AUBURN – Think you’re the next American Idol? Show your stuff at the Auburn Mall next Saturday, June 27.

The prize for the local “Make Me An Idol” contest is a guaranteed audition at American Idol’s mass audition at the Amway Arena in Orlando., Fla., on July 9.

FOX23 will provide the cost of travel and accommodations for the local winner and a friend to travel to that audition.

According to FOX23 Promotion Manager Teresa Pinney, the auditions are returning to Auburn for a second time because the “response was so great when we did it there in 2005.”

“We still get ‘thank-yous’ when we go around to the businesses in the mall. We just know that people of Auburn like to get behind local events like this,” Pinney said.

Next Saturday’s contest will be an open audition format, and all auditions will be a cappella. Contestants will not be permitted to bring their own music as accompaniment.

Pinney said contestants will be heard on a first-come, first-served basis at the Center Court stage, and each will be allowed 30 seconds to sing. Those advancing to the semifinal will be allowed a full minute to perform, and performers chosen for the final top 10 round will be permitted to sing from one minute up to the length of the full song before a winner is announced.

Contestants will be permitted to sing the same song for all rounds, or different songs if they prefer.

Contestants must be between 16 and 28 years old; anyone under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian. Each contestant must provide legal identification, including birth date, that they are a citizen of the United States and live in either Maine or New Hampshire. For younger contestants who do not have a driver’s license, a birth certificate or school ID is acceptable for identification.

Open auditions will be held from 10 a.m. to noon; the top 20 performers and then the top 10 performers will compete between 1 and 3 p.m. The winner chosen to audition in Florida will be named at about 3 p.m.

Judging the Auburn contest will be:

• Taylor Mesple, president of the Maine Songwriters’ Association and owner of Inner Circle Production and the Maple Room in Lewiston.

• Lisa van Oosterum, CEO of Omnirox Entertainment in Portland and treasurer of the Portland Music Foundation.

• Janet Ross, talent coach for the Miss America organization and professional drama coach.

• Louis Phillipe, owner of Reindeer Productions in Portland.

• Ginger Leigh Smith, a professional singer who grew up in Poland Spring and now lives in Portland.

“American Idol” has seven mass audition locations in the United States to select contestants for season nine, including Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Denver, Boston and Orlando. The Boston and Atlanta auditions are over; the remaining auditions will be held this month and in early July.

Bloggers on the “American Idol” Web site are sharing tips and personal experiences from previous auditions, including one blogger named Richard who was rejected in Atlanta and plans to try again in Florida. Contact him at www. youtube.com/ rickmusiq06.

The 50-city American Idol 2009 Summer Tour showcasing season eight kicks off July 5, according to the show’s Web site, with a concert at the Rose Garden in Portland, Ore.

The tour, featuring the top 10 finalists from last season, will make a stop at the Cumberland County Civic Center in Portland on Sept. 12, at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, N.H., on Sept. 15 and at Boston’s TD Banknorth Garden on Aug. 18. For a complete list of concert dates, go to www.americanidol.com.

The ninth season of American Idol will begin airing live on Fox next spring.