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Approximately 10,000 hopefuls of varying degrees of non-talent gathered at the Rose Bowl for the first day of American Idol's sixth season auditions. All foster dreams of being crowned the next instant superstar on the stage of the Kodak Theater, perhaps even rendering David Hasselhoff a salty puddle of blubbering emotion in the process. With an army-sized talent pool to winnow down in a limited amount of time, it should come as no surprise that the preliminary rounds are fast and furious:

The elimination process was surprisingly quick, said Ryan Duitch, 17, of Los Angeles. The hopefuls stepped forward four at a time to one of 14 judging stations. Each station was manned by three producers looking for that special "Idol" magic. Each hopeful had all of about 20 seconds to showcase his or her talent.

"Not what we're looking for," Duitch said he and others were told. But he, like other contestants, said this wouldn't stop them from pursuing their passion.

Pushing the producers for further feedback is a fruitless affair, as they have usually moved onto the next group of four before a contestant has allowed the harsh reality of their rejection to fully sink in. And besides, there really is no easy way to explain to the crushed candidate that their singing was fine, but that they just didn't have that "awkward, effeminate, just-begging-to-be-humiliated 'X' factor" that really makes for compelling, watercooler TV.