Cover your Mouse ears: Disney teams with 'Idol'

0 Comments | USA TODAY, February, 2008 | by Kitty Bean Yancey and Laura Bly

Travel

Now you don't have to stand in lines around the block to get a tryout for American Idol.

Starting in late 2008 in Florida, Walt Disney World visitors 14 and older can earn a guaranteed audition for the hit TV show.

Disney, in collaboration with Idol, is building a 1,200-seat theater in the Hollywood Studios area, where contestants who pass screenings with "producers" will sing their hearts out and be critiqued by three judges (not Simon, Paula and Randy, alas) in seven shows daily. They'll get vocal tips and styling buff-ups.

Winners, voted by the audience, vie in an eighth show. Each day's champ wins a fast-track tryout for Idol. (Those who don't meet Idol's 16-28 age requirement can give an eligible pal their pass to audition.) ...