kick off July 6th in Sunrise, Florida and run through September 22nd with 56 stops along the way. The Idols will be traveling via tour buses with the girls on one bus and the guys on another. According to Chris Richardson this could pose quite a problem as apparently Chris Sligh has a snoring problem! Of course what everyone around here wanted to know is if Sanjaya will be sporting any of those crazy hairdo's he did on the show. Well, he wouldn't tell me because he wants people to come see the show and find out. My guess is somewhere along the way the PoHawk will appear.

The one thing that will be different this year is the Idol's will be allowed to play instruments if they know how during several songs. During a mock rehearsal set up for the press, I caught a glimpse of Blake on the drums. He was great. It looks like both Chris Sligh and Gina have some mad guitar skills. Jordin was strumming a guitar but I wasn't sure if she really knew how to play and Phil Stacey played a mean tambourine.

A little Idol insider told me just a few of the songs you will be hearing on the tour including, "Blaze of Glory" by Bon Jovi, "The Way You Make Me Feel" by Michael Jackson, "This Love" by Maroon Five, and "God Fearing Women" by Martina McBride.

I hear there are still plenty of tickets available.

For complete tour information visit this link. http://www.poptarts.com/americanidolslivetour/index.shtml#home