I’ll admit it: I love “all-stars” editions of reality shows. All my old favorites, back for more!

Amazing Race All-Stars started today, and I was hooked immediately. “More than 45,000 miles, spanning 5 continents in 28 days…” woohoo!

Who I’m rooting for this season: Oswald and Danny, who are adorable and make me laugh; Uichenna and Joyce, the sweetest couple; Rob and Amber, because I’m such a Survivor-holic; and Charla and Mirna and Dustin and Kandice, because they’re both all-girl teams.

I like the look of this year’s Top 24- I have a good feeling about them. Particularly:

Blake Lewis. The beatboxer! Cute, cute, cute.
Gina Glocksen. I like her hair, and the fact that she’s been on the show before.
Chris Sligh. The one most people are rooting for this season, I think.
Leslie Hunt. I really like her voice- and she seems a bit quirky. Which is always good.
Nicholas Pedro. Cute contestant alert.
Paul Kim. Gorgeous voice.
Melinda Doolittle. Like Brandon Rogers, a former backup singer.

The last time I watched Survivor was All-Stars. I didn’t necessarily go off the show, I just never seemed to catch it on tv. Yesterday, though, I got to see the first episode of Survivor Fiji- and oh, I’ve missed Survivor, I really have. Jeff Probst is still in good form, and the whole “exile island” concept seems intriguing enough.

Jessica deBen, the fashion stylist, was first to go- probably because of her lack of knot-untying and puzzle-solving skills. Unlike past sour-grapers, though, Jessica doesn’t seem to be too bothered that she was the first off. In an interview posted on Survivor Fever, she says:

“Even though it turned out kinda whacky, it was a real fun experience.”

I liked her, though. Anyone who loves Ms. Pac-Man and Ayn Rand is good in my book.

I’m looking forward to this season- my early “ones to watch”: Yau-Man, Gary, Michelle and James (Rocky)- who for some reason reminds me of Survivor Africa’s Lex.

Carrie Underwood won Best New Artist at the Grammy Awards. She thanked God and Simon Fuller, saying “I owe everything to American Idol”. Take that, Kelly Clarkson.

Sure, I’m happy that Jennifer Hudson got the Golden Globes, but American Idol is back, and that’s all that I care about now!

I think we’re off to a good start- lots of funny moments (especially the girl who sang “If I were king of the forest…”)- and I liked that Jewel was a guest judge. I missed the guest judges.

Tomorrow’s auditions (Seattle) look like a riot as well- but as always, I enjoy watching the good singers much more than the bad ones. Let’s hope they show more of those.