Brittani’s American Idol Recap is back!

Randy, Jennifer, Steven and Seacrest

A Simon-less American Idol made it's debut Wednesday night with a two hour premiere. Idol is in it's 10th season and although they promised big changes, it's not different than the other nine seasons. Oh wait, that's right, Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler are judges now. I didn't know what to expect from either of them but they are surprisingly good judges. Yes, even Lopez whose singing talents are questionable, but I still listen to "If You Had My Love."

The show kicked off the audition rounds in New York and New Jersey. Nothing special from any of the hopefuls, save for one girl who did a horrible cover of Madonna's "Dress You Up" and one poor guy who should have sent himself up the river after he screamed out "Proud Mary." I felt like they were too anxious to let some people through. One sentiment shared all over Twitter was if Simon was still judging, a lot of these people wouldn't be getting those special passes to Hollywood. And that may be the problem. Rachel Zevita, who was cut during Season 6's Hollywood Week, returned and got through again even though Jennifer didn't think it was the best audition. No one wants to be the "mean judge" and just say no, it did seem to get easier as they progressed, but at the rate they are going season 10 might have the weakest voices of the entire run of the show. Also through was Tiffany Rios from Jersey, in full Snooki mode. She had a surprisingly strong voice and if she makes it to the top 20, it'll be interesting to watch her be De-Jerseyed.

Couldn't not mention Ashley Sullivan, a 25 year old obsessed with Britney Spears, and apparently, meth. If her considering Britney her soul mate wasn't scary enough, she even carries around a little picture of her. They reluctantly let her through after she begged and cried. I hope we don't see anymore of that, the judges are just too soft. There's already a bit of controversy surrounding one contestant who talked about his rough upbringing in The Bronx, NY in his montage. The Bronx Burrough President is upset that Idol portrayed Mrs. Lopez's hometown as a terrible place, and that she didn't defend it. Well she lives in a mansion in California now, what do you expect?

Down in Nawlins, piano and voice teacher Jordan Dorsey wowed the judges, I'll be paying attention to him too. Jovany Barreto confessed his love for Marc Anthony (what?) and then took off his shirt to show of his bangin' body. Joined by Randy and Steven, this was not something I wanted to see while I was eating. Randy then met the niece of his high school football coach and we learn that Randy once was skinny and had lots of hair. Jacee Badeaux was just the right amount of cute but a bit of a cliche choice in Otis Redding's "Sittin on The Dock of The Bay." To close out the show, we got another sob story. Usually these end with the contestant blowing the judges away and everyone getting all weepy, and well, this was no different. We also had 23- year old mother Paris Tassin takes care of her daughter Keira who was born with numerous problems and has to wear hearing aids. She sang Carrie Underwood's "Temporary Home" because it has "meaning." Because if it didn't, then what the hell are you even doing there? I actually look forward to hearing about her darling little girl if she makes it to the top 20.

The Idol Judges, as if you didn't know...

So there you go, two episodes in and it's okay.  Jennifer isn't trying to be anything but herself, although sometimes it does seem fake because we all know she's a bit of a diva. But hey, she means well. Steven is determined to play the loose canon this season, with all of his screaming and random catchphrases. YEAH! WHOOO! I WANT MY UNDERWEAR BACK! As long as he keeps his shirt on, he should be cool. Then is Randy, who is just you know, Randy. He's not trying to play the Simon role, but he will most likely be the mediator when they FINALLY have some disagreement. We know you all don't  love each other.

Oh yeah, Ryan Seacrust is still crusty.

Welcome back, Idol!