BOSTON -- It was commotion at the convention center on Thursday, as roughly 100 `` American Idol'' hopefuls, including Wrentham's Ayla Brown, 17, lined up along the Boston Convention & Exposition Center walls for their chance at a trip to Tinseltown.

Contestants were decked out in their hottest digs to sing for judges Randy `` Dawg'' Jackson, Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell, but style can only carry a contestant so far, and talent is what it's really about.

Which, Simon Cowell said, there wasn't all that much of.

`` The talent (in Boston) hasn't been great so far,'' he said in an afternoon press conference. `` They sound a bit over-rehearsed. We haven't found that rough diamond yet.''

For complete story, see today's Sun Chronicle.