AMERICAN Idol have announced three changes that will impact their newest season.
The popular ABC program received 26 million votes in its finale during season 23, breaking its own record and raking in over double the engagement of the previous season.
So now off the back of that impressive audience figure, the show has decided to implement three major changes to switch things up and keep things interesting.
Firstly fans will now be able to vote through their social media platforms.
According to showrunner Megan Michaels Wolflick, she’s wanted to trial social media voting for the last five years, as it’s something no other najor entertainment program has done before.
She says: “We have to meet the audience where they are. Back in 2002 when the show began, texting was the new hot thing.
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“We also have to meet the technology where it is, as well. We want to make it as easy as possible for people to vote for their favorites, weigh in from their couch with their second screen, in real time.”
Megan believes social media voting will help to reach a younger crowd, which could tip the scale on the show’s success.
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“If we can get Gen Alpha and Gen Z to weigh in a little bit more in the easiest way possible, that’s very exciting. It could tip the scale. Trends are always different.”
Megan explained how it’s exciting for the panel to try something different and to switch out something that was part of the contestants usual expectations.
“We don’t know [how it’s going to go] until we do it. I love that there’s something exciting about it,” she says.
“Even if it’s a failure, it’s still an adrenaline rush to try something new. It did work out, though.”
Though fans of the show don’t have to feel disappointed, for Hollywood week is being switched out for something fresh – a new round in Hawai’i.
Hollywood week for many on the show is a “fish out of water” experience, blown away by somewhere so grand.
Now dubbed the Ohana Round, three episodes will be filmed at the Disney-owned Aulani resort.
Despite the changes, the panel of judges – Luke Bryan, Lionel Richie and former winner Carrie Underwood – are set to return as judges.
