American Idol Moves to Wednesdays & Thursdays

Fox announced today that American Idol will move to new nights on the new midseason schedule. After airing for as long as we remember on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, Idol will be moving its performance show to Wednesday and its results show to Thursday. Beginning with a special two-night premiere on Wednesday Jan 19 at 8/7c and Thursday 8/7c, American Idol will ring in the latest season with the all-new judge’s panel featuring Randy Jackson, Jennifer Lopez, and Steven Tyler. The 2011 American Idol schedule is listed below. The new season of Idol will feature hopefuls from Austin, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Nashville, New Orleans, San Francisco and East Rutherford, NJ.

Idol’s schedule isn’t the only thing getting a change this season. The show has decided to also switch format and eliminate the round of 24. Rather, the contestants will move from the audition stage to the Top 12 showcase. It’s still unclear whether it will be America or the judges (or a mixture of both) who will transition the contestants from Hollywood to the main stage. Also this season, Idol hopefuls will have to embark on challenges, such as making a music video, promote themselves in the entertainment landscape and develop an award-show worthy performance involving a  band and back-up singers and dancers. One can’t help but wonder if this is the producers way to make sure another Adam Lambert fiasco isn’t on their public relations desk again.

What do you think of these changes? Excited that Idol’s switching times or did you want the Tuesday/Wednesday to stick? Let us know below and join our FORUMS for discussion!

AMERICAN IDOL 2011 SCHEDULE

All times ET/PT

Wednesday, Jan. 19:
8:00-10:00 PM            AMERICAN IDOL (2-Hour Season Premiere, Part 1)

Wednesdays, beginning Jan. 26:
8:00-9:00 PM              AMERICAN IDOL

Wednesdays, beginning Feb. 16:
8:00-10:00 PM            AMERICAN IDOL (Two-Hour Episodes)

Wednesdays, beginning April 6:
8:00-9:30 PM              AMERICAN IDOL (90-Minute Episodes)

Thursdays, beginning Jan. 20:
8:00-9:00 PM              AMERICAN IDOL (Season Premiere, Part 2)