American Idol Is Almost Here

And I, for one, can't wait. I love the show, especially the audition part of it.

Host Ryan Seacrest told People Magazine that the auditions won't disappoint.

"I was just on the phone with Simon, and we were talking about the auditions. We taped the auditions a couple of weeks ago. We didn't think we would go out and see the extremes that we saw. There is the extremely naive and the extremely good and not a lot in between, which is good," he said.

The show's executive producer, Cecile Frot-Coutaz, also said there is a mid-season surprise. "Something we're working on is a big-event show, sometime in the middle of the season, something that will blow America away.".

On the auditions, which began in August, she said: "There's some great talent out there. But there's also some people who are delusional about their talent, too. That's the beauty of an open call – everybody comes. Everybody thinks they've got a great voice."

The new season of American Idol kicks off on FOX with two-hour episodes on Jan. 16 and 17.

Photo from People.