Aging 'Idol' gets new wrinkles

With the eighth season of "American Idol" a month away, producers are offering hints of what looks to be the biggest shake-up in its format since the show's early seasons.

Executive Producer Ken Warwick has confirmed some rumors, knocked down a few others and urged patience on some more.

Warwick said the biggest challenge in making this season work stems from the show having been on the air for so long.

"What do you change?" he said. "If you are any good at your job, after the third season you've honed it as well as you know how, really. There's the question of how do you change it up without destroying what you've got?

"In truth, the biggest problem will always be, from now on, keeping it fresh."

A sampling of Warwick's insights:

• He said the chemistry has been "great" with new judge Kara DioGuardi, suggesting that she provides a strong foil to Simon Cowell's domination of the judging panel. "It's good, because the girls can gang up on Simon a bit and he doesn't always get his own way."
• The open auditions will run for three weeks, followed by two Hollywood weeks during which the big group of contestants is whittled to the semifinals.

"It was brilliant this year," Warwick said. "It always does very well in the ratings. People love that 'I've made it,' 'almost made it' and 'not quite.' They love the emotion that is encapsulated in that part of the show."

• In perhaps the biggest concrete change, apart from the addition of a fourth judge, Warwick confirmed that 36 contestants will emerge from the second Hollywood week going on to the semifinals, rather than the usual 24.
• There will be new twists in how the contestants are winnowed in Hollywood and in the Top 36 rounds, possibly including a wild-card round.
• "There are going to be mentors, yes," Warwick said. "There might not be as many as there have been in the past. I'm going for the best I can get. It's a wish list at the moment, and that's why we can't say anything about it."

He said the mentors will probably skew slightly younger, but not too young. "It's no good putting in a one-hit-wonder kid that might be the hottest thing on Earth now, because what are they going to say? They are lucky enough to be there themselves."

• "Idol" will not be "giving back" this year. The telethon episode that has been a part of the lineup for two seasons will be sidelined.

Warwick blamed the faltering economy, which he said makes it "a bit crass to ask people to delve into pockets that are already stretched to heck and back just to keep their mortgage going." He said it also puts a strain on the crew to produce not just two weekly shows but a "Gives Back" midseason extravaganza as well as the spectacle of the finale.

"It would be fair to say that it's about half a dozen creative people that make 'Idol,' " Warwick said. "They do all the editing, all the shooting, they've got assistants and things, but it's a very small creative team. When we stretch them to do an 'Idol Gives Back' as well as keep the mainline show on week after week, it kills us."

• Asked whether the suicide of a former contestant had affected how the audition rounds would be played, Warwick said, "Not at all."
• As to the rumors that this season will include more backstage footage of the contestants, Warwick said, "There is going to be slightly more reality."

Pressed on whether he will include catfights and the like from the dressing room, he continued, "I'll put it this way: If it's there, then, yes, we will show it."