Auditions began at 8 a.m. with dozens of people lined up to audition in the hopes of impressing Idol judges Jake Gold, Zack Werner, Sass Jordan and Farley Flex. For the first time auditions were held on a weekend and at a mall.  Downtown's Portage Place was the site for this year's event. A day earlier over 500 people auditioned in Winnipeg and Sunday wasn't much different with hundreds turning out for a try at Idol stardom. JB and Troy had the place covered for this EXCLUSIVE SpeakFree Idol Coverage.

By noon the crowd had grown and many teenage girls were overheard commenting on how cute Canadian Idol host Ben Mulroney is. Security was tight so there was no getting close to Canada's version of Ryan Seacrest unless you had one of those media passes... or a bottle of tanning lotion! Troy caught up with Ben and we'll hear more about that in a little bit.

JB chatted with Scotty, who auditioned last year and was praised by the judges for his energy and passion for music following a song and dance performance. However, Scotty didn't make it through to the next round of the competition. The flamboyant Idol hopeful, who is a regular at local karaoke lounges, said he'd stepped up his game and was certain he'd get through this time around. After a quick chat with JB, Scotty and four other participants were ushered to the audition room. If successful, auditioners would come back the next day to try their luck with the panel of four Idol judges.

Contestants had their audition number pinned to their shirts and for moral support some had groups of friends or family members cheering them on.

Back massages, meditation and food seemed to do the trick in terms of relaxation and preparing for a few nerve-racking minutes in front of the judges. Many nervous participants had headphones in and eyes closed as they quietly rehearsed audition songs in their head. Several had lyrics in hand so as not to be embarrassed by a brain freeze in front of the judges. After all, no cheat sheets are allowed in the actual audition.

Melissa, 21, was in line and said that exact fear played out in her mind last year at the Idol auditions and she nearly broke down in tears as her mind blanked and she forgot the words to her song mid-melody. "I think that has to be one of the most frightening things about the auditions. You freeze up and (the judges) are just staring at you," Melissa said, holding her lyric sheet.

Next to her was 19-year-old Jessica who said she knew by heart her Christina Aguilera song and was confident she would wow the judges. "I think a big part of it is going in the room and showing them you know your stuff," bubbly Jessica said. "I'm cute too and I think that will work for me."

Frank was in line with his teenage son Jordan who was excitedly preparing for the audition. "I think this is good for kids who like music and want to express themselves," Frank said. "And this is also good exposure for any of them that make it on TV.  Because if you watch the show you see that you don't even have to win to get a break in show business."

"I'm kinda nervous," Jordan, 16, said just moments before he was led off to the audition room. "I'm doing Backstreet Boys and my dad says I sound like I could be in the group." With that confidence it's a wonder why Jordan was shaking from the time JB talked to him to the time Jordan left to audition nearly an hour later. However, Jordan emerged from the audition without a ticket to be heading to Toronto to continue in the competition.

"I was nervous and I got shaky and my voice cracked.  It was pretty bad," Jordan confessed. "It's OK.  It just means I have more time to get ready for next year when they come back," Jordan said, with dad's arm around him.