The seventh edition of 'American Idol' begins Tuesday night

ShareThis

Will Simon be unduly harsh on some mentally challenged prospective contestant?Will Paula string together words in a nonsensical fashion?Will Randy ever tire of saying "dawg"?Will Ryan verbally joust with Simon?Fans of Fox's "American Idol" will tune in to see the latest as the reality competition kicks off its seventh season Tuesday at 8 p.m. EST.Every season, someone associated with the show claims it's better than ever. This year, it's Simon Cowell's turn."Paula and Randy went on record last year saying, 'The bar has been raised,' and, 'This is going to be one of the best years.' I didn't go along with that. I didn't believe it," said Cowell, who judges the show alongside Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson. Ryan Seacrest is the host. "But I will go on record this year in saying it is one of the strongest lineups we've had."It better be. Many fans were disappointed with last year's roster of singers (Sanjaya Malakar, anyone?). The "Idol" broadcasts still topped the Nielsens (about 30 million people watched the twice-weekly shows last year), but the show's ratings were down a bit from their season-five high."Last year, it just wasn't one of our better seasons, and you get that on all of these types of competition shows," Cowell said in a recent conference call with reporters. "You get great years and not-so-great years."The good news is that what we've seen from new audition shows, this is a much better season than last year. If it was worse, then I think we would have had a problem, but it's altogether a better year."American viewers, as always, will judge with their remote controls, but Cowell said the talent is younger and more contemporary in the new season, which begins with audition rounds Tuesday night."These people just look more current, they sound more current," Cowell said. "They're definitely individuals, and I think three or four of the contestants we've got this year would have gotten recording contracts even without 'Idol.' "Cowell dismissed the failures of some past contestants, including Katharine McPhee, Ruben Studdard and Taylor Hicks, who were recently dropped by their record labels."We always said from day one that 'American Idol' is a reality show and being a reality show we reflect the reality of the record business, which is unpredictable. Certain people you don't think are going to do as well as you would have expected. Chris Daughtry only came in fourth, but he did amazing business last year. And then somebody like Ruben, who we thought was one of our better competitors, doesn't do as well as you want. It's not a great thing, but at the same time, it is the record business."As for the viewers who call in to vote for the worst singers -- at the behest of Howard Stern or VoteForTheWorst.com -- Cowell said he's no longer concerned about future Sanjayas."I don't think it did any harm at all because he didn't win," Cowell said. "There was a point, I'll be honest with you, where halfway through when it did occur to me after some absolutely horrific performances and the public kept him in that we actually might have a problem. ... Now I look back and I laugh about it, to be honest with you, and I think he was harmless."So what will this year's controversy be? VoteForTheWorst.com is pursuing a new angle. The site suggests that to combat last year's "Sanjaya fever," "Idol" producers "have gone out of their way to place people into the Top 50 who already had a shot at stardom in the past."Regardless, controversy has dogged "Idol" for years, but so far, it hasn't stopped fans from tuning in.(Pittsburgh Post-Gazette TV editor Rob Owen can be reached at rowen(at)post-gazette.com.)(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)