Steven Tyler, Jennifer Lopez Start 'Idol' Auditions

The new American Idol judging panel — Steven Tyler, Jennifer Lopez and Randy Jackson — headed to Austin, Texas last weekend for two days of auditions, where the crew joined host Ryan Seacrest to watch hundreds of try-outs. Two cities into their season 10 audition tour, new judges Tyler and Lopez also talked about how they were adjusting to their new jobs. "Was I nervous doing this? You bet your booty," Tyler told Fox. "Season ten for American Idol is going to be over the top, so it's hard for us to say 'Nope, sorry, you don't cut it,' because they well up, they cry, they make me cry."

Who Should Have Been the New American Idol Judges?

While viewers will have to wait until the January premiere to see the new judges' on-screen chemistry, Jackson, a judge since season one, promises that this year's talent has been the best yet. "The talent is better this season...I know we say it every time," Jackson said. "I think we've put through more people in these last two cities than we've put through in the whole thing, past seasons." Lopez estimated that at one point, 15 straight contestants were given the golden ticket to Hollywood Week. "Randy's been here forever, so he was a great help and a gauge. It was like, 'OK, who's coming in here? How does this compare?' But now were comparing from city to city, so now we're kind of getting a flow," Lopez said.

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Song Stories

“Piano Man”

Billy Joel | 1973

Billy Joel’s first hit, “Piano Man,” was – ironically – an autobiographical lament about how his first album wasn’t a hit. When Cold Spring Harbor didn’t take off, Joel briefly became a lounge pianist in Los Angeles, and this song, about that experience, expressed his frustrations and fears at the time: “And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar/And say, ‘Man, what are you doing here?’” “It was all right,” Joel said later, about the gig. “I got free drinks and union scale, which was the first steady money I’d made in a long time.”

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