The Times-Picayune is reporting that KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons attended a news conference in New Orleans last week in connection with his stint as a guest judge on "American Idol".

Midway through an eight-city audition tour, the show came to New Orleans to survey local talent for the first time.

Casting producers whittled thousands of contestants down to about 50, and the star judges arrived to send about half of those remaining "on to Hollywood" for the contest's next round.

Simmons was asked to share his first impressions of the process.

"The first thing is the amazing amount of courage it takes to get up there — no music, no drums, no nothing — and stand in front of four people you've never met in your life, who maybe are larger than life because they're on television or make records or whatever, and just give," Simmons said. "They're all winners in that sense.

"Now, having gone through the bullshit part, most of them suck."

In other news, Morning Call is reporting that Simmons (photo) came to Richmond International Raceway on Saturday (Sept. 11) to watch Kevin Harvick drive a car sponsored by his band, KISS.

Gene admitted he doesn't have the guts to even get inside a racecar ("I drive like a grandma," he said. "I'm embarrassing."), then made a case that NASCAR is what America is all about.

"This is the biggest slice of America,'' he said. "Why isn't the story of 100,000 people watching cars go around 100 mile an hour front-page news? As far as I'm concerned, this is the true American story where Americans come to watch stock cars made in America race around."