Finally, the long hiatus is over, and it’s time to get back down to business! American Idol’s eighth season premiered on Tuesday the 13th and Wednesday the 14th, almost eight months after crowning David Cook as the season 7 winner. It’s been quite a long and boring break—there’s only so many Cookie icons I can make in that long stretch of time!

So, a few months back, Fox execs promised that the audience would see fewer bad auditions, and we would get to meet more of the Golden Ticket winners. After watching the two-part premiere, I gotta say that I don’t feel like they quite fulfilled their promise. They did better than before, but there’s definitely still room for improvement.

Only a few potential stars caught my eye during the first two shows. In Phoenix, I was interested in Emily Hughes (the pink-haired rocker who sang Heart’s “Barracuda”), Arianna Afsar (the teenager who sang “Put Your Records On”), Cody Sheldon (the horror flick enthusiast who sang James Morrison’s “Wonderful World”) and Stevie Wright (the bubbly girl who sang “At Last”).

In Kansas City, I was impressed by Jessica Furney (the girl with the cool funky black glasses who sang “Cry Baby”) and Von Smith (the boy with the white hat who sang “Over the Rainbow”). Michael Castro, Jason Castro’s brother, was a mild third runner-up, though I found him to be a much less charming and charismatic version of his brother. I didn’t find anyone else really memorable enough to mention again. Sure, there were the traditional stand-outs that the Idol producers want us to root for: Scott MacIntyre, the young man who displayed remarkable talent despite his blindness; Lil Rounds, whose family lost everything in a tornado; and Danny Gokey, who had just lost his wife 4 weeks before his audition. Of course, these are very touching stories, and these contestants will obviously go very far. When picking favorites this early on, I tend to stay away from the obvious ones that are showcased throughout the entire episode. A little unfair? Perhaps.

Of course, everybody’s still talking about “Bikini Girl,” a.k.a. Katrina Darrell. I have a feeling that she will be The Chosen One that keeps getting mentioned all the way up until the finale. Please, please, PLEASE cut her in Hollywood!! She is awful. Obviously, the guys only put her through because of her body. Kara was right to call her out on her lack of “swing,” though I think she was lacking in quite a few other areas as well. My new favorite quote? “Next time, come naked.”—Kara DioGuardi

Speaking of Hollywood, did that little promo at the end of Wednesday’s episode get anyone else ridiculously pumped up for the Hollywood Week episodes? Wow, they made it look CRAZY in the preview! Too bad that’s several weeks away. The execs also promised us more Hollywood footage a while back. Let’s see if they actually keep that promise.

Now that the show is back on, I can get an early start on all those icons and layouts for the new contestants. Any requests in particular? Just leave a comment!