'American Idol' bits: Judges in Atlanta Sept. 13, Lauren Alaina interview, Carrie Underwood

The closest big city first-round auditions over the summer were in Savannah, which was a bit too far for me to travel. The judges typically go to that city for the follow up auditions but perhaps to save money, they are coming here instead.

I suspect Atlanta will never be referenced, that they will create the illusion that Harry Connick Jr., Jennifer Lopez and Keith Urban were just hanging under the live oaks and hanging moss of Savannah. We'll see.

There will be a red carpet here and I hope to grab a couple of quick interviews there like I did two years ago when they showed up for season 13 auditions at the Midtown W Hotel.

I am trying to procure some time to talk to Ryan Seacrest too. Maybe - just maybe - I'll be able to grab it in three weeks. Probably not given his tight schedule. I'll likely end up grabbing him on the phone later this year.

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Credit: Rodney Ho

Credit: Rodney Ho

I caught up with season 10 runner up Georgia native Lauren Alaina, promoting Sweet'N Low at Atlantic Station this past Saturday in a bright pink dress and a big smile.

She was very active after "Idol" in 2011, releasing an album ("Wildflower," 303K sold) and garnering a couple of top 40 country hits ("Eighteen Inches," "Barefoot & Buckwild"). She toured with Rodney Atkins in 2012, including a stop at Wild Bill's in Gwinnett County.

But the 20 year old said she has been grappling with personal issues the past couple of years while writing songs for her sophomore album. She has had to deal with an alcoholic father and her parents went through a divorce. "My dad will be sober two years in October," she said.

Then last year, she had polyps removed from her vocal cords, having problems similar to that of a raft of stars the past year including Meghan Trainor and Sam Smith.

"I think it's like any other sport," she said. "If you do something enough, you're bound to get hurt."

Alaina, who grew up in Rossville and now lives in Nashville, said she grew up singing with no vocal training. She discovered the polyps while having issues with her voice during "American Idol" and her problems persisted on tour in 2012. After a show, she couldn't talk - a bad sign.

"I did a lot cheerleading growing up and screaming," she said. "Anything stresses your cords out."

After surgery last year, Alaina spent six months in recovery. That included not speaking at all for the first month.

"There's this app that talks for you," she said. "I used it all the time. This is my career. I took this seriously."

Her best methodology: "I isolated myself." She then was able to talk five minutes a day, then 10 minutes, then 30 and 45. She was able to begin singing three months later last October after cancelling six months worth of tours.

The good news: her vocal range has doubled since the surgery. "It reached the point before I had surgery and just kept going," she said. "I was injured for so long, I couldn't sing to the best of my ability."

To prevent future polyps, she tries to limit her talking, which she admits is difficult. If she sings, she has to warm up for 25 minutes.

For now, she is doing a radio tour, visiting stations nationwide to reintroduce herself to program directors before her new album is set to come out this fall, doing mini-concerts at each locale. (Interscope is still supporting her.)

"It's a friendly reminder," she said. Her next single is "Next Boyfriend," which she said has a pop sheen to it. "I got to spend two years on it. I really designed my craft and my sound," she said, noting that she was writer or co writer on 11 of the 12 songs that made the album. (She actually has had the same boyfriend for three years who she prefers to keep incognito.)

"I feel like my first album was the practice round," she said. "This is the real deal."

She is also doing spot festival dates with Little Big Town and Rascal Flatts. She performed at the CMA Music Festival and even shared a stage with season 10 winner Scotty McCreery.

And I had to get her requisite thoughts on the pending end of "American Idol" in 2016 after 15 seasons. "It's definitely shocking but it ran its course," she said. "It changed a lot of people's lives including my own. Everything comes to an end at some point."

Credit: Rodney Ho

Credit: Rodney Ho

Credit: Rodney Ho

Credit: Rodney Ho

Credit: Rodney Ho

Credit: Rodney Ho

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Kris Allen showed up to the Little Rock auditions over the weekend.

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And how cute is Kelly Clarkson's River Rose? This cute:

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Carrie Underwood's "Smoke Break" video preview:

And Carrie smokes (metaphorically) on her new album cover:

Credit: Rodney Ho

Credit: Rodney Ho