'American Idol' auditions underway, Simon Cowell replacement still a mystery

07/26/2010 by Corinne Heller

Auditions for American Idol's tenth season are underway and some 6,000 people began lining up in New Orleans on Monday around midnight for a chance to sing before the show's producers and possibly advance to the next round.

The goal? To perform before Randy Jackson, Kara DioGuardi, Ellen Degeneres and a still-unnamed fourth judge who will replace Simon Cowell. The catch? Only about 100 in the city will make it that far, supervising producer Patrick Lynn told the Associated Press.

The auditions began on July 17 in Nashville, Tennessee and the minimum age eligibility of contestants has been lowered from 16 to 15, while the maximum age stands at 28. The last venue to audition for the show is in San Francisco on August 19 and the series is set to air in January.

Chris Isaak, singer of the 1989 ballad "Wicked Game", is reportedly in talks to replace Cowell as the fourth judge of American Idol, while rocker Bret Michaels is no longer in the running.

Chris Isaak has met twice with the show's network, FOX, The Hollywood Reporter said, quoting the network's entertainment chairman as saying he expects the new judge to join American Idol by early September. Harry Connick Jr has also been considered for the job, the trade publication says.

Cowell has said he began to become bored with American Idol about two years ago and is set to launch in the fall of 2011 a new show, X Factor - the U.S. version of a talent competition series he judged and developed in the United Kingdom.

The ratings for the American Idol finale in May were the lowest recorded among its season ending episodes. General ratings for American Idol have more than tripled since the series debuted in 2002 but have declined slowly during the past few years. Peak ratings were recorded in about 2006, or the fifth season.