Big Changes Await 'American Idol' in Season 10

By AOL TV Editors Posted Jan 5th 2011 02:15AM

One of America's favorite guilty pleasures, 'American Idol,' is back on TV screens come Jan. 19. While we know of the major changes going into Season 10, like Simon Cowell's exit from the judging panel along with Ellen DeGeneres and Kara DioGuardi, and that fact that 'Idol' will now be on Wednesday and Thursday nights, there are some changes in format that have been kept a closely guarded secret, until now.

The Hollywood Reporter (THR) released an exclusive article about eight changes in store for the new season, most of which were already reported or just ideas producers were tossing around. Entertainment Weekly (EW) also reported on changes, which were not known previously, and the changes are big ones.

First, the semifinals will conclude with a sudden death top 20 round. Two groups of 10 contestants will compete for the final 12 spots (or 10 or 15, depending on which "inside source" you talk to). That one round will determine the finalists.

Second, you can forget about that whole boy-girl parity in the finals -- producers aren't binding themselves to an even amount of finalists per gender. Executive producer Ken Warwick was quoted saying, "If I've got six fantastic boys and four average girls, I'm certainly not going to throw out a fantastic boy to put in another average girl, or vise versa."

As for the number of finalists, reports say there could be as many as 15 in the mix, while Warwick told EW, "We'll see what cross-section of kids we end up with in that final elimination round. It will be up to the talent that's there as to whether we go with 10 or 12."

Recent 'Idol' alumni Crystal Bowersox talked to PopEater and told us she believes that Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler won't be able to fill the big shoes left behind by Simon Cowell.

She said "Simon should come back for a guest spot and judge again for at least one show, so the next round of contestants can have that Simon experience."

Get more at TV Squad.

Tags: American Idol

Comments

(7)

Wednesday 05 January

By BTDT

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"Big Changes Await American Idol in Season 10"

Gee, and I'm going to miss them.

By Pamela

Its time for AI to say good=bye. Changing people isn't going to do the show any better. They put Ellen on and look she did not know anything about singing, just put her in there for her name.
We are getting X Factor whether we like it or not (another AI, like we really need one) so don't be greedy keeping on a losing show and trying to get another one to make it big.

By mw

Done with AI, time to hang it up and move on.

By sdg

I think when Simon left that should have been the end of this show. He knew when to end it, the network should follow in suit

By Anna Marie

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over idol entirely, not even interested in the show or the talent anymore..

By YellowRose3218

If they want to make a big change, take the show off the air.
That would be a great change.

By Sekinu2

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Yeah this show should have been over 5 years ago. The winners are not the best singers and have for the most part failures in the biz. After paula was gone that should have been it but now Simon is gone too sorry Randy dog its over please go away AI.PS take NASCAR and reality shows with you..and glee lol

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