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I have to admit that it"s taken some time for me to find my favorite "characters" on this season of American Idol. The auditions, while amusing, failed to really wow me over with no major big voices truly standing out amongst the fray. Thankfully, Fox limited those rounds to a scant three weeks (instead of the usual month of multiple two-hour episodes that make you want to shoot yourself by the end of the process). Now we"ve moved on to Hollywood Week, one of the most under-appreciated and vital phases of the show. American Idol producers have unwisely fumbled this essential, character-building for the prior two iterations, starting with notorious season six (ie. the Sanjaya season) when Hollywood Week was crammed into basically one or two accelerated episodes. Gone was the drama of Group Night (which had yielded so much fun the year previous - remember those awful twins?), and as a result, we were left with a bunch of kids on stage that no one really knew. The ratings fell, the season was considered a failure, and the show has been slightly reeling ever since.

Last year, the producers returned some luster to Hollywood Week, but again, there wasn"t a whole lot of drama. I"m not even sure Group Night even existed. Either way, we were once again left with a bunch of singers whose biggest negative quality was their lack of personality. This year, however, the producers have returned an emphasis on Hollywood Week by allowing it to unfold over two weeks of programming. Plus, they"re wisely following several standout singers that we recognize from the auditions. True, they do this every year, but this time, it feels like we"re seeing more (unlike season six when several promising auditioners completely disappeared into thin air). The result? Pretty good! Not only are we getting to know the singers better, but by the end of Group Night, I had already developed some favorites (not to mention some that I most certainly hate), and that"s what reality TV is all about, right? Rooting for those you love and cursing and ridiculing those you despise.

Oh please let this be a good season.