'American Idol Experience' opening event [video]

The American Idol Experience opened at Disney's Hollywood Studios this past week to throngs of Idol hopefuls lined up to perform. The Orlando attraction opening was greeted by a few hundred people lined up at 5 a.m. to be the first to "audition" but grew to a crowd of around 1,000 throughout the day.

The American Idol Experience aims to condense the popular TV show's process of audition, preparatory and performance phases into 30-second solo performances. "It's two attractions," says director Mark Renfrow. "The audition experience and the show experience."

The attraction begins with an audition where "talent scouts" judge a "contestant's" performance and rate him or her as they would be on the show. Next, contestants are given instruction by vocal coaches and hair and makeup artists, followed by some time in a Coca-Cola red lounge area replete with iPods and headphones to better learn abridged versions of over 113 popular songs to perform.

Finally, contestants are taken to a near-perfect replica of the American Idol set where they perform the song of their choice in front of a crowd of on-lookers and judges. The judges are performers who dole out zingers as seen in the TV show while video clips of Ryan Seacrest and previous American Idol winners such as David Cook and Jordin Sparks play at specific intervals.

"What they do in weeks, we have to do in matter of hours," Renfrow says. "What they do in two days, we have to do in a matter of minutes."

Orlando Attractions Magazine has several videos taken at the American Idol Experience world premier event at Disney's Hollywood Studios. Below are some of the highlights.

The warm-up act:

The show introduction:

The competition:

The wrap-up photo-shoot: