As he prepares for a new season of Canadian Idol, judge Zack Werner is lashing out at the show's American parent.

He says Paula Abdul, Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson don't know a thing about finding unique talent and this season's finalists proved that.

"No matter what kind of props anybody wants to give Melinda Doolittle when it came down to it in America, they had a Justin Timberlake knock-off, who looks like he's 40, and Jordin Sparks who is just a professional pageant kid ... who knows so little about artistry," says the Canadian Idol judge.

"And the fact that that Blake (Lewis) kid had the audacity to use the word artist in describing what his music is, is ridiculous -- it's just generic, knock-off, imitative crap. Our show is about anything except that."

Werner says Canadian Idol is much more focused on finding one-of-a-kind artists.

And with the inclusion of instruments for the fifth season, the show has attracted more musicians, as compared to singers, than ever.

"We are far, far more about people strutting out their own unique artistic interpretations of songs, which they are able to do a lot more now.

"Because a lot of these guys are players, they know how the structure of songs work and how to do an arrangement that really fits their own vibe."

On Tuesday, the new cycle of Canadian Idol will begin the same way as always -- with the best of the best and the worst of the worst auditions.

Werner says, if he had to rate the cities, Winnipeg, which was so strong last year, was a bit disappointing, while Toronto was the most improved. But all, he says, had their share of bad performers.

"We saw spectacular train wrecks everywhere. There are some outstandingly, tragically horrible people from every city," says Werner, adding the instruments did not necessarily help.

"There are people who are just as delusional about the fact they can play the guitar as about the fact they can sing."

Werner, who predicts about 50% of the Top 22 are musicians as well as singers, doesn't believe those who can play instruments will stand a better shot at winning.

"I don't know that the public really takes those things into consideration because it's more of a visual medium than anything else. It doesn't make you sing better because you play the guitar.

"It's a star competition more than a singing competition or more than a musician competition, so who the public takes a shine to, I don't think, is in anyway going to be dictated by whether or not they can play an instrument."

The fifth season of Canadian Idol premieres Tuesday on CTV.