American Idol (season 8) the American Idol." Season eight 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. The ratings were down from season seven, with the finale dropping 13% in the 18–49 demo and 9% in total viewers number. American Idol (season 8) The eighth season of "American Idol" premiered on January 13, 2009, and concluded on May 20, 2009. Judges Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, and Randy Jackson continued to judge the show's
Charles Jackson (judge) of the United States Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. Charles Jackson (judge) Charles Jackson (31 May 1775 – 13 December 1855) was an American jurist. He was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts. Jackson was the son of Newburyport merchant and Continental Congress Massachusetts delegate Jonathan Jackson and Hannah Tracy. He graduated from Harvard University in 1793, studied law with Chief Justice Parsons, and began to practice in 1796 at Newburyport. In 1803, he relocated to Boston, where, associated with Judge Hubbard, he had a most lucrative practice, probably more lucrative than any other in New England had been up until that time.