The New American Idol

In Simon Cowell's book "I Don't Mean to be Rude, But..." he tells the behind-the-scenes story of getting AMERICAN IDOL on the air.

For starters, every network passed on the concept on the first lap. 'Cause network execs are geniuses.

But I digress.

Further examples of the genius of American television executives include their insistence on changing the formula of a proven television blockbuster. "Yeah, but do they have to sing? Could they be gymnasts? Could they have a dog? Could they brick layers?" Again, I digress.

One of the elements founding producer Nigel Lithgow insisted on was a panel of three judges.

The model requires Simon Cowell, who tells the cold hard truth, breaks the spirits of the breakable and challenges those who are unbreakable to be better than the know they can be. He's also one of the most successful finders of new talent in the industry.

Judge #2 should be a successful producer who knows the music business and knows what it takes to make a hit record. That's Randy.

Judge #3 should be someone who has been successful as a performer. That's Paula.

Sidebar: Simon was unimpressed with Paula at first, explaining American songwriters lacked energy, unlike say, Kylie Minogue's "Spinning Round." After Paula pointed out that she had CO-WRITTEN that song, she was in the club.

The other thing Lithgow fought to keep was the dual host format. He caved on that one in Year 2 and Brian Dunkleman is now hosting "Family Feud Live" in Las Vegas.

As IDOL progressed, the baboons slowly worked their way into the mix (see TV Shows Written by Baboons) and we began to see more and more Bad TV Creep - emphasis on bad contestants, and a drifting away from what should be one of the most compelling reality mini-series - Hollywood Week.

So this year, we're adding a fourth judge, Kara DioGuardi. She has a reputation for being tough and she's the other half of the team that wrote "Spinning Round." Is she a Paula backup? You bet she is. Are we straying from the original format by having a fourth voice on the judging panel. Not for long.

The other promising announcement for this season is a reduction on the emphasis on the untalented folks in the auditions, and extra episodes focusing on the backstage drama of Hollywood Week - both EXCELLENT ideas.

They're going to put more singers through from Hollywood Week to the first round, which means they're going to be cutting contestants at a pretty quick pace in the early weeks.

I, for one, think it all sounds like IDOL may be on track for a pretty damnged good season.

What say you?