It was only two years ago that “American Idol” signed off the air, seemingly forever as the screen faded to black. Then, host Ryan Seacrest threw the audience for a loop with two words: “For now.”

Each word carried a sentence of a year, it seems, as “Idol” is baaaaaack. And for those of us who are fans of the show, that might as well have been a lifetime, as Seacrest, quoting season one winner Kelly Clarkson, remarked at the top of the new season — that which does not have a number, apparently.

Fortunately, there was a reminder of the show’s recent — and distant — past in the way of season four winner Carrie Underwood, who narrates the voice-over about music inspiring dreams. “It happened to me,” she says, no doubt inspiring millions of smiles. But with that nod to what came before, we enter into new, but familiar, territory as judges Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan take their seats at the table.

So what’s different? For one, the ABC version of “Idol” explodes on the screen in eye-popping Technicolor, thanks to the Disney palette and Perry, who never squanders an opportunity for glitter. As the show’s highest paid judge, Perry is also the panel’s defacto leader and the one most likely to trigger a meme, as she did in praising starstruck vocal powerhouse Noah Davis who could only mutter the word “Wig” out of excitement, confusing Bryan in the process.

(via variety.com)