American Idol likes to change things ever so slightly every single year, just to keep us off-balance. This year, we’ve been presented with a Top 36 instead of the usual 24 - and more contestants calls for what we love: more eliminations. The first part of round one aired last night, a group of twelve singers who will very shortly be whittled all the way down to three.

It’s cutthroat, and it’s fabulous.

After three contenders from three groups of twelve are chosen for the Top 12, three more previously-expelled singers will be brought back for the Wild Card round. But we’re not quite there yet. Tuesday night, American Idol 8 truly began, replete with live stage performances and bitingly harsh judges’ comments. Finally, the show has arrived.

And it began with Jackie Tohn, 28, who professionally entertains even when she’s not competing for FOX. She chose a song I thought would be horrible - “A Little Less Conversation” - and an outfit which really was. But despite the odd fashion and somewhat less-than-stellar vocals, Tohn delivered a rollicking performance that kick-started the evening. She was energetic, bluesy and Tohn’s got a lot of charisma. “Way to start season 8 off,” Randy Jackson cried. “You can work a stage, girl,” Kara DioGuardi complimented her. “You got me up dancing,” Paula gushed, “you are a true performer.” But Simon Cowell wasn’t ready to make nice with Ms. Tohn. “I think you actually played the clown,” right between the eyes. Cowell called her performance “ungainly” and “gimmicky” and he hated her outfit. Tohn is obviously not a favorite of the show. When asked by Ryan Seacrest if she had any regrets, Jackie flippantly answered “no, dude.”

Ricky Braddy, 26, barely seen before this moment, appeared next on the Idol stage. This North Carolina boy used to serve chicken fingers, but after last night he’s never looking back. Braddy may not have the attention of the producers, but he’s certainly got a singing voice. His strong finish created a strong memory. “This is the start of season 8,” Randy amended his earlier statement to Ms. Tohn. Kara DioGuardi found that the performance was “amazing.” Paula pointed out to Ricky that “you weren’t featured” before this moment, so at least there were no pink elephants in the room. Simon Cowell is not a Braddy fan, saying the latter has no “charisma” or “star quality.” “You’re a nice, shy guy,” Idol’s notorious judge concluded. At least Braddy’s mom worked in a plug before his time ended.

Alexis Grace, who was highly featured during previous rounds, finally had her moment to shine on stage. She wore a little black dress and sang “Never Loved a Man” with very strong vocals. Grace put plenty of soul into her performance, winning praise from the panel. “I’m lovin’ you,” Randy told her, saying “you found the soul.” “The genie is out of the bottle,” Kara DioGuardi declared. “I think you are, by a mile, the best,” Simon Cowell threw in his opinion, calling Grace a “dark horse” and “one to watch.” We’ll find out if we’ll get that chance during the Wednesday results show.

Country boy Brent Keith, 29, followed soulful Grace. He’s got cute dimples and a good voice, but poor taste in Idol song selection. Keith chose “Hick Town,” which did little to showcase his singing stylings. I was bored halfway through the performance. Randy found that he liked what Keith did, saying he could see himself, Simon Cowell and Keith at a “chili cook-off.” Kara DioGuardi thinks Keith has more to offer, calling his performance a little “safe.” Paula Abdul agreed with Kara but added a few positive comments. Simon Cowell found it “forgettable.”

I loved Stevie Wright, 17, in earlier episodes of Idol’s season 8. She’s cute, she’s fun and she’s a good singer - but perhaps not last night. Her vocals sounded a little off when she sang “You Belong With Me,” and Wright didn’t offer up a very exciting performance. Randy Jackson decreed it was “not hot for me,” and said he “wasn’t feelin’ that.” Kara accused Stevie of having an “identity crisis.” Even Paula Abdul found it hard to muster up the usual enthusiasm, saying “this was not the song for you.” “It was terrible,” Simon Cowell told her flatly, saying she has “zero chance” to make it through. Harsh, but true - the producers are pushing Tatiana Del Toro among the group’s women.

Anoop Desai, 22, didn’t have a tough act to follow but doesn’t have much to fear. Desai is already popular, he looked nice and he offered up beautiful vocals on his version of “Angel of Mine.” Paula was on her feet near the end, definitely feeling the vibe. “Anoop Dog is in the house,” Randy Jackson announced for the umpteenth time, saying he found the song choice “interesting.” (That means, he didn’t like it). Kara admitted she loves Desai, and Paula compared him to Brian McKnight. Simon Cowell, however, found the performance too “grown-up” and “serious” for Desai, but admitted that the latter has “massive likeability.”

Cute brunette Casey Carlson, 20, made the disastrous decision to sing “Every Little Thing She Does is Magic.” Every bit of this, from beginning to end, was just a bit off. From vocals to outfit, Casey was just not hitting the right notes with her performance or with the judges. “That…was not good for me,” Randy admitted, saying the song was “completely wrong.” “Everything about that was wrong,” Kara DioGuardi took Randy’s comment even further, saying it “fell really flat.” Paula found that it “just didn’t work.” Simon comforted her with “you look good,” but crushed her by saying the singing was “atrocious.” He ended his criticism with “you shouldn’t have been allowed to sing that song.” And the knife twists a bit.

Michael Sarver, whom Ryan Seacrest introduced as “my twin,” followed Ms. Carlson to the Idol stage. He chose a country song that wasn’t really the best choice for him, though the vocals he did display were pretty good. “You can definitely sing,” Randy told him, though he found the performance “rough, pitch-wise.” Kara DioGuardi “didn’t think it was your best performance,” and Paula sweetly smiled that “you did a real good job,” though she was distracted by his mic usage. Simon Cowell didn’t have much to offer, saying “we like you.” Sarver is a favorite.

Ann Marie Boskovitch, 22, chose “Natural Woman” for reasons known only to her. This tired old tune has just been done way too many times for the Idol stage, though Boskovitch has lovely vocal ability. She showed off lots of power, but it still may not be enough. Randy Jackson found it was “not the right choice” of song for Ann Marie, while Kara thought the performance “old-fashioned.” Paula said that Boskovitch gave it her “all,” but Simon Cowell nailed the coffin lid shut on Ann Marie. “Your voice is not good enough to sing that song,” he told her, adding, “you may have ruined your one chance.”

I also really liked Stephen Fowler, but it’s doubtful at this point that he’ll hang around. Fowler chose “Rock With You” for his Idol performance, singing very quietly and delivering a pretty soft performance around the upbeat tune. It wasn’t very exciting. “It’s not the joint for you to be singing,” Randy Jackson broke it down for him. “I’m glad that you remembered the lyrics,” Paula told him, but found herself “disappointed.” Simon Cowell found Fowler’s to be a “pointless performance” with a “terrible arrangement” and told the singer “you’ve made a huge mistake.”

Heavily-featured Tatiana Del Toro got the plumb position among females, the last girl of the evening to sing. Ryan introduced this former San Juan resident as “the only and only” Tatiana Del Toro, which I find a little presumptuous. Really, has the research been done? It’s not the most uncommon name ever invented. At any rate, Del Toro made the potentially damaging decision to sing a Whitney Houston song, “I’m Saving All My Love For You.” Houston is considered by the judges to be one of the Untouchable songstresses - you just don’t redo one of her tunes on the Idol stage. But Tatiana performed tolerably well, which was all she really needed to do, showing off her range and power though she’s not yet a supreme diva like Whitney. It was a bad, bad song choice - but Tatiana’s drama will no doubt carry her (at least, that’s what the producers seem to be begging for, anyway). “You had some moments,” Randy Jackson repeated more than once. “You hit some of those notes,” Kara DioGuardi offered. “You probably are the most talked-about contestant,” Paula told her, saying she missed “the crazy” Tatiana. Simon Cowell told her “you are a complete and utter drama queen,” adding “you are desperate to be famous.” Oh, she will be. But Cowell found that her performance “wasn’t bad at all” and ended up begging for the annoying laugh he claimed to hate.

Danny Gokey, the main favorite of this little group, got the last (and best) position for his performance. I had my doubts he could ably deliver Mariah Carey’s “Hero,” but truly I found Gokey’s to be the best performance of the entire evening. Randy called Danny the “redeemer of the night.” “You are the hero man!” Kara cried. Paula Abdul mentioned the words “stellar” and “sold-out arenas.” Simon Cowell said “it wasn’t fantastic,” but thinks Gokey is a “very, very good singer.”

Tomorrow, we’ll find out which lucky three will be moving on - and which nine will have their dreams shattered for our viewing pleasure. I just love eliminations.

(You can find all the American Idol 8 posts here.)