American Idol returns for its 10th season Jan. 12 and not only is the judges panel different, but the rules are changing too.
Executive producer Nigel Lythgoe has announced plans to mix up the long-running Fox competition series, doing away with some of the major Idol cornerstones fans are used to. Here’s a run-down of what’s in store for the show’s new season:
PHOTOS: Idol judges, the way they were
1. Bye-bye, top 24! Don’t think this will be missed as they needed to do something different.
While everbody sits and waits to see how Lopez will go, how does Lythgoe think newbie judge Jennifer Lopez will do critiquing the Idol hopefuls? “She’s her own person, and she knows what she wants to say, and she’ll just start saying it: ‘Now what I think is this.’ And it isn’t anything trite … it’s from her heart and she means it,” Lythgoe tells Us. As for Randy Jackson? Well, “Randy is not the Randy you know,” Lythgoe says. “Randy has been in the shadows. He’s not that same person, he’s standing up.”
2. Theme Weeks will now focus on decades, rather than individual artists. Jimmy Iovine, chairman of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, will be brought in to act as Idol‘s in-house mentor. Iovine may have his hands full offering tips to the wannabes: Since the minimum age limit has been lowered to 15, more singers will advance to the Hollywood Week round than in years past.
Executive producer Nigel Lythgoe has announced plans to mix up the long-running Fox competition series, doing away with some of the major Idol cornerstones fans are used to. Here’s a run-down of what’s in store for the show’s new season:
PHOTOS: Idol judges, the way they were
1. Bye-bye, top 24! Don’t think this will be missed as they needed to do something different.
While everbody sits and waits to see how Lopez will go, how does Lythgoe think newbie judge Jennifer Lopez will do critiquing the Idol hopefuls? “She’s her own person, and she knows what she wants to say, and she’ll just start saying it: ‘Now what I think is this.’ And it isn’t anything trite … it’s from her heart and she means it,” Lythgoe tells Us. As for Randy Jackson? Well, “Randy is not the Randy you know,” Lythgoe says. “Randy has been in the shadows. He’s not that same person, he’s standing up.”
