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For the TV world, the second season starts Jan. 16.
That's when "American Idol" returns. Many habits will change; some shows will crumble.
Along the way, the show keeps expanding. "After Carrie Underwood, we had a lot more country singers trying out," Orland said.
"After Bo (Bice) and Constantine (Maroulis), we had more rock singers."
Last year's auditions brought a few clear-cut leaders, Orland said.
"When Mandisa sang, I remember being blown away."
And it brought some long shots.
"I thought, 'Who is that gray-haired guy with the funny way of moving around?'" he said.
The gray-haired guy, Taylor Hicks, won; Mandisa was bounced fairly early in the finals.
Even that wasn't as big a surprise as the moment Chris Daughtry was dumped at No. 4.
"I definitely was shocked and upset," Orland said.
Such surprises keep people watching -- and keep people arguing about the intangibles.
"Someone doesn't like your outfit that week and you're in trouble," Orland said.
The music people don't have nearly that control, Orland said.
"We are not allowed to help them pick their songs ... What we do is give them a huge list of possibilities."
Well, maybe semi-huge; each song must still be cleared with the rights-holder.
"It was really hard to get songs cleared," recalled Ace Young, one of last year's finalists.Some contestants know exactly what they want to sing, Orland said.
Last season, Hicks and Daughtry were both like that. Others make shaky choices. One example was when Kellie Pickler chose "Suds in the Bucket," a country song that doesn't really show off the singer.
"We just bite our teeth and see what happens," he said. "She made it through that week."
The original assumption was that the show would pick the cutest, most pop-idol people. At first, judge Simon Cowell was openly dismissing any overweight, Mandisa-sized contestants.
He kept being proved wrong. Many of the winners -- Ruben Studdard, Fantasia, Taylor Hicks -- defy the cutesy pop images.
The show keeps changing and surprising, but Cowell remains its dominant force.
"He's becoming grumpier," host Ryan Seacrest said.
Seacrest predicts strong in-fighting among some contestants.
"You will see some of the most aggressive reactions," he said.
Then again, he and others also predicted that last year. Instead, finalists soon bonded; "it becomes a family thing," Orland said.
They seemed to root for each other.
And then the funny, gray-haired guy won.