New Jersey Recap: Hallelujah I Just Love Steven Tyler So YEAAAAHHHH!

Last night, it was time for all of the hype to come to an end and get season 10 of “American Idol” started. Of course, that wasn’t before they took over five minutes to recap all of the hype for us.

We were then introduced to the new credit sequence and an updated theme song. I think I liked both, but I’m not sure about the word “Idol” being so giant at the end of the credits. I’m not sure what they’re going for there. I also thought it was interesting that along with all of the winners, Adam Lambert, Chris Daughtry and Jennifer Hudson also appeared in the credits. And if you watch it slowly, you’ll see that of the winners, Jordin Sparks actually gets the least amount of time for her picture. I was sure it would be Taylor Hicks (In case you’re wondering, the trio of David Cook, Kris Allen and Lee DeWyze get the most time.).

Then, of course, we had to hear the entire resumes of the judges. I’m not sure who they were trying to convince with that—us or them. Funny, I don’t think Simon, Paula, or Randy got that kind of introduction in season one. Of course, that was in the blissful days when the audition rounds only lasted a week…

Finally, it was time to get things started with the New Jersey auditions on August 3, 2010. Notice the slick edit making it look like the huge crowd was chanting for the judges. Of course, we know that’s not the case since the judges weren’t even announced by August 3rd.

Ryan said the show got its biggest crowds ever this season. I think it’s important to note that more people were eligible than ever before this season due to the minimum age being lowered to 15.

The first audition we saw came from 22-year-old Rachel Zevita who was cut on the first day in Hollywood in Season 6. She sang what I thought was a beautiful version of “Hallelujah,” but JLo said she was not her best and Steven was also hesitant. For the first time this season, I yelled, “What?!” at my TV. They put her through, but our new judges were off to an auspicious start…

Next up was 25-year-old Caleb Hawley, who did “Hallelujah, I Just Love Her So.” Steven redeemed himself by screaming and drumming along to the performance. The top notes cracked a little, but he was good and they sent him through…

The first 15-year-old audition was from Kenzie Palmer, who sang “Young and Beautiful.” Randy and Steven were unsure, but JLo convinced them to send her through…

We then saw three people go through without singing. Remember, that’s often because the rights to whatever song they sang didn’t clear…

It was obvious the show was trying to start out on a good note by piling up the good singers at the beginning. But no worries, the bad were on their way, starting with Achille Lovle, 25, who did “Dress You Up.” Achille, who is from the Ivory Coast, had a very deep voice with a very thick accent, which she tried to blame for her troubles. JLo struggled to say no and lamented the job was going to be harder than she thought…

You were positive the next contestant, 21-year-old Tiffany Rios, was going to be bad—especially with all of her JLo gushing, her original song about increasing the ratings AND the stars she had put on her chest. But for whatever reason, they let her sing another one and she belted out “Power of Love.” I didn’t think it was good enough, but the judges put her through. I’m sensing another Tatiana Del Toro here…

We then got a montage of bad singers and then one of JLo having trouble saying no…

The bad singers ended with Robbie Rosen, 16, who had our first touching backstory of the night. Robbie once had a debilitating disease that put him in a wheelchair. He did an excellent rendition of “Yesterday” and the judges put him right through…

Then it was a montage of the contestants talking about which judge they wanted to see the most, followed by a semi-inappropriate montage of Steven flirting with some of the girls. I have to admit, I liked hearing Steven say “Angela”…

Chris Cordeiro, 18, was next and he butchered Frank Sinatra’s “My Way,” while his mother did substantially better singing it for Ryan outside the door…

Another quick montage of nos before we met Michael Perotto, 19, who overcame his nervous belching to destroy “Proud Mary”…

We met Ashley Sullivan, 25, coming out of the Porta Potty. She gushed about how she wanted to be Britney Spears, so you just knew she was going to be bad. But her somewhat angry rendition of “Gimme Gimme” was actually pretty good, but terribly theatrical. Steven and JLo put her through, with Randy registering his doubts. It was nice to see Randy being logical for a change since he and Paula always put those types of people through…

Victoria Huggins, 16, had a sweet North Carolina accent and a sweet personality to match, which is probably why her “Midnight Train to Georgia” lacked any street. But that personality won over the judges—first by debating skirt length with Steven and then by saying, “Yo, yo, Dawg!” to Randy—and she went through. I think she’ll get chewed up and spit out in Hollywood, but if she does, I hope she returns next season…

Melinda Ademi, 16, of Kosovo, wowed the judges at the end of day one with “If I Ain’t Got You,” easily going through…

Devyn Rush, the 20-year-old singing waitress, kicked off day two with “God Bless the Child.” She went through…

We then got a montage of bad singers featuring Jimmy Kennedy doing “Hey There Delilah” and the judges singing along to Genise Deal’s “I’m a Believer.”

Then we saw the audition they promised us we’d be talking about—25-year-old Yoji Pop. He said he had been imitating Michael Jackson since before he was born, but he didn’t want to do a Michael song. So he did “Party in the USA” with Michael Jackson dance moves. The song was awful, but the moves were pretty good. We then went straight to a “Party” singing montage without getting the judges’ reaction to Yoji. I would’ve liked to have heard Steven’s thoughts…

Then it was some more bad singers including Jaclyn Blythe (“I’m the Only One”), Ina Abasumoh (“And I Am Telling You”) and Rob Palmay (“Ramblin’ Man”)…

Brielle Von Hugel, 16, was up next after we heard the story of how her dad survived throat cancer. She did “Endless Love” and went through with her dad watching...

Another montage, this time of the rejected contestants crying…

The last contestant of the day was 16-year-old Travis Orlando who once lived in a shelter with his family. He did “Eleanor Rigby,” but Steven wisely asked to hear something else and he nailed “I’m Yours” and went through. The emotional reaction of his family was one of the highlights of the night…

In all, 51 people went through to Hollywood from New Jersey. Tonight, we head to New Orleans…

Again, I think it’s clear the show is trying to show as much talent as possible instead of just those with gushy backstories. But I just wish they could do that in a much shorter time than four weeks AND with much shorter episodes. The two hours would have dragged interminably if not for the wondering of what Steven Tyler would say next.

Unless “Idol” wants some serious FCC fines this year, they had best run the live show on a delay every week…

As for my favorite, I would definitely go with Robbie Rosen because I’m a sucker for a good-looking guy with a beautiful voice. But I also liked Rachel Zevita, despite what the judges said…

But all these 16-year-olds are starting to worry me. That just means we’ll hear Randy say, “And just 16?!” twice as much.

And by the way, the term "Tylerism" has already sprung up on Twitter. My favorite? "What we have here is a failure to communicate...musically." I think I'm starting to miss Simon a little less already...

So what did you guys think? Are you happy with the talent so far? What about the judges? And are you happy that “Idol” is back or have you given up already?

Feel free to post a comment or hit me up on Facebook or Twitter…

Photos Credit: Michael Becker/FOX