Love it or hate it, "American Idol" is back. And this time, it's personal.
Season eight of the annual singing competition, which premiered in a two-hour long episode on FOX Tuesday night, features the usual crazy locales and crazier people. "Idol" makes its return with a renewed ambition to be as sprightly and sassy as it was during the Kelly Clarkson days.
"The goal, as always, is to keep the core aspects of everyone's favorite show intact while providing elements that give it a fresh feel," the official "Idol" web site says.
Divisive contestants and cockamamie controversies have made "Idol" of late seem like a franchise on the decline, one perhaps faltering under the weight of its own sugary, unapologetic commercialism. Everything, however, is relative. Failure, to "American Idol," is reeling in "only" 31.7 million viewers for its "Double David" season-seven finale. Having always inspired more water cooler debate than any show in history, "Idol" is determined to hold on to its pop culture crown by tweaking its familiar formula.
First, the infamous audition process will no longer focus on disingenuous wannabes who mug it up for the camera, executive producer Ken Warwick promised in a press release.
Second, Hollywood Week -- the show's semifinals -- will now showcase contestants actually having fun, not just stressing out and crying because they feel they've been saddled with bad songs and worse teammates.
In a third new twist, the Top 12 Wild Card Round, expunged years ago, will make its long-awaited return -- meaning that one ousted fan favorite will get a second chance in the spotlight.
But the most welcome shake-up is the addition of new judge Kara DioGuardi. She is as empathetic as Paula Abdul (with whom she had previously collaborated), with all the industry savvy of Simon Cowell. Most overseas variations of "Idol" feature four judges, with the most influential panel member charged with breaking ties. This responsibility will now lie with Cowell.
Describing herself as "the new kid on the block," DioGuardi is really anything but. Having worked with stars like Celine Dion and Kylie Minogue, the Italian-Albanian singer-songwriter has been producing albums for "Idol" winners for years now.
"Am I gonna be really harsh? Am I, you know, everyone asks me this question," DioGuardi mused in an AmericanIdol.com interview. "And like every city it's different. Some cities I'm a little bit harder."
Golden tickets have already been handed out to first-round winners everywhere from San Diego to New York. This season, 62 percent of voters on AmericanIdol.com feel it's time for a female contestant to shine. Tune in to FOX at 8 p.m. again tonight to make your own judgments about this new batch of bright-eyed karaoke hopefuls. In about a month, the dialing begins.
