American Idol returned Wednesday night for its 13th season, bringing along two new judges and a new cast of hopefuls.

Following a recent creative overhaul, the Fox music competition is back with a fresh new feel. The new judging trio of Harry Connick Jr., Jennifer Lopez, and Keith Urban seem more focused on the talent in front of them than petty personal feuds, a task made easier by the fact that those treading the boards are now busy showing off their musical skills instead of competing for who has the saddest life story.

The premiere episode kicked off the season by awarding 25 golden tickets to lucky performers from the Boston and Austin, Texas auditions. Here is a recap of some of the performers that will be making their way to Hollywood:

Marrialle Sellars, 17, recived her golden ticket for a guitar-accompanied performance of Bruno Mars' Grenade. Troy Durden, 29, twerked his way Over the Rainbow and off to the next round despite his odd admittedly odd combination of dance and song (see video below).

Sam Woolf, 17, than passed his audition with Ed Sheeran's Lego House while Ethan Thompson, 23, snagged his ticket with Mikky Ekko's Pull Me Down.

Jillian Jensen, 21, made the jump from X-Factor to American Idol and scored points with Gavin DeGraw's Not Over You.

Kaitlyn Jackson, 15, was the first hopeful to perform her own original song, Another Angel, and the extra effort defiantly paid off as she advanced to the next round. Later, Savion Wright, 21, also use an original song to receive the judges' approval and head to the next round.

American Idol will continue with auditions tomorrow night at 8 p.m. ET on Fox.

Tags
Fox, Television, Reality TV, Music