Fox has announced the dates and locations for the American Idol 5's open auditions.

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Based on the success of last season, American Idol 5 will retain the widened age requirements that allowed singers as old as 28 years of age to compete on Idol 4 (prior to Idol 4, age 26 had been the maximum.) As in previous seasons, the competition's minimum age will remain 16.

More specifically, all contestants must be between 16 and 28 years old on August 15, 2005 -- meaning that all applicants must be born on or between August 16, 1976, and August 15, 1989 in order to be eligible to participate.

Auditions for the fifth edition of American Idol will begin in San Francisco, California, on Thursday, August 18, 2005 at the Cow Palace. Participants can start lining up AFTER 6:00 AM on August 17, meaning that the first applicants will have spent well over 24 hours in line by the time they manage to perform in front of Idol judges Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson, and Paula Abdul.

In addition to San Francisco, auditions dates have also been announced for Austin, Boston, Chicago, Denver, and Memphis. Beyond meeting the program's age requirements, applicants must also be eligible to work in the United States.

The five other audition dates for American Idol 5 are:

• Austin, TX - Thursday, August 25 at the Frank Erwin Center
• Boston, MA - Wednesday, August 31 at Gillette Stadium
• Memphis, TN - Monday, September 5 at FedExForum
• Denver, CO - Sunday, September 11 at the Pepsi Center
• Chicago, IL - Friday, September 16 at Soldier Field

American Idol 5 is expected to premiere in January 2006. Additional audition information is available at idolonfox.com.