It’s time to shake things up a little for the 8th season of American Idol – and in a good way. First, the show is going to focus more on the Hollywood round (adding a second week), plus you can expect 36 semi-finalists and the return of the wild-cards!

Idol also gets a new judge with Kara DioGuardi to balance out Paula Abdul’s craziness and potentially less of those dreadful American Idol wannabe auditions by including an extra Hollywood week.

36 hopefuls will be selected for the semi-finals and we’ll see the wild-card pics make a comeback from season 3 – giving three singers a second chance at the finals.