Idol Back for Round Six

11/06/2006 1:00 PM, E! Online
Sarah Hall

This season of American Idol is getting a supersized premiere to match last season's supersized ratings.

Television's most-watched show is returning for its sixth cycle with a hefty four-hour premiere to be stretched over two nights in January, Fox announced Monday.

The audition component of the talent search is set to debut Jan. 16, spotlighting a segment of the more than 100,000 aspiring singers who tried out in Los Angeles, San Antonio, Birmingham, Memphis, Minneapolis, New York and Seattle.

Of all of the cities hosting tryouts, Seattle's singers displayed a particular dearth of talent—at least as far as Simon Cowell was concerned.

"Seattle is going to be known for something other than coffee this year. They had the worst bunch of miserable singers that I've ever met in my life. It was two days of total misery," the ever-snarky judge told USA Today. "And the weather was bad, as well."

But Seattle wasn't the only city to produce off-key contestants. Executive producer Nigel Lythgoe told USA Today that the coming season features "some of the worst [singers] we've ever had."

Watch your back, William Hung.

Cowell, as well as Paula Abdul, Randy Jackson and host Ryan Seacrest were joined by guest judges on the audition trail: Jewel in Minneapolis, Olivia Newton-John in Los Angeles and Carole Bayer Sager in New York.

Some 110 women and 60 men were selected to make it through to Hollywood, Lythgoe said.

"It's going to be tough on the girls," he said, because almost twice as many will be competing for the female spots in the final 24.

To date, Kelly Clarkson, Ruben Studdard, Fantasia Barrino, Carrie Underwood and Taylor Hicks have captured the Idol title. The show's contestants have sold 10 million singles and 23 million albums since the show debuted in 2002.

Last season, Idol averaged 30 million viewers, propelling Fox to the number-one spot among young adults. The show has earned 22 Emmy nominations, though it has yet to take home an award.