The eighth season of Akademi Fantasia premiered on 13 March 2010 and continued until 22 May 2010 on the Astro Ria television channel. The show underwent a number of changes from the seventh season, including the return Adlin Aman Ramlie as judge while Aznil Nawawi joined the judging panel following the departures of Khatijah Ibrahim and Edry Hashim.

The professional trainers for this season were announced in a press conference for media which took place in Hilton Hotel, Kuala Lumpur on 8 February 2010. In the ceremony, Norman Abdul Halim was revealed to be the Principal for this season, while Sarimah Ibrahim and Jimmy Shanley were selected as the new hosts replacing AC Mizal.^[1]

The eight season saw a new change to the format of the show. Instead of eliminating a student at the end of each concert, the elimination process was conducted in a new 30-minute segment called Debaran Akademi Fantasia, which was conducted by Sarimah Ibrahim.^[2]

The final concert was broadcast live in high definition technology, an Akademi Fantasia first, which was accessible for Astro B.yond subscribers in Channel 124 through Astro.^[3][4]

On 22 May 2010, Ahmad Shahir Zawawi from Kampar, Perak was announced the winner of the eighth season of Akademi Fantasia, defeating Siti Adira Suhaimi. He made history for being the first student to win the title after being re-entered into the competition through AFMASUK following his elimination in Week 7.^[5][6]

As many as 3.75 million votes were cast the entire season.^[7]

Auditions were held in the following cities:^[8]

• National Stadium, Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur - 9 & 10 January
• The Zon, Johor Bahru, Johor - 16 & 17 January
• Redbox Gurney, Plaza Gurney, Penang - 16 & 17 January
• Promenade Hotel, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah - 22, 23 & 24 January
• Merdeka Palace Hotel, Kuching, Sarawak - 23 & 24 January
• National Stadium, Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur - 30 & 31 January

(ages stated are at time of contest)

• Total number of students: 12
• Oldest student: Zafarina Jamhari, 28 years old
• Youngest students: Dayang Nor Anum Arjuna Aharun & Muhammad Alif Kadim, both 18 years old
• Tallest student: Muhd Firdaus Maulana Mohamed, 5'6.7" (173 cm)
• Shortest student: Siti Adira Suhaimi, 4'9" (152 cm)
• Heaviest student: Muhammed Shahril Mohd Saleh Hussein, 176 lbs (80 kg)
• Lightest student: Nadia Emilia Roselan, 94 lb (43 kg)
• Student with the most collective highest votes: Siti Adira Suhaimi, 5 times
• Student with the most consecutive highest votes: Siti Adira Suhaimi, 3 times
• Top 3's vote mean (excluding finale): Ahmad Shahir Zawawi – 3.5, Siti Adira Suhaimi - 2.22, Muhd Shahril Firdaus Eli - 4.0,
• Top 3's vote median (excluding finale): Ahmad Shahir Zawawi – 3, Siti Adira Suhaimi - 1, Muhd Shahril Firdaus Eli - 3
• Student with the most collective bottom two appearances: Zafarina Jamhari, 5 times
• Student with the most consecutive bottom two appearances: Zafarina Jamhari, 5 times
• Student with no bottom two appearances: Siti Adira Suhaimi