American Idol began a new season. Does anyone care? I'm waiting for Vote For The Worst campaign to start again so we can find the next Sanjaya!

Here's some interesting stories about season seven contestants:

The biggest offender by far is Irish singer Carly Hennessy. During season 5, Carly was pimped by Simon Cowell before the show even started as “the only person I can genuinely remember from the auditions.” Carly was fortunately dropped from the ranks for not having a visa. Nigel Lythgoe, one of the obnoxious executive producers of Idol, is already back to hinting about her even though she’s never said a word on the show. So why is Carly getting so much hype, and what happened in her past?

Carly Hennessy is the epitome of a record industry failure. She was brought to America by MCA Records and recorded a bland pop album [that was pushed with a $2 million publicity and marketing campaign] that sold only 300 copies (that’s not a typo). Then she faded into obscurity. Now, a mastermind behind the scenes at Idol has decided that instead of just signing Carly to an Idol-affiliated record label, she should be pushed down America’s throats as a contestant on American Idol. Back with brand new tattoos and an "edgier" sound, the record execs connected to Idol are probably hoping that Carly will finally catch on when she’s featured on the #1 TV show in the country. To make things even messier, one of the songwriters for Carly's album also wrote songs for the debut albums of Kelly Clarkson, Clay Aiken, and Kimberley Locke. There's a definite Idol connection here, folks.

The sad part is that Carly is not an exception this year. There are many, many more contestants who are supposedly in the top 50 and have failed careers. Michael Johns is another notable contestant. An Australian import, he was formerly the lead singer of a band called The Rising and changed his name from Michael Lee. Michael was signed to Maverick Records and was supposed to release a debut album in 2003 after allegedly screwing over The Rising by leaving the band.

Kristy Lee Cook was signed to Arista Nashville, had Britney Spears lined up to appear in her debut video in 2001, and is managed by Marty Rendleman, who previously managed Leann Rimes. She also apparently loves to alienate most of America by singing in front of a Confederate flag in a video.

You can read more here...............