Season 7
American Idol returned for its seventh season in the USA on 15 January, 2008. Executive producer Nigel Lythgoe revealed small changes will be made in the show.
More attention will be paid to who the contestants are, where they come from, and why fans should care to vote for them. According to Lythgoe, Season 6 took the focus away from the contestants, their backgrounds and their talent, and it needs to get back on track.
In Season 6, relatively little was known about the contestants, which was evident by the fact that Sanjaya's hair was the biggest "personal" story of each week.
Despite cries that every season in the initial audition process the judges were cruel and mean, there will be little to no adjustments made to that part of the show.
The auditions were held in the following cities:
San Diego, California
Dallas, Texas
Omaha, Nebraska
Atlanta, Georgia
Charleston, South Carolina
Miami, Florida
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania