idol auditions - what u don't know

No, Paula, Randy and Simon weren't there.

Almost 24 hours after my trip AI auditions, I'm finally giving you the lowdown on what happened yesterday. Since I can't naturally give you the heat-of-the-moment intensity of live auditions, I figured I'd start with a recap of some of the most interesting things.

*At least for Atlanta, I thought the prevalance of weird costumes was exaggerated. I got to Georgia Dome at 5 a.m., expecting to see a whole sea of weird getups. False. Yes, there were drag queens and a girl dressed as a butterfly, but as far as I know none of those people made it through to the next round. I interviewed season four finalist Constantine, who was there promoting his album, and he said things looked tamer than when he auditioned.

*However...finding the "so bad they're good" people is difficult. Once auditions got under way, the ousted contestants wandered out a side walkway. The ones who got the thumbs-up, meanwhile, signed the necessary papers and then some of them were escorted to the media. But the ones we got to speak to couldn't sing for us. And while the rejected ones spoke of OK'd contestants with weird hair and personalities, we never saw any of those.

*Basically, it's a giant zoo. Yeah, this might not come as a major surprise, but it's really hard to understand the magnitude of this thing unless you were there. An estimated 15,000 people showed up, where and how the line wrapped around the building.

*People got inside surprisingly quickly. I got to the auditions shortly after 5 a.m., and spent at least until 6 a.m. getting clearance and acquainting myself with the venue. By 7 a.m., the outside crowd was limited to stragglers. Awkward. And I wasn't allowed in the building.