About 15 minutes into a conference call with reporters, Randy Jackson had answered several questions about the ninth season of “American Idol,” including the guest judges who will chiming in during the audition episodes, new permanent judge Ellen DeGeneres and the showmanship of Season 8 runner-up Adam Lambert. Those were expected questions, and sprightly answered, but there was something missing.

That is, until the next question.

“I know there are a lot of questions about Ellen, and the guest judges,” the male reporter asked. “But I think there’s also some contestants and some singing?”

Which cracked “The Dawg” right up.

“I like you!” said Jackson, one of the original judges of FOX’s entertainment-palooza. “…People get a little sidetracked…There are contestants, and this is a singing competition. It’s like ‘Wait a minute! Let’s focus on what we’re judging, which is about finding the next superstar talent!’”

It’s not surprising that so much of the interest was about the hype surrounding “Idol” and not the singing, as FOX spends a lot of time focused on that hype to advertise its still mega-popular show. It’s sometimes hard to remember that at the center of it all is the dangled carrot of worldwide musical stardom, and that lives are about to be changed.

But Randy apparently hasn’t, and even though he was happy to answer questions about the nuances of Joe Jonas’ judging style (Randy was impressed) or how auditioners reacted to being judged by the powerful, seriously talented Mary J. Blige (Randy says they were a little intimidated), he seemed most enthusiastic about the questions about, you know, the contestants and the singing.

“This is (shaping up to be) a unique cast. We have some singers who have some good bonafides, good stand-in-your-shoes singers without all the props and the affectations,” says Jackson, who, if anyone remembers, was a well-known producer, musician and one-time touring member of Journey before his “Idol” fame.

“It’s gonna be different, to see how it pans out once (the auditioners) get on the show,” he continues. “Once the show gets running, sometimes they crumble under nerves and everything. There are really some good singers this season.”

One of the things that surprised Randy, he says, is that there weren’t more auditioners who were either glam rock belters, like Adam Lambert, or earnest singer/songwriter types like winner Kris Allen — “Usually, whoever comes in one or two (in the finals), you have a lot of those types of people auditioning, like it’s a signal to everyone at home like ‘Now it’s time to try out for ‘American Idol.’”

What there was this year were enough talented female winners to perhaps net “Idol” its first female winner since Jordin Sparks won in 2007, he says – “I sat there last season like ‘Where are the girls?’”

And indeed, during last season, the finalists were overwhelmingly male. By the Top 8, there were only two female contestants left. Hopefully, Randy says, things will be a little more even this year.

I have to say out pleasantly surprised to find how much Randy seems to be about the music and the show and not about the fluffiness surrounding it, since his judging is often full of nonsense hyperbole (“Dude, dawg, that was molten lava Dominos pizza cheese hawt!”) or, even worse, seemingly about the show’s agenda rather than what he’d just heard (he would gush about apparent producer favorite Danny Gokey on nights when everyone else on the panel and in the blogosphere knew he was just, as Randy says, “A-ight.”)

And he spends far too much time booing Simon, which is ridiculous and juvenile. All of this is annoying and hasn’t a thing to do with the singers (and all that time wasted antagonizing Simon when there’s a kid standing up there having sung their heart out, is pretty disrespectful of that kid), and so I was happy to find that Randy, at least in interviews, is friendly and serious about what the contestants are going through.

For instance, someone asked Randy if he was ever annoyed at the number of time-wasting auditioners who show up each year knowing that they can’t sing.

“I am growing a little impatient. I mean, they’ve watched the show for, what is it now, eight years? And somebody great always wins the show, the Top Ten are all usually great singers,” he says. “What are they seeing that I’m not seeing? We’re not on the same page here.”

He also had some interesting observations about Ellen, who replaces original judge Paula Abdul, “who’s always near and dear to my heart,” he says.

“It’s gonna be a funny, interesting season, a lot of laughs,” Randy says. “(Paula’s absence) is gonna take a little getting used to, but we’re welcoming Ellen into the fold. It’s a good look. She’s funny, charismatic, and my home girl from Louisiana…It’s been talked about a bunch, but there’s her just being a die-hard music fan, and a performer and entertainer as well. She knows about that – that’s how she’s made her career. She brings the expertise of being a hugely successful person (who can) give the layperson at home’s view, give the at-home viewer a real voice.”

How successful that is remains to be seen, because I think the at-home viewer already has a voice, and since that voice has said “We like Sanjaya,” I’m not all that impressed with them sometimes. But Randy’s got a point. I’m excited to see how this all plays out. And how often he says “Dawg” and if he goes back to wasting time, booing Simon.