The 2009 season of American Idol premiered Tuesday January 13th on Fox. Season eight introduced thousands of hopefuls pursuing their dreams of becoming America’s next idol. This year introduces a new idol judge Kara DioGuardi. She is a singer, songwriter, producer and artist who may be new to the Idol stage, but she’s a formidable force in the music industry. What would she bring to the table? How would she fit into the mix? It’s still early, but we’ll give her a tentative thumb’s-up for now.

In her first “Idol” outing, DioGuardi encountered a sweet-natured fan girl and a mouthy babe in a bikini. The fan went home; the babe went to Hollywood — much to the disgust of DioGuardi.

Stealing the show and setting a new bar on Idol was Scott MacIntyre, a 23-year-old Arizona hopeful who is almost completely blind. He performed a fascinating depiction of Billy Joel’s “And So it Goes” and was unanimously voted to go to Hollywood. This is one of those inspirational stories upon which “Idol” thrives, so expect to see a lot more of Scott.

This year there seems to be more variety. Tonight’s show (January 14th) brought a young mother of three and recent tornado victim, Lil Rounds. She and her family lost their apartment home and are still picking up the pieces. Randy said on the show that she was a cross between “Fantasia” and” Mary J. Blige.” She was humble and outstanding vocally and will definitely be in the Show's Top 12.

Of course, there are still six cities left, and loads of unseen talent yet to be discovered. This year’s season of Idol will definitely be one to be remembered.