After what’s been a string of enjoyable “American Idol” episodes to open Season 7, maybe the producers just wanted to viewers to talk about tonight’s Atlanta auditions for the wrong reasons.

If so, mission accomplished.

We may have found this year’s Sanjaya Malakar in 18-year-old high school drop-out Josiah Leming (right), whose Hollywood ticket is the most disgraceful of the season.

I won’t speak ill of high-school drop-outs in music; Beck is a musical genius with the voice to match. Leming? Not so much.

The judges, perhaps held at gunpoint by producers off-camera, were fixated on the supposed British accent used in song by the teen from Morristown, Tenn., and somehow ignored his horrendous vibrato and tone. So allow me to be insulted as a viewer when Paula Abdul said the shouty singer was “holding back,” when Randy Jackson could only describe him as “interesting,” and when Simon Cowell’s only compliment was the vote tally of “three yeses.”

Let’s just say Leming wasn’t the only one screaming “What?!” as cameras documented his celebrating his golden ticket. The only more inexplicable “Idol”-related event this year was the Adbul-Jackson “performance” from Sunday’s Super Bowl pregame show. I’m guessing Leming’s story is all a front to make fellow Hollywood-bound contestant Drew Poppelreiter look like a champ by comparison.

VoteForTheWorst.com, you’ve found your candidate if (when?) Leming makes the Top 24.

More unsettling contestants and bizarro decisions after the break.

Let the record show that I liked the personalities of Asia’h Epperson (left) and Amanda Overmyer (right). But no matter how much I cringed over the nasal and breathy tone of Epperson’s audition and the mediocre rebel rock of Overmyer’s, Idol’s clearly got stories to tell at the expense of more vocally talented contestants.

Epperson, I’m sorry to say, auditioned two days after her father’s death. And the one-note Overmyer fills the requisite biker/rocker chick niche the show somehow feels the need to fill despite her inevitable Amy Adams/Gina Glocksen-style exit early in the voting process. I doubt either will change my mind in the coming weeks.

I’ll try to keep my comments about Eva Miller (left) and Nathan Hite (right) brief, because I’d rather not give them more press than they deserve. From her flails to her fake fall, Miller’s act was called out by Cowell for being a joke. With a mood swinging faster than her arms, Miller started moping and copped a hug from Cowell, only to remind herself to get angry for the cameras outside the conference room. Boo.

Although I’ll admit to laughing at the checklist of Simon clichés rattled off by Hite—a 16-year-old ninth-grade “repeater”—his playful banter with Cowell turned nasty and cold once Hite mocked him for managing “boy bands” and blew him a kiss on the way out the door. He couldn’t leave fast enough for me. Last year, Top 12 contestant Chris Sligh never really recovered after similar comments. But at least Sligh was likable and talented.

So how many featured contestants actually had good voices from tonight’s auditions? I say two. But the personalities of Brooke Helvie (left) and Alexandrea Lushington are questionable, perhaps because Helvie has too much personality and we have no proof of any from Lushington.

Like Cowell, I might have been seeking schadenfreude once Brooke Helvie (left) started bragging about her life as a pageant winner. But as much as I resisted—and I did—she has an amazing voice. Really, one of the best among the featured contestants this season. I even thought the judges were too slow to give her credit for it, perhaps blinded by their first impressions.

Tough to picture her winning the whole thing, though. Cowell, who liked her voice, said Helvie was “possibly the most annoying person I have ever seen in my entire life.” I wouldn’t go that far, but I will note that this season, Hollywood-bound contestants with previous record deals have been downright humble compared to Helvie.

It’s probably not a good sign when your adorable grandmother is more notable than the vocal quality of your audition. That said, Lushington had style and, far more important, a beautiful voice … for a 16-year-old. Let’s remember that that was the age disclaimer too often used to justify Jordin Sparks’ rise to the top of Season 6—and her career launch hasn’t exactly mirrored the starts of Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood or Chris Daughtry.

In short, I’m confident that none of the featured contestants from Atlanta will win “American Idol.” In fact, I’d be downright shocked if any cracked the top six. So disappointing for a metro area whose amazing music legacy ranges from R.E.M. and the B-52’s to OutKast and Ludacris.

Was it just me? Or did tonight’s episode leave you feeling less than peachy? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.

(Photos courtesy of AmericanIdol.com/Fox. Snarky photo captions courtesy of me.)