American Idol 9 Makes Its Debut

Tuesday night saw the premiere of the ninth season of American Idol, and the first season without judge Paula Abdul.

As someone who has been an avid watcher of the reality talent show since day one, I wasn't sure how I would feel about Idol without the incoherent yet amusing ramblings of "the nice one." Since Tuesday was only the season premiere, the jury's still out on how Idol will fare without Abdul, but even with all of the latest changes to Idol, one thing has definitely not changed:

The talent.

And lack thereof.

The premiere began with a look at the recent drama surrounding Idol and as usual, it was cheesy and overdramatized, but I wouldn't expect anything else. After all, the fact that the show doesn't take itself too seriously is what makes the show so much fun to enjoy.

I only wish some of its fans could take a cue and lighten up a little, but that's another story for another day.

The auditions began on a rainy day in Boston, Mass. with thousands lined up waiting for their chance to prove to the judges that they have what it takes to make it big. Posh Spice joined the panel of judges as the first celebrity guest judge, and the wannabe pop stars didn't disappoint.

Or did they?

The first audition of the day was 26-year-old Janet McNamara, and by now most Idol viewers know that when an auditioner begins with, "I've only been singing well for 2 years" and says she learned to sing via the American Idol game, it can only go downhill from there.

At least she had a good attitude, even if she did have a potty mouth and couldn't stop calling Kara "Paula."

16-year-old Maddy Curtis impressed me with her rendition of "Hallelujah," one of my all-time favorite songs. The judges were also impressed with her and unlike most teenagers, Simon didn't find her the least bit annoying.

Of course she has an "inspirational" story, which some fans think Idol uses to catapult the unknowns and get them sympathy votes later on. However, I happen to enjoy hearing their stories and getting to know the Idol's more intimately.

There are no words for 17-year-old nerd Pat Ford who sang (if that's what you want to call it) and danced (apparently his own individual style) to "Womanizer." Or the Japanese Anime obsessed girl who screeched to Janis Joplin and then fought with the judges because she just didn't understand how they could say she couldn't sing.

All these years later and I am still amazed at the people who think they are actually going to make it past the auditions.

My first favorite male was 24-year-old Luke Shaffer. He was scruffy and cute and could actually sing. He sang a beautiful rendition of "Fall for You" by Secondhand Serenade. I had never heard the song before, but after his audition, I bought it off of iTunes.

Too bad he was soon followed by 25-year-old Andrew Fenlon, who looked like Stephen King's long lost son, only creepier. Fenlon began by insulting Simon just because he asked him why he was auditioning. Then after singing horribly, he complained about waiting in line for so long and then continued to argue with the judges for calling him out on his bad attitude. No personality. No talent. And a rude attitude.

Not a winner.

But at least it was interesting.

Ashley Rodriquez and Tyler Grady rounded out the first hour of Idol and are two of the ones to watch.

As the second hour of Boston auditions continued, a Mariah Carey wannabe yelled her way through "Vision of Love." It's a real bummer when you find yourself wanting to cheer someone on, only to then realize "wow, they really stink."

The judges raved over 16-year-old Katie Stevens and for good reason, with the way she belted out Etta James' classic hit, "At Last." I have a feeling she's going to be a judge favorite from now on, unless she screws up big time during Hollywood.

25-year-old Justin Williams has a sad and inspirational story as well (surprise! surprise!), but he's hot and has a nice voice - the girls will love him (actually, some of us already do). He sang Nina Simon's "Feeling Good" in a very Michael Buble way. And as a huge Buble fan, I approve.

By the second hour I began to realize that Posh Spice is the new Paula. I expected her to be a little more honest and blunt, but she seemed overly encouraging to many of the less-than-talented Idol hopefuls. I'm glad she's not a weekly staple on this show.

The final hour concluded with an amazing performance by 22-year-old Leah Laurenti, who says her parents were very strict with her and she never listened to much secular music. Her rendition of "Blue Skies" was very impressive.

All-in-all American Idol gave us what it usually does: the good, the bad, and the ugly. Simon, Randy, and Kara were their usual selves, as was host Ryan Seacrest. Some of the hopefuls cried tears of joy while others cried because they were finally told the truth about their so-called "talent."

It was the usual Idol fanfare, and even after all these years I found myself enjoying the show almost as much as I did during season one.

There seems to be a good mix of Idol hopefuls so far and I hope that the next round of auditions are just as good...and bizarre.