"American Idol" starts its eighth season tonight. What can we look forward to?
Well, a guy named Michael Gurr has a voice that's closer to "Grr." Lea Marie Golde looks so good in her pink shirt and pink cowboy hat that we really wish she could sing. Elijah Scarlett has a deep bass voice, but no idea what to do with it. Others are cruel to songs by Celine Dion and Carrie Underwood and Tears For Fears and more.
Then again, you always see a few such quirks. This opener from Phoenix -- 8-10 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 13, on Fox -- also has happy surprises.
There's a beefy Texas oil-rig worker with a sweet voice. And Cody Sheldon, a teen horror-film fan from Detroit who sings gracefully. And Scott MacIntyre, an almost-blind pianist (his range of vision is equal to about one piano key), who isn't used to being away from his piano, but sings beautifully.
These are the sort of people who keep the show interesting. Tonight's opener is typical "Idol" -- some laughs, some warmth, some bitterness, lots of slick and clever editing.
Kara DioGuardi fits in neatly as the show's new judge. The only problem is that this brings the total to four -- and Simon Cowell has the tiebreaker vote.
So one singer advances strictly on her peppy spirit, another (Katrina Darrell) strictly on her wardrobe choice. She chose to wear a bikini throughout the day; it wouldn't be a good choice for everyone, but worked for her.
It also worked with Cowell and Randy Jackson and, well, me.
DioGuardi protested that she's just a beautiful girl who can't sing. Hey, let's correct that: Katrina is not that beautiful and doesn't sing that badly; she also knows how to dress to impress.