Auditions
Auditions were held in seven cities in the summer and early fall of 2005 in the following order:
- Chicago, Illinois
- Denver, Colorado
- Greensboro, North Carolina
- San Francisco, California
- Las Vegas, Nevada
- Austin, Texas (later stages of auditions were held in San Francisco because of Hurricane Katrina and the number of evacuees in Texas)
- Boston, Massachusetts
Unlike Season Four, no guest judges were involved during the auditions.