Confession time: I was scared when the call came from on high to help cover American Idol this year. Yes, I've watched it from the beginning and got wrapped up with the whole Kelly/Justin thing like the rest of the country, and unlike the rest of the country, I actually saw From Justin to Kelly (thank you, $5 WalMart DVD bin). After the first few seasons, however, I started to lose interest.

I was right there when Ruben and Carrie won, but was in no way a member of "The Soul Patrol." I didn't really care which David took the crown, and I didn't exactly rush out to see Fantasia on Broadway. After seven seasons, all of the contestants started to look the same to me. Everyone ran together, and no one stood out. I know that Daughtry has gone on to have a decent career, but I couldn't for the life of me tell you which season he was on. It was all white noise.

That is, until Nick Mitchell came on the scene.