This in from MTV News West Coast editor Katie Byrne, who was on the “Idol” scene last night, and witnessed the shocking force of nature that Fantasia has become:

The skin-tight bodysuit. The flaming red hair. The faux makeout session with Ryan Seacrest. One thing’s for sure: Fantasia made one heck of an impact during a frenetic performance of her new single “Bore Me” on last night’s “Idol.”

Being in the audience for the gale-force performance, the first thing I noticed was the stunned silence and gaping mouths — none more so than Simon Cowell’s, as evidenced in an instant-classic cutaway shot of him as soon as the Season Three Idol hit the stage with her bootylicious backup dancers.

And a funny thing happened as the madness rolled on: The squeaky-clean ArchAngels, the parents with young children, and basically the whole friggin’ crowd started eating it up. ‘Tasia has a way of not giving you the option to like or dislike her; you just take her for what she is. And we were all immediately back under her spell, as if she were singing “Summertime” for the first time.

But this wasn’t our “Summertime” songstress from ‘03. Pieces of her were there, to be sure, but it was like she was possessed by the ghost of James Brown — and I mean that in a good way. Seeing the performance makes me want to hug every prescient “Idol” voter who saw the down-and-dirty diva that this powerhouse would become.

So what did you think of Hurricane ‘Tasia? And are you as excited as I am for the storm to hit a town near you?