The Fourth Season of 'American Idol' Premieres on Fox

Auditions were held in Washington, D.C., St. Louis, Missouri, New Orleans, Louisiana, Las Vegas, Nevada, Cleveland, Ohio, Orlando, Florida and San Francisco, California.

There was originally supposed to be an audition held in Anchorage, Alaska, but that was changed about a month before so they could go to Orlando, Florida. Auditions were held from August to October 2004. While in the past seasons celebrity guest judges have been invited to participate during the competition, this was the first season where guest judges were invited to participate in the auditions. The music celebrities featured were:

January 18, Mark McGrath of Sugar Ray
January 25, Gene Simmons of KISS
January 26, Kenny Loggins
February 1, LL Cool J
February 2, Brandy

It is also the first season in which the age limit was raised to 28, in order to increase variety. Among those who benefited from this new rule were Constantine Maroulis and Bo Bice, considered to be the eldest (and most experienced) of Idol contestants. They were also constantly mentioned by Ryan Seacrest and in the media as "the two rockers", since their long hair and choice of songs made them stand out from conventional Idol standards.