"American Idol" Soldiers on without Simon Cowell

The 10th season of "American Idol" aired Wednesday night and viewers got a look at new judges Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler in action. Randy Jackson is the only holdover from the Simon Cowell days.

Even though the spotlight was mostly on the new judges - Tyler is the lead singer of Aerosmith and Lopez is a performer with many hyphens - all eyes and ears ultimately rest on the contestants. Wednesday's show focused on New Jersey auditions.

American Idol Kicks Off with Judges in Spotlight

There were some gems among the performers auditioning. Victoria Huggins, who said she was 16 and three-quarters, blew the judges away. After she sang and got approving nods from Tyler, Lopez and Jackson, she said, "I'm just ready to be the 2011 American Idol."

"She's adorable," said Lopez. "I love the skirt."

Tyler, showing some of the rock star edge that made him famous, said, "Just the right amount showing."

Huggins then turned her attention to Jackson. "Yo yo, dog," she said, mimicking Jackson's catchphrase.

"At 16, she's got every trick in the book," Jackson said to Lopez and Tyler. Then he said yes and told Huggins he's see her in California.

Another notable performer was Melinda Ademi, who's parents are war refugees from Kosovo. After she sang, Tyler told the 16-year-old from Yonkers, "Your singing is straight and sweet." She got a yes from all three judges.

Though Cowell's particular brand of blunt criticism is conspicuously absent, Tyler and Lopez had a few moments of their own. In one egregious audition, they joined in with the singer, sang better than she did and then dismissed her. They also stopped a couple singers with a raised hand or a loud, "No!"

As always, there were some people at the audition who were clueless as to how terrible they were. Yoji "Pop" Asano, dressed like Michael Jackson, sang - way off-key - Miley Cyrus' "Party in the U.S.A.," complete with bad renditions of some of Michael Jackson's most famous dance moves.

"Party in the U.S.A." proved to be a popular tune for cast-offs. A montage of bad singers doing miscalculated versions of Cyrus' hit followed Asano's performance.

The show ended with host Ryan Seacrest suggesting that they did alright in New Jersey. We'll find out whether "American Idol" will live up to its previous Simon Cowell-led reality glory in the coming weeks.