Idol Gossip: Season 6 Premiere

The crack staff of The Word from on High (me) will be all over American Idol this season, with regular updates and analysis. No longer will you have to feel like an outsider when your friends discuss the show, because The Word is watching so you don't have to. And now, the Word on last night's Season 6 premiere.

With only seventeen going on to Hollywood Week, we may not have seen the next American Idol duringt the Minneapolis auditions, but I think we've seen the next William Hung. You remember him, right? He was the guy who turned a horrid audition and an utter butchering of an already bad Ricky Martin song into a short-lived recording career as a novelty act in season 3.

Last night, we met Troy. He was the "Urban Amish" guy. He claimed not to have ever seen Idol or even own a TV set, but came in and gave one of the classic bad auditions of all time. What exactly was that song he was doing? Was it an original composition? I know I've never heard it before and never want to hear it again.

Sixteen year old Denise Jackson, on the other hand, has a chance to stick around for a while. I can see her in the Top 12. I don't think any of the others we saw last night are finalist material.

We also, last night, had a classic Simon Cowell moment. Simon just loves it when he can turn the tables and call one of the other two on being a jerk. This happened last night when Randy berated a guy named Steve, who was supposedly a vocal coach, and Simon asked if he was just gonna stand there and take it, goading the guy into heaping onto Randy the sort of abuse usually reserved for Cowell himself. Of course, Randy was right. The man sang horribly, and anyone who lets this tone deaf loser train them to sing is wasting their money.

I think we got a little glimpse into one reason Simon says the things he says last night, and that is because he is, despite being a great judge of music, a poor judge of people. He doesn't seem to be able to read people well enough to predict how they'll react to his harsh comments, and maybe he just doesn't care. I'm speaking of when he tore into Jason, the 16 year old singer/dancer/juggler, reducing the poor kid to tears outside the audition room. Inside, Simon was shown commenting that he thought the kid took his comments well.

Well, from Minneapolis, we go tonight to Seattle. Apparently Simon hated the city, and I can't wait to find out why.