Fox TV's long-running talent search show, "American Idol," came to New Orleans today searching for candidates to be a pop music superstar. Thousands of young men and women arrived pre-dawn to wait in line for a chance to become that star.
Most of the contestants we talked with were from New Orleans or the surrounding area -- Slidell, Laplace, Prairieville, Baton Rouge. Others came from farther away, like Austin, Texas; Jupiter, Florida and even Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
They began lining up early in the morning. People in the middle of the line said they showed up around 5:00 a.m. Personnel with the Fox program went up and down the line on the Superdome plaza whipping the crowd up for their TV cameras. Most were happy to preview what they had planned for their auditions.
"I'm going to sing a song called 'Home' by a guy named Marc Broussard," said Joshua Plaisance from New Orleans.
"I'm going to sing 'What's Up' by 4 Non Blondes," said Hannah Lane, who came all the way from Pittsburgh because she couldn't make it to any auditions nearer to her home.
Some were a little nervous, others more confident that they could make it to the next phase of the contest, which would be singing before the show's panel of celebrity judges. Who those judges are isn't certain yet. Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler and actress/singer Jennifer Lopez left the show after last season.
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