So You Want to be an 'American Idol'?

The selection process is simple. It starts as a cattle call in major cities around the country. Tens of thousands of people stand in line and wait to be paraded in front of a preliminary panel (no Simon, Randy or Paula here). Contestants are chosen on the basis of "singing talent, humorous potential, and human interest."

These contestants in turn are strategically interviewed and eliminated before being auditioned individually by American Idol (AI) producers Ken Warwick and Nigel Lythgoe.

This is the stage where one of AI's most popular features comes from — the audition tapes. This footage is spliced together to give the voyeur (I mean viewer) a look at how people readily humiliate themselves in the name of art, stardom and fame. Although some are playing it up in this phase, being intentionally horrible, most are sincere and sincerely bad.

If you're lucky enough to make it past this stage you're on to the lions; Randy Jackson (record producer/bass player), Paula Abdul (pop singer) and the man America loves to dislike — Simon Cowell (producer, manager and character foil to Paula).

The threesome travel city to city watching contestants sing a 1-minute a cappella snippet — if you can impress them here you're on to Hollywood.

Once in Hollywood the threesome is about to lose their omnipotence over the singers — the judges' final duty is to select the top 24.

At this point their smarmy commentary is merely part of the entertainment, and they no longer have a direct say on the outcome of the show and the winner of a one million dollar recording contract.

Now things get interesting. In front of a television audience that can reach into the tens of millions, the top 24 contestants sing a song based on the weeks theme. This can be tough for a country artist delving into disco or a rocker belting out big band, but that's part of the AI magic. Audiences have a two-hour window following the night's performance to vote through a toll free national number. The two contestants with the least votes are eliminated each week, until they reach the final 12.

This next stage lasts eleven weeks, and is shot before a studio audience and aired live in prime time. This phase has started to see more established entertainers cashing in on the AI phenomena. Special guest appearances include: Neil Sedaka, Prince, Rod Stewart, Gloria Estefan, Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Jennifer Lopez, Bon Jovi, Gwen Stefani, and even the remaining Bee Gees. These professionals add credibility to the show, pump up the contestants and reflect the diversity of viewers. In these rounds voting usually tops out at about 50 million for one night's performance.

The tension builds as single elimination brings us to the Top 5! Then the Top 3! And then the much hyped finale.

The last two contestants go head to head at the Kodak Theater in front of a live audience of 3,500.

And the winner is…

Tune on Wednesday May 22nd for the season six finale.