A kinder, gentler American Idol kicked off on CTV last night, with the caustic Simon Cowell and erratic Paula Abdul replaced by Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler and singer Jennifer Lopez. Call it American Idol 10: Lips n Hips.

CTV reports that the 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. premiere was watched by 2.9 million viewers (BBM, 2+), up 5% from the average audience last season. The show peaked to 3.5 million and easily won its spot, with 7.7 million viewers tuning in to see some part of the show. CTV notes that last nights Idol was its biggest premiere since The Big Bang Theory opened last September to 3.1 million viewers.

The ratings helped push the post-Idol 10 p.m. slot as well, as Blue Bloods captured 1.6 million.

The two-night Idol premiere extravaganza continues tonight on A, with highlights from the auditions in New Orleans.

From Playback Online

CORRECTION: This article originally stated that American Idol increased its audience by five percent over last year’s season premiere, when it fact the audience increase was five percent over season nine’s average audience. Media in Canada regrets the error.