Idol is Back!

Hooray! After what seems like forever, American Idol is finally back. And even though I love the singing rounds (you know, when we actually get to vote), there is nothing like the audition rounds. Even my cranky husband likes it.

Some thoughts from last night's premiere...Ryan Seacrest seems a bit snarky this season, and I LOVE it. His comments to some of the crazier contestants were so funny that we had to pause and rewind the tivo. Also hilarious? The fact that they had one of the two doors locked. It was like a running joke on The Muppet Show as nearly every reject also had to hear Simon say "other door." (and you just knew that after awhile Simon was adding an expletive after that) I also liked the return of the guest judge. I'm not a fan of the guest judge later on in the show (since it always seems that they are there to sell something), but I liked it last night. Maybe it was just because it was Jewel, but I hope they do it in more cities.

Now for the contestants. Oh dear. There were so many bad contestants last night, I can't possibly name them all. Some standouts? Troy, the "urban Amish" guy who admitted that he's not the next American Idol, and I think who made up the song as he went along. And there were the string of mediocre singers who made it on tv because they had a serious meltdown after being rejected. The best was Jason (the juggler) who seemed pretty calm as he left, then launched into a string of expletives and tears when he was back with Seacrest. Oh my. And he was also the beneficiary of the best edit of the night - as he's swearing and sobbing, they cut to Simon commenting that he took it well.

Speaking of editing, they continued the practice of highlighting people who were either tremendously good or tremendously bad. They spent a lot of time with Idol super-fan Brenna...super bad. And they spent a lot of time with Denise (the "crack baby")...really good. My husband also noticed that they only showed the good singers who had an interesting back story. The "normal" singers who made it through to Hollywood got no airtime.

There were a couple of singers who stood out in a good way last night. I'm scared to make predictions this early, but I liked Jarrod the Navy guy, Denise the "crack baby", and Sarah who sang "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." Now watch - they'll all be cut in the first round in Hollywood. So sorry to jinx you all.