While ITV1 continues to struggle with its output, its digital sister appears to go from strength to strength with its eclectic mix of high quality imports, lifestyle shows and selected repeats. This year's Idol continues tomorrow with "Grand Ole Opry" week, which has of course already aired over in the US. Click through for a sneak preview of how the first few contestants fared. You'll be surprised at who leads the pack this week!

Joint favourite Adam Lambert, who blew the judges away last week with his rendition of Black or White, received harsh words from Cowell, who dismissed his performance of Ring of Fire by Johnny Cash, with a brusque "What the hell was that?" followed by a bit of insult to go along with the injury: "indulgent rubbish" and "really really horrific" and closing with the advice: "never to go to Nashville."

Fellow judge Randy Jackson took a different line, calling Adam's performance "current, young, fresh and hot." Clearly four areas Simon's not overly familiar with.

Cowell also criticised the performance of oil rig worker Michael Sarver, who sang Garth Brooks' song Ain't Goin' Down Till the Sun Comes Up, telling him he "couldn't understand a single word," and that it was "clumsy." In the end the man we love to hate gave Michael a score of "1.2 out of 10."

Soul singer Lil Rounds fared no better, with Cowell trotting out his famous "wedding singer" quote. Only this time, Rounds' performance was, allegedly, like "a wedding song that was forced upon her."

Ditching her surname (in an effort to sound more "current" presumably - not to mention young, fresh and hot) Megan Joy was the first to impress the judges despite having struggled with the flu all week, but it was a stunning performance of Always On My Mind by Willie Nelson from Anoop Desai that proved the real surprise of the first show of the week. After last week telling him that he didn't deserve his spot in the final 13, Cowell performed a move known as the Judges' U-turn and told Anoop he had gone from "zero to hero."

But if they'd thought Anoop was on form, they ain't heard nothing yet, as Matt Giraud took the stage with a Carrie Underwood song and earned the biggest praise of the night from the judges. Cowell told him it was a "terrific performance" before comparing him to Michael Buble and labelling him as "one of the most underrated singers in the competition." Kara DioGuardi told him she "thought he was an artist already," while Paula Abdul told him that the performance pierced her heart.

American Idol: ITV2, Thursday 19 March, 8pm (1 hour)
American Idol: ITV2, Friday 20 March, 9pm (2 hours)