American Idol (season 8) 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 contestants, along with Ryan Seacrest as host. The season introduced Kara DioGuardi as the fourth judge on the "Idol" panel. It was also Abdul's final season as a judge. Kris Allen, a native of Conway, Arkansas, was announced the winner of the competition on May 20, 2009, defeating runner-up Adam Lambert after nearly 100 million votes. This was the second season where both of the final
Pop Idol the world, including original "Pop Idol" winner Will Young, "American Idol" winner Kelly Clarkson and "Australian Idol" winner Guy Sebastian, competed in a one-off competition, complete with a large judging panel featuring one judge from each country (Simon Cowell officially representing "American Idol", with Pete Waterman the "official" UK judge). The surprise winner was Norway's Kurt Nilsen, who proceeded to minor UK chart success. Cowell was strongly critical of "World Idol", and it is highly unlikely to be staged again. After the second series of "Pop Idol", ITV put the show on indefinite hiatus when in April 2004 judge and