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Simon Cowell's critical eye goes beyond American Idol singers. He says this season's first live outing was "a bit flat."

Last Tuesday's show "didn't quite gel. There were some audio issues. The lighting felt too light, too daytime," the Idol judge says. "We know what went wrong and what we're going to do to fix it."

Last week's singers don't get off the hook, either. Cowell praised some performers, calling Alexis Grace a welcome "dark horse," but says "there are better singers to come" as 12 compete again tonight (Fox, 8 ET/PT) and Tuesday.

Overall, Cowell is happy with Season 8, saying changes to the semifinal structure, including the return of judges' wild-card picks, will yield better finalists. In next Thursday's wild-card round, the judges bring back eight or nine singers - not necessarily just from the semifinals - and pick three to round out the Top 12. "I think when we put the 12 together, there will be more personality, more interest and just more diversity," says Cowell, who wouldn't specify standouts.

Last Tuesday's show (25.4 million viewers) was down 3.6 million from the first semifinal performance in strike-affected 2008. Wednesday's results show (24.8 million) beat the same show from 2008, although the latter was on a Thursday, a weaker night for Idol.

TV's top-rated show is down 8% this season, not surprising at a time when prime-time viewing is down. It remains a dominant No. 1 in advertiser-coveted young adults. Still, some time-slot competitors, such as CBS' NCIS and NBC's Biggest Loser, have fared well against it. Loser is up 20% in viewers over last year.

The new structure, which eliminates a much higher percentage of semifinalists each week, raises the stakes and tension, Fox reality chief Mike Darnell says. He says that helped increase last week's vote tally by 10 million over last year.

Darnell also likes the return of the wild card, which saved Clay Aiken and Jennifer Hudson in the past. Besides top singers, he promises "something big" for the finals.

Cowell says new judge Kara DioGuardi is doing fine, but live shows are a bigger challenge. "(She'll) find it difficult compared to the auditions because there's no editing. What you say is what you say."

Speaking of speaking, the addition of a fourth judge meant last week's critiques went on too long. "I'd almost fallen asleep at one point because it was taking so long to get to me," he says. "So we're going to have to speed things up a little bit."

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