American Idol: New year, not so new you

Welcome back Idolheads. It's been a long eight months since we last discussed the ups and downs of American Idol and here we are again, ready for more of the madness. Buckle up!

The 2008 auditions kicked off in Philadelphia where throngs of people waited for a chance to claim their 15 minutes of fame. This year, Idol producers promised some changes. Did we see them tonight? No, not really, but I wasn't expecting much change in the audition format. After all, this is where even Idol haters can tune in for a good, entertaining laugh.

All the usual suspects were back. There was the crazy Star Wars girl, the crazy I Dream Of Jeannie guy, and the crazy "I'm going to go into actressing" chick among the many without a prayer of getting a golden ticket.

But, in an effort to slow the pace and let us "get to know" the characters- oops, I mean contestants- there were far fewer crazies than usual. In fact, the show actually started and ended with good singers getting good news and there were more than a handful in between that were passed on to Hollywood as well.

I liked it, but those tuning in for hilarity might have been a bit disappointed. What did you think?

It may be early on in the season, and I'm by no means ready to pick favorites, but I am ready to dole out the highlight and the lowlight for the evening.

Highlight: Crazy Star Wars girl ripping off her fake Princess Leia hair buns and handing them to her grandpa after she was dealt a blow of bad news by the judges.

Lowlight: Sick family members tugging on the heart strings. There were more depressing stories tonight than in those World Vision commercials. It's too early for all of that. How can I get all attached to the young mother from Chicago who just wants to get therapy for her ill daughter when I may never even see her in the Hollywood round? Memo to Idol producers: Save the sap for the voting rounds. With a solid month of auditions to wade through, chances are I won't be able to remember who sold her horse to travel to the auditions anyway.

American Idol 2008: Will you watch? Vote in our poll on the home page. 

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