Thousands showed up for the Louisville American Idol auditions in July for a round that determined who got to see Simon, Paula, Randy, and new judge Kara for another round in September.

Our cameras were at both auditions, where we caught up with a few area residents and folks from all over to give us a taste of the upcoming season of Idol.

July 21st.

Louisville, Kentucky.

Freedom Hall.

3:30 a.m.

Thousands line up for the American Idol auditions, ready to put those pipes to use.

"Here in Kentucky, we can get anything because we're just a street-shot from Nashville and Atlanta," explains American Idol senior producer Patrick Lynn. "I think we're going to get a mix of everything."

There's everything from theater majors to country quartets to those singing the oldies.

All day, the masses are whittled down to only a few.

Fast forward two months.

September 7th.

Louisville, Kentucky.

Churchill Downs.

8 a.m.

It's the round of auditions that can either send you to Hollywood or send you back home, wherever that may be.

"It is tough to be confident in these because they're there to test you, see if you can really take it," says Kristen McNamara of California.

"I feel there's a lot of these people from little communities in the south with these big dreams that they never get to realize because they never get to do it," adds Ricky Braddy of North Carolina."Maybe I'll get to be their encouragement."

"This is such an amazing opportunity for anyone that's a singer these days," Joanna Pacitti of Pennsylvania says. "The music industry is so bad, and it's such a great platform."

Just as tensions become unbearable in the waiting room, the judges arrive.

"This is going to be fun, man," says American Idol judge Randy Jackson. "This is good, man. We're Kentucky, baby, what?"

"Security, in the car over, said there was some good talent here," adds host Ryan Seacrest. "We shall see."

"They've been telling us there hasn't been much talent the past couple of seasons," judge Paula Abdul adds. "We're going to be seeing some good people today."

With that, it's up to the Louisville crowd to represent Kentucky with all they've got.

To see how these contestants fared in front of the judges, tune into the new season of American Idol this January on Fox.