American Idol to allow guitars during auditions

Credit: FOX

As if making amends for this past year's WGWG-less season of American Idol, the new producers have decided to allow prospective auditioners to use a guitar for their audition. However, there's a catch...

Here's more, from the press release on the American Idol Official Site:

Please note that each audition MUST start with an a capella piece and hopefuls will only be able to use their guitars after the a capella audition at the discretion of the producers. Auditioners are not required to perform with a guitar at any time.

First stop for Season 13 Auditions is Salt Lake City on July 11! Are you ready to become the next AMERICAN IDOL®? Check out all the cities we'll be visiting this summer on our search for the next Idol™!

If your unable to make it to any of the cities, you can also register online and audition here. Please note that online auditions will not include the use of guitars.

Of course, others have auditioned with guitars in the past after initially auditioning a capella. Take Season 11 winner Phillip Phillips, for instance. But this is the first time where guitars are actively encouraged for auditions. It should make for an interesting change in the audition process, as the judges will be able to get a better sense of what's in a contestant's skill set.

What do you think of this new option? Does this change anything? Sound off in the comments!