So the show is back, and I’m watching it on the DVR on weekends. This is more out of habit than anything else; its status as The Only Broadcast TV Program Almost Everyone Watches is now long gone. In recognition of that fact, I’m now proclaiming it “the show” instead of “The Show.”

Lots of people have moved on to this show, which admittedly has reinvigorated the format, although I honestly have never latched onto it and it doesn’t seem to be carving out careers for the winners.

I skipped almost all of the prelims of the show this year, waiting until the crew got to Hollywood to watch regularly. Two things struck me: The talent of some of these 15-year-olds is scary, and the actual music is a lot more interesting than it was even a few years ago.

This is because the show focuses on current music more than it once did, so it sounds fresher (I thought The Show was trapped for a while in an Oldies Groove). It’s also because music continues to splinter and hyperdivide into so many sub-formats. I miss the unifying factor of the Top 40 days, to a degree, but I also love the way people now discover and listen to music that seems custom-made for then. And if anything, all of this subdivision actually has caused music to meld in all sorts of interesting ways, and you see that on the show. (It also confuses some of the most insufferable purists, which frankly is its own reward.)

For years, I watched the show (when it was The Show) for the cheesiness of it, for the fake drama and meltdowns and over-the-top ridiculousness of it all. Occasionally a great performer would emerge, too. Now it’s not very cheesy and the meltdowns are fewer and the judges are all genuinely talented, longtime music vets who have pretty much seen it all. It’s just a show now, but it is still entertaining in its own way, and I guess I’ll go along for the ride again.