Recently in American Idol Category

It's back.

The judges (now four of them), the contestants (even the bad ones), and the screaming tweens are all accounted for. Ladies and gentleman, this is "American Idol."

Season eight of the pop culture phenomenon has reinvented itself with a whole slew of new twists and turns. So to get you prepared for tonight's 8 p.m. premiere on Fox, we'll run down the ins and outs of the hit show. Here's what you can count on this season:

I WANT A NEW JUDGE

Welcome to "Idol," Kara DioGuardi. The 38-year-old singer/songwriter is the yin to Paula Abdul's sometimes whiny yang. "I hope people find I bring something to the show that's different, and I can help these contestants learn something, whether they win or not," DioGuardi recently told the Associated Press. That's great for contestants but how will the addition affect the judges panel? DioGuardi says not to look for any dramatic clashes between herself and her former roommate and songwriting partner, Abdul. But don't hold her to that because I would bet that sooner rather than later we will see a ...

According to Fox, "American Idol" is adding a fourth judge.

Grammy-nominated songwriter Kara DioGuardi will sit next to Paula Abdul on the eighth season of "Idol" in January.

DioGuardi's songs have appeared on albums by such "artists" as um Kelly Clarkson, Christina Aguilera, Carrie Underwood, Ashley Tisdale, Taylor Hicks, Kat McPhee, Bo Bice, Clay Aiken, Ashlee Simpson, Hillary Duff and Nick Lachey.

Oh. Dear. God. Now that's an axis of evil.

Heeeere's DioGuardi...

It's 5 a.m. It's raining. I'm standing in a line that stretches for at least a mile. There are approximately 8,000 people ahead of me. This is "American Idol."

After two days of registration, folks began lining up dark and early Wednesday in Jacksonville for their opportunity to audition for the ratings Goliath that's the Fox singing competition.

After a 2 1/2-hour wait, my wife, Kayla, one of the Idol hopefuls, and I make our way inside the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena to wait some more.

"I don't mind the wait," said 22-year-old Aisha Brown of Waycross, Ga. "At least I'm out of the rain."

That sentiment was echoed by thousands of 16- to-28-year-olds, three-page signed releases in hand, as one by one they waited their turn to sing their 30 seconds of music. With no Randy, Simon or Paula to impress, an onslaught of show producers would have to do.

If you don't know by now, American Idol will be holding auditions on Wednesday in Jacksonville.

For your reading pleasure, I'll be heading to them with Mrs. Fanboy in tow. We'll head up tomorrow afternoon for registration and will be in line bright and early Wednesday morning. And obviously, I'll be taking you guys along.

Tomorrow afternoon, around 4 p.m. a post will go up on this blog which will allow you to stay up to date on the audition process with regular Twitter and Flickr updates. That's right, photos too!

So keep an eye out and wish us luck!