ST. PETERSBURG – Nine world-class designers and one dated City Pier.

The field of competitors vying to design a new St. Petersburg Pier was narrowed from 23 to nine on Friday. There were few surprises in the bunch that remains. All have reputations on an international level for their work.

Although Randy and Paul are not providing the running commentary for the audition, the applications have been well-publicized in a fast-track process that seems shorter than a TV season of "American Idol." No actual designs have been developed or shown at this point in the process.

The nine design teams tapped to continue are:

• BIG, lead designer Bjarke Ingels of New York;
• Farshid Moussavi Architecture, lead designer Farshid Moussavi of London;
• Frederic Schwartz Architects, lead designer Frederic Schwartz of New York;
• HOK, lead designer Yann Weymouth of Tampa. HOK designed the new Dali Museum;
• James Corner Field Operation, lead designer James Corner of New York. Corner is best known for the NYC High Line Park.
• Michael Maltzan Architecture, Inc., lead designer Michael Maltzan of Los Angeles;
• WEISS/MANFREDI, lead designer Weiss/Manfredi of New York. Weiss/Manfredi is best known for the Columbus Circle master plan in NYC.
• West 8 Urban Design, lead designer Adriaan Geuze of New York. West 8 is best known for the Miami Beach Soundscape.
• !melk Urban Design, lead designer Jerry Van Eyck of New York.

Among those who didn't make this first cut were: Dnaiel Libeskind, architect for the Ground Zero project in New York City, and Tampa's Alfonso Architects.

The five-member jury includes City Councilor Leslie Curran, County Commissioner Ken Welch, and three architecture/urban design professors: Stanley Saitowitz from the University of California, Berkeley; James Moore, a Tampa-based urban designer and former architecture and design professor at USF; and Susan Fainstein, of  Harvard University.

The next deadline is Aug. 19, when the jury will narrow this group to three finalists, who will make presentations before the City Council. The council will pick the winner in early 2012.