Today is the day for all of the hopefuls that are out there. The popular television show 'American Idol' hosted its auditions in Iowa City today.



'American Idol' took a unique turn for its 12 season auditions. Instead of hitting all of the major cities, this year's Small Town Audition Bus Tour is taking it down a notch with a series of much smaller cities.

The cities that would be featured on the bus tour were released, but the dates of the auditions had not been released until recently. According to the Des Moines Register website, this is so that producers could make sure people from other places did not drive to the auditions in the small towns.

This year, 'American Idol' wanted the talent from the city to be the talent that they judge instead of that from larger cities. This will keep people that did not make it on the shows in larger cities from auditioning in this year's tour.

The producers did release the audition to the Iowa City Visitor's Bureau so that an audition site could be chosen. The auditions were held at Hubbard Park in Iowa City. The registration for the auditions began at 8 a.m. today, and auditions ran from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Something else that is done differently this year is that, because the auditions are in the park, they will be outside in front of the 'American Idol' bus. Family and friends can watch the auditions right there if they like.

Those that were chosen to be in the next round of the auditions will be informed of the time and location.