AMERICAN IDOL is Back Tonight

Maybe I just haven’t been watching too much Fox, or perhaps it’s because I watch everything on my TiVo and fast forward through commercials, but it seems to me there hasn’t been much hoopla about tonight’s season premiere of AMERICAN IDOL. In light of the strike, I would have thought that Fox would be overwhelming our senses with all things IDOL. Have they and I just missed it?

Anyway, the biggest show on TV returns tonight, but business isn’t exactly as usual. In light of a dip in viewers last season, and perhaps the joke some of the contestants have become as of late, IDOL decided to make a few changes this year to breathe some much needed energy into the show. Among those changes will be the contestants being allowed to play instruments, and a refocus on the contestants and less on the celebrity mentors that come in during the later rounds of competition.

I like AMERICAN IDOL and will absolutely be watching this season, that being said, I’m not usually a fan of the first batch of episodes when they exploit the really bad singers. I don’t mind it much when the contestants are there to exploit themselves, but when the contestants don’t know that they’re that bad, it just becomes sad.

LIVE Blogging AMERICAN IDOL….
Because I’m traveling and have to watch IDOL on my Slingbox, I’m not going to be able to live blog as I often do, but I’ll be sure to pipe in tomorrow with my thoughts on some of the highlights (but probably more the low lights).

But I will be watching, and I’ll be joining in on the chat with my friend Joel at TV with MeeVee who is going to be live blogging tonight and tomorrow’s episodes of AMERICAN IDOL, so set a reminder to head over there at 8pm EST tonight. I’m going to be popping in over there to add my two cents and I hope to see some familiar faces (or at least screennames) in the comments.

Joel got to chat with Simon Cowell himself and the two talked about this season of IDOL and the fate of past contestants among other juicy gossip.

“…I asked the famously caustic judge how he feels about the nastier-than-life persona that has sprung up around him and how it has affected him, aside from making him richer – do perfectly nice people back away when he enters a room? The thought drew a belly laugh.

“You mean, do they run when they see me?” he asked, still cackling. “They’re very nice to me, genuinely. I haven’t had any uncomfortable situations in real life. Most people who want to come up and talk to me are very nice, very civil. … I hope over the years that people, a) realize that I know what I’m talking about and, secondly, that it’s actually more cruel to lie to someone or give them false expectations rather than tell them the truth.” (continue reading: “Simon Cowell Talks American Idol“)

So what are you feeling about tonight’s premiere of AMERICAN IDOL? Are you excited or are you over it?