I feel a bit hoodwinked that Ellen Degeneres wasn’ there from the onset, but I guess the announcement that she was on the show wouldn’t have been there in time for the first recordings.  I guess she  isn’t going to start until the live shows commence?  That was not made clear to me; there wasn’t all that much talent yet, but many of the guys were hot.  It was strange to predict their ages so inaccurately, though.  Some of the women were beautiful, but not that many had the chops.  I hope they’re holding out on us, because last year became unwatchable for me and I totally lost my interest in it.