Canadian Idol Auditions Slated For 10 Cities

Since so many incredible musicians got their big break on Canadian Idol last year, you'll be able to play with your instrument when the big day arrives soon for your Idol audition.

As the media release announcing the audition tour for the show's sixth season proudly states, including instruments was "a North American first for Idol" last year, so this is exciting news. A "whopping 42% of gold ticket winners" in season five played an instrument, including eventual Idol champion Brian Melo.

"When CTV announced the addition of musical instruments last year, I knew I had to try out," Melo breathlessly says in the release. "I am so grateful that I did! It has changed my life forever."

If you want to get out of the steel mill and change your life forever, "a Canadian Idol first" could be your epiphany. Auditions will be held in Melo's hometown of Hamilton.

For Idol wannabes living in Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, we have two words for you: road trip. There won't be auditions in your province, nor in Yukon, Northwest Territories or Nunavut.

Auditions will be staged in 10 cities, and you have to be between 16 and 28 (inclusive) as of Jan. 25 to be eligible — which means that ChartAttack's news editor will sadly just miss the cut despite wowing the masses with his Media Idol performance last April.

Though all of the audition cities have been announced, not all of the specific sites have been. But most of them will be held at shopping malls, so you should be well-accessorized when your crowning moment comes. Registration will be open between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. each day. For registration forms, rules and regulations, visit the show's website.

For those of you crushing on Idol host Ben Mulroney and looking to sink your talons into him at an audition, it looks like he's off the market. He proposed to his girlfriend, clothing designer/fashion stylist Jessica Brownstein, at Montreal's Nick's Deli on Dec. 28. Perhaps Mulroney's dad, former prime minister Brian Mulroney, can use some of Karlheinz Schreiber's cash to pay for the wedding.

Season six of Canadian Idol will return to CTV in June.

Make your dreams come true at these Canadian Idol audition locations:
Jan. 26-27 Edmonton, AB @ West Edmonton Mall
Feb. 2-3 Calgary, AB @ Sunridge Mall
Feb. 9-10 Vancouver, BC @ Metropolis At Metrotown
Feb. 23-24 Winnipeg, MB @ St. Vital Centre
March 1-2 Hamilton, ON @ TBA
March 8-9 Ottawa, ON @ TBA
March 15-16 Montreal, QC @ TBA
March 29-30 Halifax, NS @ TBA
April 12 St. John's, NL @ TBA
April 19-20 Toronto, ON @ TBA