American Idol is back!! Yay!!!!!!

Tonight, after a long long time, I felt that it was really a competition and that people were making an effort to stand out... which of course was the case for most because only the top 10 Idol contestants get to go on tour and it would completely suck to be the 11th man (or woman). Tonight's theme was the Billboard's No: 1 hits through the years.

Lee Dewayze was good but not great when he opened the night with The Letter. It was then followed by Paige singing Against all odds (a bit ho-hum unfortunately - I felt a little bad for her as she stood there being completely battered by the judges). This was followed by Tim Urban singing Crazy Little Thing called Love - he will stay I think because he has his finger (firmly I might add) on the teen vote unless his teen audience also could not stand that performance. I personally thought Paige was a bit worse than Tim was. Then the competition really began with Aaron Kelly belting out Aerosmith's Don't Wanna Miss a Thing - he did a decent job despite his tonsillitis and laryngitis. Aaron is never ever pitchy or out of tune but tonight he was in a couple of places and I hope his fans vote for him to stay because he is one of the best vocally. Crystal Bowersox wowed the judges again with Janis Joplin's Bobby McGee. I thought she was good but not great... I think it's also some of the "halo effect" taking place - where someone does a couple great things and then everything that follows is just great whether or not it really is - again I am not saying she was bad by any means but just that I wasn't as euphoric as the judges were.

Andrew Garcia was completely thrashed by the judges for his performance a Marvin Gaye song. He may also be in danger of going home tomorrow - he was fabulous when he sang Straight Up during his audition but for some reason has been unable to recapture that star moment. Katie Stevens sang Big Girls Don't Cry - she began very strong but I didn't much like it as the song continued - she probably sings most out of tune of all the contestants... The judges were surprisingly happy with her but I am still not a fan. Oh and I forgot to mention Big Mike singing When a Man Loves a woman and he did a fine job but didn't get much love from the judges because he didn't take any risks. Casey (the boy is cute and can sing - I'm becoming a fan) sang The Power of Love. I liked him - he is one of the few that is consistently good. Simon was mean to him but methinks he was completely wrong!! Didi is another gal I really like - I was considering her in my top 3 for the office pool at one point but she sang You're No Good tonight and didn't earn any fans among the judges. I actually liked it - she reminds me of Brooke from last season. My favourite this season, Siobhan Magnus was GOOD. She sang Superstition and was really good... but again failed to win Simon's heart... but what I like about her is that she reminds me of Adam Lambert in that she is not afraid of taking risks... at the same time, I would like to see her not rely on the high note and sing a mellow song for a change.

Miley Cyrus was surprisingly good as a mentor on the show... initially I was a bit skeptical that Hannah Montana was giving the singers tips but she was actually good and spot on with her comments about a few of the contestants like Lee and Crystal. And I just have to say - what is with Kara - for the last 2 episodes, she is practically sitting in Simon's lap and simpering and purring like a kitten... even Ellen said something to the effect that Kara is married and Simon is engaged so she didn't know what was going on... watch out Kara's husband!!

2 nights of dismal performances

American Idol sucks this year - so far we have had performances from the top 12 ladies last night and the top 12 guys tonight, and almost everyone sucked big time. There is no one here that blew me away. The girls show a lot more potential than the guys. If things don't improve SOON we are going to have the worst season of Idol ever.

That said, on the plus side, Ellen is not bad on the show. She is doing better than I thought she would. Kara seems less verbose this season - I liked her but thought she talked too much. Randy is completely redundant as ever. And Simon - we're so going to miss him. He calls a spade a spade - he was completely irritated with the performances tonight as he should be. They better start looking for a good replacement for him - it's not going to be easy.

On a positive note, there were some performances that sucked less than the others (okay - I am being a bit too harsh - there were a few that were good). Among the girls, I like Crystal Bowersox, Didi Benami, Janell Wheeler (though I do admit that she was bad - I think she can do better), Katie Stevens & Katelyn Epperly (I think she will go far if she chooses her songs well - has a good voice). I also liked Siobhan Magnus. Among the guys, I liked Casey James - he actually was good. I think Joe Munoz and Lee Dewyze have potential and Aaron Kelly could be the next Archuleta - David Archuleta has the far better voice but I mean that Aaron could be the one to tap into the teens/tweens fan base - he has one of the better voices this season but needs to believe in himself.

Here's hoping that the next few weeks are much much better. On a side note, Thursday's American Idol will feature performances from Kris Allen and Allison Iraheta from last season.