'Idol' storms US ratings, disappoints some fans

LOS ANGELES - "American Idol" took US television by storm with a record 37.3 million viewers tuning in for the sixth season premiere, ratings showed on Wednesday, but the show's tone-deaf wannabe singers struck a sour note for some fans.

The two-hour debut on Fox TV on Tuesday, featuring an "urban Amish" singer and a woman who growl-sung like the lion in "The Wizard of Oz," received the highest audience numbers in the show's history, according to Nielsen Media Research.

The 37.3 million total audience was a 5 percent increase over last year's opening show of the fifth season.

Despite the monster ratings for the top-rated show in America, some fans and critics were largely disappointed with the mix of good and hopeless auditions held in Minneapolis and the judges who send the best to the next round in Hollywood.

"I think that we need to see more of the good with the bad. Not only did we get bad, but it seemed to be longer segments of individuals .... I'm not going to waste my time tonight," said one fan on the Americanidol.com Web site message board.

On the Yahoo Web message boards, one fan said the bad singers were just too much to take. "Too much of a bad thing is not so entertaining. Let's see more of the ones that were almost good enough or that blow us away. The bad ones are just mostly ridiculous, by this point."

Critic Linda Stasi of the New York Post wrote, "Why not take us to the real dawg pound and watch the dogs get ready for euthanasia."

"American Idol," a spin-off of a British hit that was a surprise US success in 2002, dominated US television ratings in 2006.

The show and its viewer-driven format has produced a number of bona-fide stars including Kelly Clarkson, country singer Carrie Underwood and Jennifer Hudson, who this week won a Golden Globe for her performance in the musical movie "Dreamgirls."

This year's winner will be chosen by the viewing public in May. Reuters