"American Idol" auditions begin July 17 in S.F.

Get out your karaoke machines, spruce up your iPod and start running through those old Creedence Clearwater Revival, Elton John, Paul McCartney and Carpenters songbooks. "American Idol" audition time is here.

Fox confirmed Thursday that auditions for the 2009 edition of the Show the Stomps All Over Everything Else in Primetime will begin July 17 in San Francisco, at the Cow Palace.

As far as I'm concerned the first few segs of "Idol" culled from the road auditions (pictured here are snapshots from last year's trials) are the most entertaining. This is America, in all its out-of-tune, out-of-step, out-of-our-minds glory.

The highlight of last year's auditions had to be the determination of Antoria Gillon, who was nine months pregnant and in labor when she went through her audition in Dallas. She gave birth a few hours after her audition at local hospital to Jamil Labarron Idol McCowan, who will turn 1 on Aug. 7.

All of the official audition info follows after the jump, and more info is available at AmericanIdol.com:

Auditions will be held as follows:

San Francisco, CA Thursday, July 17 Cow Palace

Louisville, KY Monday, July 21 Freedom Hall

Phoenix, AZ Friday, July 25 Jobing.com Arena

Salt Lake City, UT Tuesday, July 29 EnergySolutions Arena

San Juan, Puerto Rico Saturday, Aug. 2 Coliseo de Puerto Rico

Kansas City, MO Friday, Aug. 8 Sprint Center

Jacksonville, FL Wednesday, Aug. 13 Veterans Memorial Arena

East Rutherford, NJ Tuesday, Aug. 19 IZOD Center at the Meadowlands

Specific information for the San Francisco auditions is below. More details for the additional audition cities will be announced shortly.

San Francisco AMERICAN IDOL Auditions

WHO: Men and women 16-28 years old as of July 15, 2008, who are eligible to work in the U.S. Some restrictions apply – please visit americanidol.com for specific information.

WHERE: The Cow Palace

2600 Geneva Ave.
Daly City, CA 94014

WHEN: Thursday, July 17

HOW: Wristbands will be distributed from 7:00 AM on Tuesday, July 15 until 8:00 AM on Thursday, July 17. Auditioners will not be permitted to camp out; therefore, once they obtain their wristbands, they will be asked to return to the Cow Palace on Thursday, July 17.