Kieran, dim the lights. Thisssss…. is American Idol!

Yes, this week my “The Day After” co-host, Jeffery Austin, and I have left the Pork Chop Loading Dock — at least temporarily — to shift our focus from RuPaul’s Drag Race and deep-dive into the first two episodes of American Idol Season 19. (Sorry, ABC — we refuse to call it “American Idol Season 4.” We’d never disrespect Carrie, Bo, and Constantine like that!) Of course, when our obsessions with singing competitions and drag competitions eventually, gloriously combine on the new Paramount+ streaming service’s Queen of the Universe (clearly the show Idol‘s Ada Vox or The Voice‘s Chris “Nedra Belle” Weaver should have competed on in the first place!), we will devote entire podcasts to that, which will probably draw even fewer listeners than our recent Drag Race discussions. But for now, there is plenty to discuss Idol-wise to please the core “Day After” audience.

After addressing the elephant (or donkey, depending on which political party/Conway family member you align with) in the audition room, by discussing the intense backlash to Claudia Conway’s controversial Idol appearance, Jeffery and I get into this season’s early abundance of talent — from the Motley Crue-approved Casey Bishop to the next-level Willie Spence. And along the way, we take our usual conversational detours, to cover the unjust erasure of last year’s Idol winner Just Sam; what went wrong with The Four; what continues to go wrong with The Voice; the supreme confidence of Caleb Johnson and Taylor Hicks; why the hell Yurisbel got a Golden Ticket this week but Ace Stiles did not; who really won that catwalk-off with German Speedo model Mario Adrion; and Jeffery’s exciting next career move.

And, speaking of next career moves… how do I get to be a judge on Queen of the Universe???? Someone start a Change.org petition or something and make that happen, pretty please. That is my new neon dream.

Thanks, as always, to our American Idol pals Blake Lewis and Brandon Rogers for our funky “Day After” theme song. Next week, Jeffery and I will be back to talk more Idol, recap The Voice Season 20 premiere, and, time willing, make a quick pit stop at the Pork Chop Loading Dock for a bit of Drag Race chat. In the meantime, if you prefer the written word, check out my Drag Race, American Idol, The Voice, Songland, America’s Got Talent, Masked Singer, and Masked Dancer articles on Yahoo Entertainment here.