Tonight’s the night. American Idol heads back into action, bringing the first, pre-Hollywood round of Clarkson and Daughtry wannabes into our rumpus rooms. But there are some questions regarding the current power of the pay-to-vote talent show. Chris Daughtry, whose band was a runner-up in 2006, told Rolling Stone that the brand has lost some luster. “I feel like it’s definitely lacking some credibility at this point. It’s in a state of decline and if they don’t do something about it, it’s probably not gonna last too much longer.”

It’s true that some of its heroes can’t sustain their label relationships due to measly sales, and it’s true that producers are scrambling to come up with new ways of keeping the hordes happy, but we’re thinking that they will be quite a few eyeballs on the screen when the unholy trio of Simon, Paula, and Dawg Randy start bantering with Seacrest this evening.

Me, I want to see this season’s crew play their own instruments and warble (or beat-box) at the same time.

What do you think? Is this year’s Idol going to compare to previous models? Come back tomorrow for our recap of tonight’s fracas, which features the Philly auditions.