Three weeks into a new season, American Idol continues to dominate the television landscape. And it now looks like the phenomenom has its eyes set on dominating the internet, as well. The official American Idol website has become an increasingly popular destination for millions of steadfast fans. Visits have reportedly doubled since last year's season premiere.

Oscar-nominated actress Jennifer Hudson feels her experience on American Idol was mostly negative and "abusive". She told Essence magazine that the the show made a character out of her and made it hard to be herself. She says, "You've been abused, misled and brainwashed to believe whatever they want you to think." She doesn't seem to hold any animosity though, saying that she has moved on and "I didn't look back."

Hudson was the 6th finalist to be voted off American Idol during season three. On stage, she often seemed angry about the criticism she received from the judges. But she's not telling lies. It's pretty obvious that the show molds singers into products that people will buy. It's like one giant focus group every single week.

The rumors about a "curly-haired" boy have been circulating for weeks. According to the Idol judges, this curly-haired boy is "the one to beat" in this year's Idol competition.

And Tuesday night in Birmingham, we met Chris Sligh, a Jack Osbourne doppelganger, with a full head of "Justin Guarini" curls.
Could he be the "chosen one" they speak of?

Its Wednesday night and you're sitting on the couch.

Week after week you park yourself in front of American Idol and feel that you can sing way better than any of these darn contestants on your screen. You agree with Randy about that person's tone and admire Paula's ability to recognize true star power.

If only you could meet Randy and Paula, they would be able to tell you how good you really are and send you to Hollywood.

You quickly put your dreams aside, because you can barely get out of your podunk town.

Realizing your ice cube's chance in hell, you move on with your regular life...Until that fateful day at Wal-Mart.

Maybe it was me, but only having to watch one hour of the auditions each night kept it short and simple.

It was easy to watch the show with less sarcasm and really see some potential talent. Tuesday night, we started off in Birmingham, Ala. Finally, we saw some contestants who I think are definitely finalist material. That being said, it brings me right to Chris Sligh!

Not only was he the first contestant with a great personality, he also has the "body of Christina Aguilera." His unique rendition of "Kiss From a Rose" kept me wanting more. He is funny, and though may come off as cocky to some, he has the talent to back it up. I LOVE HIM!

Welcome to Hollywood! I bet that won't mean as much to someone who lives on Sunset Blvd. and realizes that going to the next round means humping it over to Pasadena for a week. (Yeah, the "going to Hollywood" round is more like the inland empire round -- that's TV baby!) Still, a golden ticket is a golden ticket. And there were 40 for Idol hopefuls in Los Angeles. Wow.

For the most part, it was a pretty dull episode. Same old stuff, you know? I had to pop in my copy of The Last Waltz to decompress before I got to putting my thoughts down. I think, though, if you look past the normal audition format of thousands turning up to audition -- the token weirdos, a few costumed candidates, pretty girls who can kind of sing, average people who can really sing, some who think singing one more song will convince the judges to change their minds, some who think lots of tears will change our minds, and the judges being exhausted at the end of the day -- there were some really unexpected moments.

(S06E06) "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" plays and we are reminded that tonight's auditions are in Los Angeles, home of Katharine McPhee. Ryan says, "Sometimes what you're looking for can be found in your own backyard." We see a crowd line up outside of the Rose Bowl, but we aren't given an official tally. Olivia Newton-John shows up as a guest judge, but she doesn't offer much besides "sweetness."

I don't know what to say about tonight's episode. It doesn't gel easily around a theme, unless "begging" is tonight's theme. And it doesn't leave a lasting impression in my mind. Still, the judges seemed pleased with the L.A. auditions and award an astounding 40 coveted golden tickets over two days. But I'm confused. If they found so much talent, why do we see so little of it? I'm not impressed by one performance tonight. Nothing blows me away. Is this really the best that L.A. has to offer?

Just a couple of random quotes that I managed to get after the American Idol press tour session earlier this month:

First, something from Simon Cowell. When I asked him if he reads message boards and other Internet sites to get an idea of what the Idol audience is thinking (coughMeancoughNastycough), this is what he said: "I learned after the first season; I went on the (message) boards once, and I was horrified. I've never gone back on them again."

I continued by asking him if he's noticed that the overall criticism of the show is worse this year than in past years. Cowell dismissed any notion of that. "Oh, I think what I love about the show is that it is politically incorrect, and I think 'Thank God that most people in the world are politically incorrect.' I'm all for that, because otherwise we're gonna live in a very dull world, you know? And if people don't like it, they don't have to watch it. But luckily, I think people take what I do with a pinch of salt; they've got a sense of humor."

Who is Jory Steinberg, you ask? She's a 25-year-old singer, originally from Canada, who showed up at Idol's New York auditions, and impressed the heck out of the judges with her "professionalism."

It's only been a week since the rest of us set eyes on Jory, and yet she's already creating a small buzz on the internet. That's what a little bit of exposure in front of 30 million people will do for a young artist. Jory has some impressive experience, and seems like a shoo-in for this competition.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves or count our Canadian eggs before they're hatched. We haven't even met all the contestants yet, or gone through Hell Week. And we all know things can get pretty unpredictable once the American public becomes involved with the outcome of the competition.

Are you still impressed with the auditions on American Idol?

Besides the consistently odd behavior by Paula and Simon's unimpressed look paired with his snarky comments, last night's audition process hit a predictable wall with their talent. I am convinced that if you have hair that remotely resembles Justin Guarini's and can kind of sing, you are a shoe in for Hollywood. After all, it's easier for the show to gain credibility by transforming someone who needs a lot of work than to get someone like Carrie Underwood straight off the bat.

I'm having trouble finding words to describe how I feel about last night's stop in Birmingham. Plain English just can't do it justice. And, since my Latin is a little rusty, I think I'll have to use the beautiful language of sarcasm to describe my thoughts. Birmingham was soooooooo great.

Wow, I was sooooo surprised to hear them say the whole city had turned out to audition. They've never said that before. 11, 000 people, though, that seems like a low number ... Paula, Randy and Simon seemed pretty normal. Better than normal, in fact. I don't think I've ever seen Paula so normal in all the auditions thus far. I was sooooo surprised to see she didn't make it to the next day's taping.

This bit of news is according to Courtney Love and US Magazine... so two strikes against it already. Courtney tells the gossip rag that American Idol executive producer Nigel Lythgoe contacted her about appearing as a judge. The magazine takes that to mean that Love will replace Paula Abdul but that sounds like a load of crap to me. I imagine that she's been invited to appear as a guest judge, which is a common practice for American Idol.

Plus, she'll make Paula look good.

*Update: US magazine says an 'imposter' phoned Courtney, which makes a lot more sense than her appearing on American Idol.

[Via TV Tattle]

(S06E05) We're in "Idol Country," so says the almighty Ryan Seacrest at the start of tonight's show. As the home of Bo Bice, Ruben Studdard, and Taylor Hicks, Birmingham has proudly produced the most Idols, so producers thought it would be a pretty good place to scout out promising new talent. Eleven thousand people show up to audition and for the first time ever (according to Simon), the judges are welcomed by adoring fans.

One thing becomes apparent throughout tonight's episode -- Birmingham is full of friendly people. Time and time again the contestants thank the judges politely, even when being rejected or dismissed. So the mood is upbeat. I mean really upbeat. Paula and Randy giggle like two middle-schoolers throughout the episode, and Simon seems way happier than we've ever seen him. And I'm in a better mood this week too. After last week's brutally long New York episode, I'm am so grateful that Idol is only an hour long, and also that the bizarre auditions are kept to a minimum.

American Idol is more than just a reality show that brings in massive ratings for FOX. At the end of each season, it creates a brand-new household name, and bestows the title of American Idol on one very lucky hopeful plucked from virtual obscurity. It is that rich promise of discovery -- of going from nobody to somebody in 19 short weeks -- that makes Idol, well, Idol.

And now, thanks to the success of Idol, there are more opportunities than ever for young singer/songwriters hoping to get their big break. A couple of music competitions have sprung up online and they offer unknown musicians more of what American Idol offers -- exposure, money, and even the possibility of a record contract.

If you show up at the next American Idol open auditions with 10,000 other hopefuls thinking you're going to actually sing in front of Randy, Paula, and Simon -- think again. First of all, the celebrity judges don't even show up until callbacks are scheduled. And only a small percentage of "the best" and "the worst" contestants actually make it to callbacks. Oh yeah, if you want to make it on TV -- you'd better have a gimmick.