American Idol 2009

The eighth season of American Idol began on January 13, 2009. Auditions began July 17. This season featured fewer drawn-out semifinal episodes.[30] Mike Darnell, the president of alternative programming for Fox, stated that this season would focus more on the contestants' reality and emotional state.[31] Also, this season introduced a fourth judge on the panel: record producer, singer and songwriter Kara DioGuardi.[32]

After Fox and producers promised changes to the show, on August 4 showrunner and executive producer Nigel Lythgoe announced he was leaving "Idol" to focus on international versions of his other show So You Think You Can Dance.[33] It was also announced that Idol Gives Back would not return during the season due to the ongoing economic crisis and recession.[34] In addition, the Hollywood round was moved to the Kodak Theatre for 2009 and was also extended to two weeks.

This season featured for the first time 36 semifinalists with 12 different semifinalists performing every Tuesday. The male, female, and the next top vote getter with the highest number of America's votes made it into the top 13. This season also featured the return of the Wild Card round, last used in season 3. The judges selected eight eliminated contestants. The plan was for them to select three of those to advance to the finals based on their singing on March 5. When the time came, they put through four instead of three.[35] Another change in the Idol format, which was revealed on March 11, 2009, is that the judges are able to exercise a veto power on one eliminated contestant up until the top 5 of the competition and spare them from elimination. This is called the "Judge's Save". Executive producer Ken Warwick stated they tested it with the sixth season of Nouvelle Star.

(From Wikipedia)