'American Idol' Recap: Welcome Back!

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It was too bad, however, that not many of the 10 successful auditions shown tonight showcased folks who looked like serious contenders. And it's a shame, too, that we didn't get to hear a single note from the additional 17 folks who made it through to Hollywood Week from Phoenix. (Really, Fox, you couldn't have cut that ''X-Ray'' dude with the foaming mouth to give each of the unseen Hollywood contenders 30 seconds of airtime?)

Of the non-Deanna contestants, I was most enamored of Emily Hughes, who cut quite a picture in her vintage red and white polka-dot dress, heavy tattoos, and pink and blond hair. Oh, and also, ''earrings'' the size of dessert plates embedded into her lobes. (Youth!) I'll give credit where it's due: Emily certainly gets props for high degree of difficulty for choosing ''Barracuda,'' but I felt like her performance merely colored inside the lines of Heart's original. Not only that, but it seemed unwise in the extreme for Emily to share that her entry into the competition would crush her band's planned tour of Europe. Has no one told this woman that Idol quite often resembles a popularity contest?

I also enjoyed giggly-without-being-annoying — talk about high degree of difficulty! — Stevie Wright, 16, who displayed a lovely tone on ''At Last,'' but also had enough vocal wobbles to make me worry she'll flame out once she hits the big stage during Hollywood week. Ditto for professional roughneck Michael Sarver, 27, who was strong yet deeply unsubtle on his cover of Boyz II Men on ''Thank You.'' As Simon noted, Michael has ''that likability thing,'' but then again, so did Sundance Head at this early point in the competition.

And let me go on the record as saying I'll let my colleague Kristen Baldwin shave my head on an episode of Idolatry if J.B. Ahfua, Cody Sheldon, or Brianna ''Let's Hear It for the Boy'' Quijada take home the season 8 crown. The former two hopefuls seem ripe to fall into the ''pleasant-teen-boy-turned-aural-plague'' category once they arrive on Idol's big stage. Seriously, J.B. left no good note unpunished on what sounded vaguely like a cover of ''Flying Without Wings''; I can't confirm the title, though, since the song was taken by ambulance to the trauma ward immediately after J.B. finished pulverizing it. And while it was cute the way horror-film aficionado Cody traveled with an adoring entourage, his performance of ''Wonderful World'' was pretty much interchangeable with every middling teenage male Idol hopeful who's preceded him over the last seven seasons.

Two contestants who stand out as unique in the Idol universe, however, are Alex Wagner-Trugman and Scott MacIntyre. The former definitely wins tonight's trophy for Most Mesmerizing Eyebrow Action in an Idol Audition, but damn if his rendition of ''Baby Come to Me'' wasn't as smooth as a slightly melted bowl of Dulce de Leche ice cream. Bonus points for best comeback to Simon that I've heard in years: When Randy compared Alex to Joe Cocker, Simon declared ''I would say more Cocker Spaniel,'' but Alex hit back even harder, declaring ''That would be a good joke if it made any sense.'' Touché, dude, you're goin' to Hollywood!

MacIntyre, meanwhile, who hasn't let the fact that he's legally blind stop him from skiing, ballroom dancing, or getting his sing on for Paula, Kara, Randy, and Simon, managed to be totally inspirational without ever coming off as cloying or saccharine. He's just a guy who describes his sense of vision as akin to looking through a straw, who has the good humor to wear a ''Mind the Gap'' T-shirt, and who's philosophical enough to say things like ''whatever platform the show gives me, I hope I can be an inspiration.'' Honestly, I'm not sure Scott's rendition of ''And So It Goes'' proved he's vocally strong enough to come close to the top 36, but I think it's safe to say he's already succeeded in the inspiration department. Now if he can just get Ryan to stop it with the high-fives.

What did you think of tonight's season premiere? Did you notice that Paula was the meanest judge, telling deep-voiced Elijah Scarlett he could get voice-over work as a movie monster and pushing to try to get a second song out of disastrous Michael Gurr? Was I the only one who's not sure if that was the Grand Canyon, or just a carefully painted backdrop, during Ryan's opening shots? And did that dude really use the ''it's the journey, not the destination'' line within the season's first 10 minutes?

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