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
Asian Idol Idol" performance show. The Idols performed two songs each—one in English and another in their native language. In addition to the coverage of "Asian Idol", RCTI ran a series of features called "Asian Idol Extra" between late November to mid-December 2007. Every competing country sent a judge to serve as the contestants' critics, but comments from only three judges on each performer were shown due to time constraints. Special guests in the Results Show included "American Idol" winner Taylor Hicks, "Australian Idol" winner Guy Sebastian, "Indian Idol" judge Alisha Chinai, and "Vietnam Idol" judge Siu Black. It also featured performances