This show is back and they are starting with the Chicago audition tomorrow night.

2 frikkin' hours! Fox will milk the AI cow for all its worth. If Fox would air AI all 10 hours/week in prime time, they would.

... and we would all watch it.

These initial auditions kind of bore me after one episode. Too many people who are obviously trying out as a goof. I like it better when they get into the group auditions and start whittling down the numbers.

They only allow the very bad or very good thru to the second stage at the audition sites. Some just good enough ones also get thru to Simon and the gang, but only the really bad or really good get onto the show.

Indeed. One sure fire way to get infront of the judges would be to be horrible. "That's good TV" yuk.

well so far everyone pretty much sucks

I believe season 3 started with two hours on Monday, Tuesday, AND Wednesday of its debut week. Now THAT was overkill.

I hate American Idol but i watch the auditions every year. The self dillusion of the people that suck can make for great TV.

That was an interesting show. That Ukranian girl was an interesting performer, half expected her to start stripping.

Is Wednesday's show a one or two hour show? Don't want to miss Lost...

I didn't see anyone who really stood out so far, although 15 seconds worth of singing is hard to judge in most cases.

Funniest one tonight was the guy from NYC dressed as the Statue of Liberty. He even held the torch in one upraised arm. He tried to sing (natch) "New York, New York" but Simon cut him off after two words. This poor sap couldn't believe he was being thrown out so quickly.

WTF was with Paula & Randy letting that last psycho go through to the next round?

I got the impression that Randy did it just to piss off Simon, expecting Paula to say no. I don't know why Paula said yes. It almost makes me feel bad for some of the people who were actually pretty decent but didn't get through.

It's an one hour show to be followed by the exciting debut of Todd Bridges figure skating.

The funniest/disturbing thing for me was the Paris Hilton wannabe and her mom. And did anybody understood what she was trying to say???

That girl's suntan reminded me of the dead naked chick from Goldfinger.
She looked like she had been spray-painted with gold paint.

This one was a disappointment. The crazies weren't out in full force and Simon didn't even have much to say. The only good one tonight was the Self Tanned Britney Spears and they did a good job editing the Lady Marmalade bit at the end.

As long as there are hotties like Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood competing, I'll check it out.

Yeah, that was my take on it. I think Paula felt sorry for the guy. Either that or she was interested to see how far he would go in an actual performance and not just an audition. His eyelids were freaky!

The girl who wore the "Catfight" shirt and sang in the band, she was cute and had a good voice. I don't remember her name.

I didn't see anyone particularly wonderful, although I missed most of the first hour. Statue of Liberty, Baked Potato and Freakout Boy were pretty amusing. I'm hoping that Randy and Paula can have differing opinions once in a while, that would be nice.

Previews showed a guy dressed up as a GWAR character. Did they show him yet? I kind of wanted to see that dude.

The fake-n-bake tan girl was weird. What was wrong with her voice? It sounded like she drank a lot of whole milk and had a bubble in her throat or something. I'm glad the crazy dude went on to the next round. I hope he goes all the way. I want him to win. I want him to sing "Rock and Roll McDonald's" at the finale.

The "Lady Marmalade" montage was a bit confusing, as it showed tan girl, but wearing a completely different outfit than at her audition.

What about the guy who kept singing "I shot the sheriff" over and over... and... over.



They let him keep going just to see how long he could keep it up.

One thing that I did notice was that Paula seemed reasonably lucid. Maybe she dried up during the off-season.

I noticed that too. That was wierd.

You have to remember that the show's producers/crew/staff AID in the dillusion... those people that genuinely suck but may think they are actually good are bolstered by the multiple audition process they pass through to get in front of Simon, Randy and Paula. That panel doesn't see EVERYONE, the producers pre-audition people multiple times before that final "audition". So after being told by like 5 people that your audition is great and you're going to see Simon, Randy and Paula - you're actually only going in there because you suck so bad that they want to see how you take being shot down (hopefully badly enough that they can get some yucks out of your footage for these shows).

i'm so glad this awesome show is on and not crappy shows like Arrested Development FOX