I tried not to watch American Idol last night. I really did. But it's like crack, I'm pretty sure, and I can't not watch this show. I'm leaving for the boat in two days and I still watched it. It's a sickness.

I actually really liked it, though! I thought a lot of people were excellent, and I feel like the new judging panel might work really well together.

People on Top Chef All Stars I like(d) more this season than I did on their season: Angelo, Tiffani F., Stephan, and Mike I., to an extent.

People I liked more on their season than this season: Jaimie, Jen, Tiffany, Blaise.

I have always loved Dale T., Carla, Tre, and Antonia!

I have always hated Spike.

I wanted to believe that Marcel's douchiness was because he was in the season of complete and total bullies and assholes, (man, I hated that fucking season) but I guess some of the blame rests on his shoulders as well.

I am fairly consistently meh on Casey, the other Dale, and Elia.

Fabio is getting back into my good graces, I liked him on his season (even though it was apparent he was outclassed in the kitchen), but he definitely believed his own hype when he first came back.

(I was cracking up last night remembering his line about being Front of House on his season's RW, saying that he could serve monkey ass in a clam shell and they'd still win... which is basically what happened.)

Cereal:

Marcel + SyFy Channel = LOLWHUT

zuisa, I watched AI last night, too. I can't quit this show. I've been down to ride since S1 and I'll stick to the bitter end. I thought the premiere was way better than it had any right to be. And Steven Tyler is the cream in my coffee. He was hilarious on the panel, even when he was being a complete lech. I thought they put a lot of questionable people through last night and I'm seriously sketched out by the lowering of the minimum age to 15, but after last night I'm in and I'm kind of excited about it. I don't know how they do it.

I even rebooted my AI blog. Hope springs eternal, I guess. Don't judge me!

I avoided AI. I hate the auditions. I might show up for Vegas, but I am thinking I might give AI up this year.

I'm with ND: Marcel's season was awful, but I hated Marcel the whole time and I was pretty upset with the bullying shit because that made me feel sorry for Marcel.

Mike I is an ass, so I think he will be the next villain. Angelo might re-emerge though if he keeps fucking with other people's dishes.

I avoided AI. I hate the auditions. I might show up for Vegas, but I am thinking I might give AI up this year.

This is me. I'm sort of enjoying not watching much regular stuff.

I'm watching AI because the only alternatives are the WB or Netflix and Hulu. I'm watching a fair number of the latter 2 but sometimes I just want something on, and at least it's a current pop-culture reference.

I miss Top Chef.

Top Chef: I think seeing themselves on screen in their previous seasons has changed some of the chefs behavior in this season, and there's also the new dynamic of different competitors. Compared to Marcel, Mike I. is much less annoying to me this time around, and he also doesn't have Robin to be nasty to, for instance.

It's weird to see people who changed for the worse, though, like Jamie. I really loved her in her season, and I couldn't wait to see her go this time around.

I also think Angelo is a good player -- last night, like everyone said, he knew well enough to keep his head down. And Dale's move was brilliant -- picking Marcel to lead a team was inspired.

Kat - yay that you're watching too! And you are right, the show was far better than it had any right to be. I tell myself every year that I'm not watching anymore, but let's be real: AI had me hooked the moment Kelly Clarkson sang her first note, and I'm clearly going nowhere.

I thought a number of people were pretty good, they didn't show too many terrible auditions, and I enjoyed the new judging panel. I was shocked. And ten years in, I still can't help getting all happy and smiley every time they end the episodes with montages of happy people with their golden tickets. The show may be a train wreck a lot of the time, but I feel as though there have been enough truly great performances over the years to justify it all.

TC: I was glad to see Marcel go. I want to slap him -- he is SO un-self-aware. "People should have listened to me because I was made team captain! That makes me a leader, and everything should follow from that!"

No, fool, leadership is a quality and a skill. You have to earn people's respect. Strong people will only follow a strong person, and strong doesn't = snappy, bitchy and doesn't know how to motivate and organize.

And she seemed to move really slowly. I know! You need to MOVE YOUR ASS when you are FOH -- there's an art. You need to hustle your buns, keep an eye on everything, all while appearing cool, calm, and genial to the diners.

I think this is why so many restaurants die -- being a talented chef does NOT equal the ability to run a business or deal with employees. So many people seem to think that all you need is a great product, and everything else will take care of itself. So not true.

Tiffany was an idiot for letting her dish go; hasn't she seen what happens to people when Marcel and Angelo add their little twists to a dinner? I like her, but it was embarassing that she runs a fish restaurant and sucked at the fish challenge AND has so much trouble cooking a freakin' egg.

AI -- I almost never watch, but Steven Tyler was pretty hilarious. They let some pretty shitty singers go one because of pity, which I was kind of annoyed by. That girl from West Va! UGH.