There will be the usual varieties of contestants annoyingly naive (David Archuletta), wannabe rockers (Bo Bice), pretty but talentless (Antonella Barbra), the vacuous (Kellie Pickler), weirdos (Sanjaya Malakar) and the wastes of space (Kevin Covais).
Viewers will hear Simon Cowell be biting, Paula Abdul be spacy and Randy Jackson be cool. The wildcard is new judge Kara DioGuardi who recently told Rolling Stone that the male contestants were the strongest. How seriously, though, can you take someone whose company was responsible for such odious tunes as Nick Lachay's "Best of Me?"
But will the viewers come? Of course the show is still the No. 1 program on TV, but there are signs that the program is fading. Viewership fell during the last season though 32 million people tuned into the anti-climatic season finale that featured an unfunny cameo by Mike Myers as "The Love Guru."
For Fox's corporate parent News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) there is a huge incentive to milk Idol for as long as it can. Advertisers continue to pay premium prices to be seen on the show. They will be disappointed by nothing short of blockbuster ratings.
Nothing on the program is left to chance. Vote for the Worst, one of the best and most snarky Idol Web sites, has a list of what it says are plants among the contestants. The program seems to have the spontaneity of one of those cheesy Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) commercials.
News Corp shareholders are hoping there is still some hunt left in the "American Idol" dog.
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