If we’re to take Paula Abdul’s word for it, we may have just spotted this season’s strongest Idol contender, thus far, during the San Francisco auditions.

It seems a little early in the competition to start waging bets on who’ll be a standout during Hollywood week, but Adam Lambert, a 26 year-old Hollywood native found himself in the Idol judges’ good will after he handily tackled a few bars from what we’ve come to know as Simon’s favorite ditty, “Bohemian Rhapsody”.

And after receiving a solid round of praise for his performance, he secured his place in the foursome’s favor by gushing about how he had a crush on Paula Abdul when he was 10 – a very smart confession! Paula enjoyed him so much that she proclaimed that he was the best singer that they’d encountered this season.

I give Adam props for doing his research and strategically charming Simon and Paula, but I’m not completely convinced that he’s at the head of the pack just yet – time will soon tell.

Do you believe that Adam has a straight road to victory ahead of him on Idol, or is another crooner already threatening to fill his spot?

At last, Idol season is here homies! And since I’m hooked on the phenomenal singing competition, you can expect to see some enthusiastic coverage of American Idol as it unfolds over the next few months right here on Talk of Fame!

With a full season ahead of us, I’ll keep my reaction to Tuesday night’s premiere brief: Kara DioGuardi, Idol’s new fourth judge, is no joke!

By far, the highlight of this round of auditions was when Kara refused to let bikini beauty Katrina bounce to Hollywood (following endorsements by the salivating pair of Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson) without a little fight. Sure, Katrina’s rendition of Mariah Carey’s “Vision of Love” was decent, but I suspect that, like myself, Simon and Randy’s assessments of her vocal talents were a little clouded by her scorching physical attributes!

Still, I was impressed when Kara informed Katrina that her version of the ballad lacked “swing” and then proceeded to show her how she should have sung it by belting out the tune herself! But it doesn’t stop there – after Kara finished blowing, Katrina refused to concede and kept on attempting to outsing Kara!

So, whether or not you were initially keen on the idea of adding a new judge to the Idol mix, you’ve gotta give it up to Kara for getting down and dirty with pretty contestants who feel entitled!

As for Katrina, she’s got an uphill battle ahead of her during Hollywood week, but whether or not she makes it to the top 12, she can rest assured knowing that she looks bangin’ in a bikini!