FOXBORO — And so it begins, not with a bang but a wristband.

At some point next year, the ninth American Idol will be crowned on live television in Hollywood, with the sets and the lights and the band and Simon and Paula and Randy and Kara and Ryan and the theme song and the applause and the tour and the record contract.

But the whole trek started Friday in pouring rain on the walkway to Gillette Stadium, where the auditioning process for the next season of American Idol opened at 6:30 a.m.

About 1,200 people were there for the opening of the process, which consisted of getting a wristband and a time slot. The wrist-banding process continues through Saturday; the actual auditions begin at 5 a.m. — yes, a.m. — on Sunday.

At 6:30, security officers parted the gates and let hopefuls into the stadium lobby in groups of about 25, bullhorning at them to have their identification ready and that “if you run, you will be sent home.”

“This is our life blood,” said Fox supervising producer Patrick Lynne as would-be Idols walked in through one door and out another, clutching info fliers and wearing wristbands and big smiles. “This is our show.”

These were the first American Idol auditions in New England since 2005, when Ayla Brown, then 17, of Wrentham, Mass., ended up on the TV show in 2006 and made it to the final cut before the top 12.

But the same process is going on in six other cities across the country, and some Fox affiliates are holding their own auditions too, so a little math will tell you that the odds of anyone in line Friday ending up on TV in Hollywood, much less winning the whole shebang, are lottery-esque. The people at the head of the line Friday knew this, but carried on with emotions ranging from steely resolve to good-natured acceptance and a determination to enjoy the experience.

Kar-Mechell Murray, 20, of Cambridge, was first in line. She said that she started singing at age 4 — “I just started picking up things around my house and singing into them like a microphone” — and while she limits her singing to the shower, she says she has always dreamed of being an entertainer.

She got to Gillette Stadium at 8:30 Thursday morning. She slept in a car and a Porta John. “I really want this,” she said.

Matthew Blanchette, 21, of Coventry, said with utter confidence, “I’m here to become the next American Idol.” Asked whether he thought he’d make it, he replied with equal confidence, “Probably not.” He had gotten in line at midnight, and was sharing an umbrella with Jessica Morrison, from Methuen, Mass., who was a stranger at midnight but wasn’t any longer.

About a hundred people back, roughly a dozen hopefuls had also made friends under the tarp that formed what they called their “tent city.”

Izzy Ryan, of Weymouth, Mass., said the soggy wait was “great no matter what the outcome. I came by myself and now I’ve got 13 people under my tarp and we’re having a great time.” She says the memory will remain long after her clothes have dried and her singing fate has been decided: “ ‘Remember that time in the rain?’ ”

Wes Gary, 20, of Connecticut, was also waiting under the tarp, even though he had unsuccessfully auditioned in New Jersey last year. He said it was a matter of “drive, motivation, wanting a dream. Just a willingness to show someone the talents that I possess.”

Ryan added, “I’m just taking a chance, like everybody else here. ... Winning the lottery has better odds, but you have to do it.” She’s 27 — the cutoff age is 28 — and says her mother told her to go for it. “If you don’t do it, you might regret it and say ‘I could have done it.’ ”

Mary Levakis drove her daughter, Anne-Marie, 18, up from Commack, N.Y., sleeping in the car, and said that it was “what you’ve got to do as a parent.”

She says she was an artist whose mother dissuaded her from going into a creative profession. Now she works as a court reporter, but “I still have that in me. And I know that [Anne-Marie] has something special, and that’s what you do — you cultivate that. You don’t [want to] look at the clock all day when you’re working.”

Here’s the thing: They didn’t need to be there Friday morning.

The wrist-banding process goes on continuously until the start of auditions Sunday morning (Lynne explains that the whole point is to give everyone a chance to sign up, no matter their schedule). You could come Friday afternoon, Saturday midnight, Saturday afternoon, whatever — and probably have no line at all, Lynne said.

So what were all these people doing standing out in the rain?

He shrugs. “It’s the mystery of Idol.”

Melissa Donovan, of Milton, Mass., auditioned in Jacksonville, Fla., last year, and said that she wants to sing to judges who have fresh ears, and added that she wanted to be assured of getting an audition spot (the producers say that there is no cutoff, and that everyone who gets a wristband will get a chance to sing).

Asked whether being near the head of the line was a plus, Blanchette replied, “We’re showing our pride in what we want to do. ... The people who came first are the people who wanted it the most.”

Those who survive this weekend’s round of auditions will return for a second round in Boston in August.

For more information, go to the Idol Web site at www.americanidol.com and click on the link for auditions.

rmassimo@projo.com