We'll get to Melanie Amaro's advice for The X Factor hopefuls in a second, but first she's chiming in on the possibility of Britney Spears becoming a judge for the second season.
Amaro said she hasn't heard for sure if the pop princess is going to be joining Simon Cowell when the show returns, but...
"It would be cool," Amaro told me earlier today while helping to promote the new round of auditions. "I know as much as anyone else does, but, yeah, it would be cool. I'm sure she'd have lots of things to say. But I do have to say that whoever Simon brings, they'll do an awesome job. He knows what he's doing. He's been doing this for years."
Amaro is currently in the studio working on her debut album. She's tight-lipped on details but says it will be all original tunes. She's come a long way from being booted off the show only to have Cowell bring her back to becoming the first winner of the much-coveted $5 million recording contract.
The audition process may be "long and tiring," but Amaro says it's pretty simple what you have to do. "Go out there, sing your heart out, impress the judges—and hopefully make them cry," she said.
Producers just extended the deadline for online auditions to April 27.
What not to do? "You shouldn't go out there and drop your pants," Amaro said, laughing. "You definitely don't want to do that."
Now we want to hear from you. Do you think "it would be cool" to have Britney Spears on The X Factor? Chime in below.