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No one ever accused Simon Cowell of being compassionate — until this year.

Just a few weeks into the new season, the resident grinch of "American Idol" (7 p.m., KASA-Channel 2) has been sugarcoating critiques of mediocre and helplessly tone-deaf wannabes.

"He's nice for three weeks, and then suddenly he'll flip and he'll turn out being (a) bloody horror again," said "Idol" executive producer Ken Warwick. "Wait until we get into this next batch, you know, the top 12."

Tonight introduces the 24 finalists — 12 men and 12 women — and the introduction of the viewers as voters. The men sing tonight, and the women step into the spotlight Wednesday.

A prime example of Cowell's benevolence was when he gave the thumbs-up to a sweet young mother who had a new lease on life after a terrible car accident, but no real shot at cracking the finalists' ranks. It was an uncharacteristic move for the blunt record exec famous for his brutal, dream-crushing honesty.

Then again, any act of Cowell kindness would seem significant after the outrage he provoked during tryouts last season with vicious attacks on an assortment of earnest, defenseless contestants, even comparing one singer to a "bush baby."

That's not to say Cowell doesn't still have moments of stinging criticism on Fox's top-rated talent circus. He spared few brave souls — including camera hams and teens with delusions of grandeur — from the cold hard truth, but he seemed to fully return to form on the final audition show.

After 25-year-old Joshua Moreland serenaded Paula Abdul with a love song he'd written, Cowell sniped: "It was a horribly over-the-top, corny, revolting audition." Moreland looked as if he'd been slapped in the face.

He was equally mean to an unassuming woman who claimed her voice was a gift from God, asking: "Does he have a return policy?"

Cowell seemed to delight in needling targets such as an abstinence-promoting high school cheerleader, whom he sent through to Hollywood, ostensibly in the interest of good TV. But he joined Abdul and Randy Jackson in consoling 16-year-old Temptress Brown after telling her — in the kindest, most gentle way ----------- that she's "not a great singer."

"If there's anybody that comes in that he can honestly see does have a problem — a genuine problem — then he will be nice to them," Warwick said. "He gets nothing to gain out of beating up on kids who are disadvantaged, genuinely having a real tough time with their life. All they need is to walk into that room and have them absolutely murder them."

So why send someone who's far from fair game into that room in the first place?

"We have to show a fair slice of the talent or not that turns up in that town," Warwick said. "And that's the only answer I can give to you."

The auditions are over. Let the real games begin.