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We have tons of "American Idol" coverage on the way — namely, a couple profiles in Caliente on Thursday and another running in Accent on Friday — to promote the Fox talent show's first-ever auditions in the Phoenix area this week.

Tucsonans aplenty, following in the footsteps of fellow Arizonans Jordin Sparks, Brooke White and David Hernandez, will make the two-hour trip to the Jobing.com Arena, 9400 W. Maryland Ave., in Glendale, on Friday. We can only hope that most of them already realize they can get there as early as Wednesday to register.

According to the official guidelines at www.americanidol.com: "It may also be possible to register early on the morning of the audition day; however, if you wait until the audition day to register, you will be one of the last people to register, and we may run out of space and/or time to accommodate you."

Some other rules to pay attention to:

● If you choose to show up two days early, make sure you have a place to stay. The venue will not allow you to camp in the parking lot.

● Two forms of identification are required to register, so don't forget those driver's licenses and birth certificates (passports and school IDs work, too).

● You can bring someone with you to the auditions as support, but they need to be there when you register to get a seat ticket and a wristband. Kids 5 and younger are not allowed; if you are under 18, you need to bring along your parent or legal guardian.

● Don't even think about removing that wristband given at registration before the day of the audition. Tamper with the band and disqualification will follow.

● The rule book has a long list of things you shouldn't wear. Among the items: clothes with images of designer names, sport team names, celebrity images, cartoon characters and profanity.

We recommend that you download the full set of rules from americanidol.com and that you read them before, not during, the long ride up to Phoenix. You don't want to blow $50 on gas and several hours of your life just to find you can't participate in the big show.

Good luck, Tucson.