[2] Kris Allen was announced the winner of the competition on May 20, 2009, defeating runner-up Adam Lambert after nearly 100 million votes were cast.

There were 36 semifinalists instead of 24, and thirteen finalists instead of twelve: nine contestants chosen by the public and four by the judges in a Wild Card round.

Multiple contestants from this season were signed to record deals, including Kris Allen, Adam Lambert, Danny Gokey, Allison Iraheta, Lil Rounds, Anoop Desai, and Michael Sarver.

Fox Entertainment president Kevin Reilly stated that Idol would feature fewer "William Hung-like" contestants and "funny auditions," and would quickly move its focus to the potential singers during the earlier stages of the competition, thus moving the season at a faster pace.

[4] Mike Darnell, president of Fox's alternative programming, said the contestants would be more emotional and that viewers would learn more about them and their pasts than they had in the previous season.

[5] Songwriter and record producer Kara DioGuardi was added as a permanent fourth judge.

She had previously collaborated with Celine Dion, Hilary Duff, Britney Spears, Enrique Iglesias, Leona Lewis and Christina Aguilera, and produced several Top 40 hits.

[8] The semifinals saw the biggest change as the Wild Card round returned for the first time since the third season.

Another change to the Idol format was the judges' save, an element previously used in France's Nouvelle Star.

The 72 contestants who survived that round performed one more solo song, this time accompanied by a band, before being narrowed down to 54.

After nine contestants had been chosen, the judges selected eight of the remaining 27 semifinalists to compete in the Wild Card round.

Color key: In the top 13, the expected telephone number for contestant Alexis Grace, 1-866-IDOLS-13, was not owned by American Idol, but by a company called Intimate Encounters, who used it as a phone sex line.

After the top 11 program, Justin Guarini, while hosting Idol Wrap on TV Guide channel, asserted that the show's group performances were being lip-synced.

"[22] The following day, the same spokesperson said that "due to extensive choreography and to balance their voices with open mics against a screaming audience, the Idols do sing along to their own prerecorded vocal track during the group performances only.

[27] Fox had previously denied these claims as baseless, stating that the network has no preference on who the winner might be.

"[29] On May 27, 2009, the producers of the show stated that they "stand by the outcome" and are "absolutely certain" that "without a doubt Kris Allen is the American Idol.

[34] The ratings were down from the seventh season, with the finale dropping 13% in the 18–49 demo and 9% in total viewers number.