American Idol that season, but left after just one season. On January 11, 2010, Simon Cowell left the show to pursue introducing the American version of his show "The X Factor" for 2011. Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler joined the judging panel in the tenth season, but both left after two seasons. They were replaced by three new judges, Mariah Carey, Nicki Minaj and Keith Urban, who joined Randy Jackson in the twelfth season. However both Carey and Minaj left after one season, and Randy Jackson departed the show after twelve seasons as a judge but would return as a mentor. Urban
American Idol The "American Idol" Songwriter contest was also held this season. From ten of the most popular submissions, each of the final two contestants chose a song to perform, although neither of their selections was used as the "coronation song". The winning song, "The Time of My Life", was recorded by David Cook and released on May 22, 2008. The eighth season premiered on January 13, 2009. Mike Darnell, the president of alternative programming for Fox, stated that the season would focus more on the contestants' personal life. In the first major change to the judging panel, a fourth judge, Kara