Solidifying its reputation as the number one show in the U.S., American Idol’s seventh season premiered last night to a staggering 33.24 million viewers. How did the other networks fare in the face of such stiff competition? Well, if you take all the viewers on all the other networks and add them together, you might get close to the numbers FOX pulled down with just one episode of their reality hit. And it’s not over yet - Idol will return twice a week for the next few months.

Really, the auditions (or, as I like to call them, the freak show) are one of the best parts of the whole series. From Princess Leia hair to guys dressed in drag to the strange little man and his anti-sex song, the first episode of Idol was everything it should have been and maybe a little extra, too. Viewers were treated to the rare prize of seeing the softer side of Simon Cowell, as the judges en masse escorted one young contestant (Temptress) back to her mother to tell the woman what a wonderful daughter she has. Other times, however, Cowell played the Devil’s advocate, often trying to provoke Paula Abdul into making negative comments against contestants.

There was some talent to be found in spite of it all, and nearly thirty golden tickets were given to those who auditioned in Philadelphia (the first stop on the Idol tour). For them, it’s on to Hollywood Week and another grueling round of singing before the judges. For us, it’s on to another city and another round of funny, endearing, touching and sometimes talented singers.  Early standouts from the first episode include Oregon resident Kristy Lee Cook, who sang a smoky version of Amazing Grace, and Angela Martin, a wedding singer and young mother with one of the more interesting back stories.

A clever blend of the bad with the good made this premiere funnier (and easier to watch) than the usual Idol parade of poorly pitched notes.  But even with the ongoing writers’ strike, Idol isn’t improving on last season’s numbers. Despite the 30 million-plus viewers, season seven ratings were down 11% from the premiere of Season 6.

(You can find all the American Idol 7 posts here.)