"Did you eat paint chips as a child?" he asked one burping contestant. "We have a higher standard here."

When one contestant started to cry as she gushed about Lopez’s influence on her life, the delicious diva quickly ran over and gave her a hug. Lopez continuously had trouble saying no to the bad contestants, but eventually warmed-up to the word by the end of the episode, when the onslaught of pitchy performances were showcased.

The auditions began in New Jersey with an unnamed female butchering Lee Ann Womack’s “I Hope You Dance,” reminding TV audiences why they tune in during the early weeks of AI. Returning contestant Rachel Zevita became the first official contestant of season 10. Zevita originally auditioned for season six, but was cut after the first round of Hollywood call-backs. Lopez even remembered Zevita from her original audition, but 25-year-old Caleb Hawley was the first contestant to wow the judging panel. "When you came out here, you were on fire," Tyler told her. "...We ought to let her in the door and water that flower, because it's gonna grow."

Tiffany Rios, 21, made quite the first impression, giving the cameras a “Jersey girl” hair tutorial and donning a bikini top with giant stars attached. "What's with the jujubes on your ooh-ooh-bes?," cracked Tyler. But Rios won the judges over after covering-up and revealing promising vocal talent.

The first day of auditions wrapped with powerful performances from two girls who barely met the show’s age requirement: North Carolina native Victoria Huggins’s pageant positivity and Kosovo-raised Melinda Ademi ended the day on a positive note.

Day two’s most memorable performance came from 25-year-old Japan native Yoji “Pop” Asano introducing a horrible yet entertaining montage of contestants failing to properly sing Miley Cyrus’ “Party in the U.S.A.”.

Despite the rocky start, the long day of auditions ended with even more 16-year-old powerhouses. Staten Island’s Brielle von Hugel delivered an uplifting performance, singing “Endless Love” by Diana Ross and Lionel Ritchie. A true rags-to-riches story, Travis Orlando from Bronx, NY serenaded the panel with “Eleanor Rigby”, by the Beatles and “I’m Yours,’” by Jason Mraz.

While it is still too early to tell how the season will pan out, the chemistry between the judges seems promising.

Karen Malmquist is a sophomore at La Salle University, and the head writer and star of In Other News, a comedy series airing in Philadelphia.