Charleston to finally enjoy some 'Idol' time

Let's take a voyage — you and I — into the future, the morrow, the wild and wonderful unknown.

We'll dance into the cathode cosmos, peer into plasma orbs, drift along a sea of liquid crystal.

It might be January, it might be February — it's the future, we can't know — but the two of us, we'll sit together upon a couch fabricated from leather or brushed linen.

Again, the future — who can say?

Still, the both of us — we'll likely smile, content, comfortable with our accommodations.

And together, we shall tune to the television to discover — behold! — a familiar show, a grand show.

One with familiar spectacle and aspirations.

And perhaps a familiar face or two.

A dream? A nightmare?

You decide.

Either way — whether you love or hate the show (the factions are well-established) — come next year, the seventh season of "American Idol" almost assuredly will include a few contestants from the Charleston area.

That's right: The search for the next Sanjaya — or whatever the name of last year's winner was — starts today.

"American Idol" auditions are slated for Saturday at the North Charleston Coliseum, though registration begins this morning and continues through Saturday morning.

Expect a huge turnout, lots of natives and visitors warbling their way through town. In San Diego, more than 12,000 people showed up when the ratings juggernaut began its seven-city casting call.

Just don't expect judges Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson and host Ryan Seacrest, to be here. They'll show up at a later audition in Charleston, the date to be confirmed.

This weekend gives producers an opportunity to prune the competition. They'll search the crowds, nabbing the talent and train wrecks who'll sing for Simon and company during the show's taped portions.

There should be plenty of both.

The show may discover a Melinda Doolittle or LaKisha Jones.

Or a portly Big Bird impersonator such as Margaret Fowler, or another Kenneth Briggs, the bug-eyed contestant labeled a bush baby by Simon last season.

Because for most, the stakes — fame, riches, a recording contract — offset the risk of embarrassment.

Sheer odds predict that at least one of this season's finalists will come from the Charleston audition.

Only today, they're an anonymous dreamer, perhaps standing in line, perspiring in the heat, Hollywood half a world away, the unpolished artist not quite an idol, not yet anyway.

Reach Rob Young at 937-5518 or ryoung@postandcourier.com.