Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Yep, there will be a Season 14 of American Idol.

Don’t know why anyone really doubted that. While ratings have dropped, it’s still one of the most successful shows on FOX.

American Idol auditions ham it up for the camera last year in Salt Lake City. (FOX Photo)

Anyway, we know there will be another season because Idol has announced the Season 14 audition dates.

There are five big-city stops this year, but an expanding list of cities that will be visited as part of the Idol small-town bus tour.

The big-city stops are as follows:

* Minneapolis on Wednesday, June 18, at the Mariucci Arena, University of Minnesota

* New Orleans on Wednesday, June 25, at Lakefront Arena, University of New Orleans

* Uniondale, New York, on Wednesday, July 23, at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum

* Nashville, Tenn., on Wednesday, July 30, at Nashville Municipal Auditorium

* San Francisco on Monday, Sept. 29, at the Cow Palace.

On Wednesday’s episode of Idol, Ryan Seacrest promised news soon that would change how the auditions work this year. So we’ll have to wait for that latest Idol twist.

Meanwhile, cities have been announced for the small-town bus tour, but not dates.

Those cities are: Portland, Oregon; Portland, Maine; Reno, Nevada; Columbus, Ohio, Albuquerque, N.M.; Amarillo, Texas; Myrtle Beach, S.C.; Branson, Missouri; Tallahassee, Fla.; Richmond, Va.; and Kansas City, Missouri.

Auditions are open to guys and gals who are between 15 and 28 as of June 1.

Stay tuned for more details.