AI_NEWS~ Lots up in the air as 'American Idol' 9.0 starts

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/idolchatter/post/2010/01/lots-up-in-the-air-as-american-idol-90-starts/1

 

Lots up in the air as 'American Idol' 9.0 starts

 

Simon Cowell tells USA TODAY reporter Bill Keveney that nothing about his future regarding American Idol. "We are continuing to talk to Fox, but right now the focus is just about this (season), and we'll see where we end up," he says in today's Life section cover story on American Idol. "Whether I'm on it or off it, I promise you — and I really mean it — I think the show will flourish without me. I genuinely do."

A few procedural changes are afoot in Season 9. For one thing, the semi-final rounds will revert to 24 contestants rather than Season 8's 36.

"The good thing about 36, it gives America a chance to vote on more people," executive producer Frot-Coutaz says. "The downside is 36 is a lot of people to get to know. Due to the emotional engagement, you lose a little bit by doing 36. Where we came down on balance is we're going to go with the emotional connection."

And the wild-card pick is gone, but it looks like the judges' save will remain.

Frot-Coutaz -- and Randy Jackson, too -- says Season 9 so far looks to be shaping up like a good year for the girls.

"A lot of them are 16-year-olds who have been watching since they were 8," she says. "They have been dying to come to audition."

There's lots more than this in Bill's piece, so be sure to check it out.

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