The press generated by next week's American Idol auditions in Denver will likely be off the charts considering how much coverage has been heaped on winners of pre-Idol contests. Mykal Hudson won the Denver Idol showcase sponsored by Channel 31 (he gets the good news from Ron Zappolo and Libby Weaver in the ultra-awkward video above) -- and the Greeley Tribune ran a story about second-place finisher Hunter Hall. Of course, Hudson is only guaranteed a chance to try out in front of producers, not the judges who can put him into AI's next round. And Grand Junction dental assistant Danielle Dyer has even less assurance of a high-profile audition despite winning June's Country Jam Idol faceoff. However, that didn't stop GJ's Daily Sentinel from profiling her, too.
The madness will only continue to build in the coming days, for better or (mostly) worse.