The eighth season of American Idol premiered on Tuesday, January 13, 2009, and concluded on May 20, 2009. Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, and Randy Jackson returned as judges, while Ryan Seacrest returned as host. This season introduced Kara DioGuardi as a permanent fourth judge.^[1] This was also Paula Abdul's last season as a judge.^[2] Kris Allen was announced the winner of the competition on May 20, 2009, defeating runner-up Adam Lambert after nearly 100 million votes were cast.

The eighth season saw numerous changes to the format of the show. There were 36 semifinalists instead of 24, and thirteen finalists instead of twelve: nine contestants chosen by the public and four by the judges in a Wild Card round. Another addition was the "judges' save," which allowed the judges to veto one elimination during the competition, and was used to veto Matt Giraud's elimination.

Multiple contestants from this season were signed to record deals, including Kris Allen, Adam Lambert, Danny Gokey, Allison Iraheta, Lil Rounds, Anoop Desai, and Michael Sarver.^[3]

Several changes were planned for the eighth season. Fox Entertainment president Kevin Reilly stated that Idol would feature fewer "William Hung-like" contestants and "funny auditions," and would quickly move its focus to the potential singers during the earlier stages of the competition, thus moving the season at a faster pace.^[4] Mike Darnell, president of Fox's alternative programming, said the contestants would be more emotional and that viewers would learn more about them and their pasts than they had in the previous season.^[5] Songwriter and record producer Kara DioGuardi was added as a permanent fourth judge. She had previously collaborated with Celine Dion, Hilary Duff, Britney Spears, Enrique Iglesias, Leona Lewis and Christina Aguilera, and produced several Top 40 hits. As a songwriter, she had already worked with several American Idol alumni and winners, including Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, David Archuleta, and David Cook.^[6] Meanwhile, Ken Warwick became the new executive producer, as Nigel Lythgoe had left the show to focus on So You Think You Can Dance and his new show with Simon Fuller, Superstars of Dance.^[7] Idol Gives Back was canceled for the eighth season, as the economic crisis and recession left Idol officials uncomfortable about asking financially struggling viewers to donate.^[8] The semifinals saw the biggest change as the Wild Card round returned for the first time since the third season. After voters picked three finalists from each of three groups of 12 semifinalists, the judges selected eight of the previously eliminated 27 semifinalists to return and perform on the March 5 show. They were judged by the panel, instead of a vote by the viewers, with four advancing to the finals.^[9][10] Although the finals had been billed from the beginning of the season as a set of 12 contestants, the judges announced at the last minute that they would be advancing a fourth Wild Card contestant, resulting in 13 singers advancing to the finals.

Auditions began July 17, 2008, and were held in the following cities:^[12]

Contestants were required to be between the ages of 16 and 28 on July 15, 2008, and eligible to work in the United States. Those ineligible included former contestants who had previously reached the semifinals of the first through third seasons, or the last phase of the Hollywood round of the fourth through seventh seasons, those holding recording or management contracts, or those who were not U.S. citizens or permanent residents.

The Hollywood round moved from the Orpheum Theatre to the Kodak Theatre, which had previously been used for the finales in the first and third through sixth seasons.

In the first round, the 147 contestants each sang a short solo a cappella performance of any song. The next round had the remaining 107 contestants performing in groups of three or four. The 72 contestants who survived that round performed one more solo song, this time accompanied by a band, before being narrowed down to 54. The final 54 then went to the "judges' mansion" in Los Angeles for the final results, and the top 36 were announced. Some contestants had a sing-off to determine who would enter the top 36.

The 36 contestants performed in three groups of twelve and sang songs that were Billboard Hot 100 hits. In each group, three people advanced to the next round via a public vote. After nine contestants had been chosen, the judges selected eight of the remaining 27 semifinalists to compete in the Wild Card round. Following another performance by each contender, each judge selected one contestant to advance to the final group of 13.

Color key:

• Kris Allen (born June 21, 1985, in Jacksonville, Arkansas; 23 years old at the time of the show) was from Conway, Arkansas, and auditioned in Louisville with Leon Russell's "A Song for You."
• Adam Lambert (born January 29, 1982, in Indianapolis, Indiana; 26 years old at the time of the show) was from San Diego, California, and auditioned in San Francisco with Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody."
• Danny Gokey (born April 24, 1980; 28 years old at the time of the show) was from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and auditioned in Kansas City.
• Allison Iraheta (born April 27, 1992, in Glendale, California; 16 years old at the time of the show) was from Los Angeles, California, and auditioned in San Francisco.
• Matt Giraud (born May 11, 1985, in Dearborn, Michigan; 23 years old at the time of the show) was from Kalamazoo, Michigan, and auditioned in Louisville with Gavin DeGraw's "I Don't Want to Be."
• Anoop Desai (born December 20, 1986, in Cary, North Carolina; 22 years old at the time of the show) was from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and auditioned in Kansas City.
• Lil Rounds (born October 20, 1984; 24 years old at the time of the show) was from Memphis, Tennessee, and auditioned in Kansas City with Stevie Wonder's "All I Do." Her performance of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You" in Hollywood impressed the judges.
• Scott MacIntyre (born June 22, 1985; 23 years old at the time of the show) was from Scottsdale, Arizona, and auditioned in Phoenix. He was the first legally blind person to audition for American Idol.^[17]
• Megan Joy (born September 18, 1985; 23 years old at the time of the show) was from Sandy, Utah, and auditioned in Salt Lake City with Helen Morgan's "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man."
• Michael Sarver (born March 28, 1981, in Sulphur, Louisiana; 27 years old at the time of the show) was from Jasper, Texas, and auditioned in Phoenix with Boyz II Men's "Thank You."
• Alexis Grace (born August 14, 1987; 21 years old at the time of the show) was from Memphis, Tennessee, and auditioned in Louisville with Aretha Franklin's "Dr Feelgood." She performed Aretha Franklin's "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man" and Carrie Underwood's "Before He Cheats" in Hollywood.
• Jorge Núñez (born October 1, 1987, in Cidra, Puerto Rico; 21 years old at the time of the show) was from Carolina, Puerto Rico, and auditioned in San Juan. For his audition, he sang "My Way" in Spanish and Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World" in English. He performed Jon Secada's "Angel" in Hollywood.
• Jasmine Murray (born March 14, 1992, in Columbus, Mississippi; 16 years old at the time of the show) was from Starkville, Mississippi, and auditioned in Jacksonville.

There were eleven weeks of finals with thirteen contestants competing. At least one contestant was eliminated every week based on the public's votes, although the judges could veto one elimination through the use of the "judges' save."

Color key:

Color key:

In the top 13, the expected telephone number for contestant Alexis Grace, 1-866-IDOLS-13, was not owned by American Idol, but by a company called Intimate Encounters, who used it as a phone sex line.^[20] Although host Ryan Seacrest mentioned the replacement phone number, 1-866-IDOLS-36, several times, some commentators feared that the phone number confusion could lead to Grace being inadvertently voted off the show.^[21] However, Grace was not voted off that week.

After the top 11 program, Justin Guarini, while hosting Idol Wrap on TV Guide channel, asserted that the show's group performances were being lip-synced.^[22] Soon after Guarini's assertion was aired, a spokesperson for the producers of American Idol said, "The Idols don't lip-sync, period."^[22] The following day, the same spokesperson said that "due to extensive choreography and to balance their voices with open mics against a screaming audience, the Idols do sing along to their own prerecorded vocal track during the group performances only."^[22][23] The spokesperson maintained that the performers sing their solo songs live, but their performances available to download through iTunes are recorded prior to airing.^[22]

Kris Allen's win over Adam Lambert resulted in controversy about the voting process, prompted by a claim that of the nearly 100 million votes cast,^[24] as many as "38 million" votes may have come from Arkansas, which was Allen's home state,^[25] despite the fact that the state only had a population of 2.86 million people at the time. Although the claim was later retracted,^[26] it resulted in allegations that AT&T may have influenced the results.^[27] Fox had previously denied these claims as baseless, stating that the network has no preference on who the winner might be.^[28] AT&T meanwhile said in a statement that the vote tally above was based on incorrect information and apologized by saying that "AT&T does not divulge or confirm how many votes were cast in any state."^[29] On May 27, 2009, the producers of the show stated that they "stand by the outcome" and are "absolutely certain" that "without a doubt Kris Allen is the American Idol."^[30][31][32]

The eighth season was the top show for the 2008–09 broadcast primetime season and took the top two spots for its Tuesday and Wednesday episodes. The viewers number for the Wednesday episodes averaged 25.527 million, while the Tuesday episodes averaged 24.741 million.^[34] The ratings were down from the seventh season, with the finale dropping 13% in the 18–49 demo and 9% in total viewers number.^[35]

• American Idols LIVE! Tour 2009