Around 5,000 people poured into Austin at the Frank Erwin Center yesterday to audition for FOX’s The X-Factor.

Being the only stop in the South this season, the open call auditions drew X-Factor hopefuls from surrounding states like Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Kansas and of course, from all around Texas.

Preliminary auditions began on Thursday where contestants first audition in front of a group of producers. Then, if they’re lucky enough, they’re asked to come back in the Summer for their time in front of the actual judges, who at this time are only L.A. Reid and Simon Cowell.

Cowell recently spoke to The Dallas Morning News about what he thinks The X-Factor can do for contestants and their future: “Since we’re doing auditions in Texas, I’ll liken it to oil fields: We have only skimmed the surface and there are still billions of barrels waiting to be discovered. Our goal is to hit a gusher. Maybe it’s somebody who is talented but hasn’t gotten the right advice or direction. That’s where we come in.”

And when asked what it was that excited him most about auditions in Texas, he responded: “Texans have that think-big attitude. They’re optimistic and fun. When we do auditions in Texas, we get 3,000 or 4,000 people there. The atmosphere is unbelievable. That’s why we keep coming back.”

Hopefully that “think-big” attitude will help give X-Factor its own little X-Factor that the show has been lacking since debuting.

Last year, the show suffered from a numerous setbacks and controversies, and was overall, quite underwhelming. Cowell realized he might have been a bit “too cocky” when he predicted that his new singing competition would smash records when it premiered and acting promptly.

He gave the boot to judges, Nicole Scherzinger and Paula Abdul as well as host, Steve Jones a few months back, and has since been scrambling to find replacements.

Power houses like Beyonce, Fergie, & Britney Spears have been thrown around as possible judges for the next season, but for whatever reason nothing ends up happening. But come on now, could you even imagine Britney Spears giving advice to hopefuls on how to sing?

The X-Factor will surely announce who the new judges and host will be, come Summer, but until then, be prepared for more rumors to be thrown around.

Meanwhile, I’ll happily be enjoying The Voice instead.