The last season of American Idol does feel far away from us now, not after all that conversation after the winner was announced, and everything else happened.  One more nail in the coffin, then: the ninth season is seriously underway, and Boston was the first stop in the seven-city audition tour, starting off another search for that next big star--and, dare I say, Kris Allen's successor.  Or Adam Lambert's, depending on how you're looking at it.

As you may know, auditions kicked off in Boston over the weekend--well, some would point out that it's in the town of Foxboro, where the Gillette Stadium stands.  7,000 contestants flocked to try their luck, and if Ryan Seacrest's to be trusted, the number could have been bigger--if only it wasn't raining.
"If you're auditioning, you want pouring rain, you want freezing weather," he said.  "It makes the weak stay home."

That may be an unusually rough insight for Ryan, but he does have a point: the stakes have increased yet again, not after the spectacular talents that the last season produced.  Of course, some of those who auditioned have tried before, and they're hoping that the developments of the past few years have made their trips easier.  "When I auditioned five years ago in San Francisco, producers said I was too 'musical theater,'" auditioner Eric Krop said.  "Hopefully things will be different this time around."

But it's still unpredictable.  "We're not looking for another Kris Allen or Adam Lambert," supervising producer Patrick Lynn told the Boston Herald.  "We're looking for something different."

I guess we should expect the usual dose of sob stories when we get a better glimpse at the auditions next year.  One contestant battled lymphoma when she was a teener, and another is hopeful that after trying for so many times, this year will be her lucky break.  But some of those who did make it sound interesting, at least on paper--a 28-year-old who thinks he'll be singing in "bathrooms, bathtubs and karaoke bars" to prepare for Hollywood, or the 16-year-old who nailed Aerosmith's "Dream On", the same track that Danny Gokey unwittingly butchered--and then we're reminded that things would indeed be very interesting.


-Henrik Batallones, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Sources: AP, The Boston Herald, The Boston Globe
(Image courtesy of AP)