Season seven of American Idol officially got underway today, although the first episode is still six months away.  It's not hard to envision a very cranky and jet-lagged Simon Cowell stepping out of his epic trans-Atlantic flight, cursing the fact that he has to go back to work.  It must be weird preparing yourself for weeks of verbally demolishing the hopes and dreams of today's disillusioned youth.  Or, maybe it's easy for him.  He is Simon Cowell, after all.  All the “Paula ABdul is being replaced" speculation has ended, seeing as all signs report to Paula's appearance. The San Diego auditions are taking place at Qualcomm Stadium, former home of the San Diego Padres and current abode of the San Diego Chargers.

It's fitting that San Diego Comic-Con ends the day before American Idol auditions begin in the same city.  Comic-Con attendees are typically the type of people who scoff at the popularity of America's erstwhile reality phenomenon.  Meanwhile, I see most American Idol hopefuls as the type who have never heard of The Watchmen, don't watch Battlestar Galactica, and couldn't pick Stan Lee out of a line-up.  Maybe I'm wrong.  At the least, it's a gross generality. 

San Diego, as I think I've previously discussed, is an interesting locale for the American Idol auditions.  There will not be any Los Angeles auditions this year, and I suppose San Diego is an acceptable replacement, but logistically it doesn't make much sense.  San Diego isn't a huge city and unless Tijuana is producing a lot of wannabe singers, it's just a longer drive for everyone else.  Although, I have spent a fair amount of time in San Diego over the years, and there's a lot of good-looking young people, so American Idol may just know what they're doing.

We have the full list of American Idol audition cities and schedules here.


-Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image Courtesy of The Chronicle Journal)