In five years, I have never met anybody who watched the first episode of an American Idol season and didn't get addicted like a junkie.

There's one photog at work who shares my enjoyment of all the pretty, young girls who aspire to stardom, and there are countless others who, like me, count themselves as armchair singing critics, spouting off hot music opinions every Wednesday and Thursday morning at work.

As I've written countless times, the beauty of Idol is that it involves everybody, not only as viewers but as participants. That's the way of the new media world -- from news to entertainment. As technology broadens, we're all destined to our 15 minutes of fame and to a certain amount of voyeuristic power.

It's a significant social improvement upon the sitcom and police drama 1970s, the quirky 1980s and the medical and criminal procedurals of the 1990s. Television is no longer passive. It encourages social networking and individual communication, and that's what makes Idol premeire night so cool.

Alas, the show's producers decided to open Season 6 in Minneapolis, a city that should produce a ton of local talent. The bigger half of the Twin Cities is one of the eight best music locales in America, particularly for soul and R&B.

I'd put Austin, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Nashville, New Orleans, New York and Seattle in the same league, as premier music cities. Atlanta could make a case for as many R&B singers as its produced over the years, and Detroit IS the home of Motown.

Nevertheless, Idol's first several shows is mostly about the terrible.

One fellow (Charles Moody) came in dressed like Apollo Creed, from the Rocky movies, and proceeded to sing an aria in Italian. He wasn't half bad either, but it was too weird for the judges.

My favorite bad singer of the night was a guy (Troy Benham) who described his look as urban Amish. His song seemed to be extemporaneously conceived, with lyrics like, "You can be nasty and catty and cruel and unusual, twist my nose with your fingers, trip me as I carry liquids ..."

I'm not making that up.

His flow continued with something about a "catalog I found on the ground where you could by roaches by the pound," adding that he would "spit in your face because everybody has to sleep."

While I'm pretty sure I botched the exact quote in the last paragraph there, Troy Benham's legend is merely beginning. That was a keeper.

Most of the bad singers, however, were just bad without intending to be so terrible. It's often hard to watch for some folks who find the overall process to be cruel; however, by this time, everybody in America knows what they're up against. To act surprised when the judges tell you how bad you are is silly.

Nevertheless, it's hard not to empathize with those whose dreams have been shattered. I'd only recommend to them to adjust their dreams; not everybody was meant to sing.

However, premeire night did feature some folks who were meant to sing, at least in some capacity.

Take Sarah Krueger, who I think was the best of the night. Her rendition of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow," while unoriginal, was clean and spot-on. She is definitely Top 12 material; however, a search for sarahkrueger.com (assuming I am spelling her name right) landed nothing but a site for some real estate agent.

One of the ways we Idol pros know to get some advance scoop on who might make it to the final 24 is to check domain-name registrations. At some point soon, Idol starts reserving names of the finalists. You want to know who gets to the final 24? Well, it's pretty easy to research.

Still, it's a bit early for that I suspect. Nevertheless, if I had to tab one person for the Top 24, for sure, it would be her. Cute girl, too.

Great back stories are a giant part of the show, and 16-year-old Denise Jackson had the best of the night. She said that when she was born, she was clinically a crack baby but explained that she was rescued by her grandmother.

While she screamed Jennifer Holiday's (and Jennifer Hudson's) "And I'm Telling You ...," Denise showed off a potentially terrific voice. She's got kind of a ghetto girl look (absolutely no offense meant) with gap teeth and a definite sense of urban style. Denise could be a sleeper, and knowing how much of an emphasis Idol places on its stories, I think a good bet for the Top 24.

Speaking of stories, Navy man Jarrod Fowler won a Reagan Idol competition onboard his ship -- the USS Ronald Reagan. While it's no precursor to Idol eligibility, it did render him a confident contestant, he said. Military stories are particularly poignant for the show, given its family demographic.

Fowler's rendition of Rascal Flatts' "Bless the Broken Road," which is a great song, got him the golden ticket to Hollywood. My recommendation for this cat is that he stray from the country because, I thought, his voice had some serious ballad and blue-eyed soul potential. And, in his case, I disagree with judge Randy Jackson about his use of vocal runs. In Fowler's case, they were solid.

Rachel Jenkins is a 21-year-old reservist whose husband is in Baghdad. While there was a huskiness about her voice that was appealing, she really, really lacks when it comes to looks or style. That could change, I suppose, if she dons something other than camo ... but, hey, we're just one show into things.

No chance she's in the Top 24 without a significant improvement. I think Fowler is definitely a wild card, on the other hand.

Perla Meneses is of Colombian descent, which means she's smokin' hot. She sang something that couldn't draw me away from my stare at her ample assets ("Call Me" from Blondie), but then did a quick rendition of Shakira's "Hips Don't Lie" that was damned good. Personality is big on Idol, but I can't see her going any further than maybe the Top 24.

But, she wins the award tonight for hottest chick.

Matt Sato, 16, made it through to Hollywood even though he came to the audition with a big zit on his nose. Nice voice, but he'll need some spark at some point to go terribly far. However, his parents didn't make the trip because family finances were stretched, which again makes a nice story point for Idol producers.

In the end, I can't imagine that the winner of Idol Season 6 will come from Minneapolis. Now, Idol is notorious for hiding some gems from the audition rounds, such as Bo Bice two years ago and Elliot Yamin last year. Heck, in Season 5, they showed a snippet of Yamin's audition in their promotional tease, but we were never introduced to the guy until the Hollywood rounds.

In other words, the show's creators keep a few surprises, a few gems hidden. The initial shows are about good stories and terrible singers, for the most part.

In that respect, Episode 1 of Season 6 did not disappoint. However, in terms of hearing somebody who was really vocally and stylistically great? It was kind of a dud.

On to Seattle.