Changes

The winner is given the title of ''American Idol''.  

The winner is given the title of ''American Idol''.  

The original panel of judges consisted of: Randy Jackson (a music producer), singer [[Paula Abdul]], and music publisher [[Simon Cowell]]. <ref>http://www.forbes.com/lists/2006/53/P3QW.html</ref> Later the panel increased to four judges, with the addition of Kara DioGuardi. It was recently announced that Paula Abdul was no longer with the show, and that Simon Cowell would also be leaving in the near future, and a new celebrity judge, Ellen Degeneris would be added.  

The original panel of judges consisted of: Randy Jackson (a music producer), singer [[Paula Abdul]], and music publisher [[Simon Cowell]]. <ref>http://www.forbes.com/lists/2006/53/P3QW.html</ref> Later the panel increased to four judges, with the addition of Kara DioGuardi. It was recently announced that Paula Abdul was no longer with the show, and that Simon Cowell would also be leaving in the near future, and a new celebrity judge, [[Ellen DeGeneres]] would be added.  

The show runs for several weeks.  Each week viewers are given the opportunity to phone in their vote for their favorite singer during a (typically) 2-hour period following the conclusion of each show. The results are announced the following night, and each week the singer with the least number of votes leaves the show. The group of singers decreases each week, and finally the one singer who remains wins the title of American Idol.

The show runs for several weeks.  Each week viewers are given the opportunity to phone in their vote for their favorite singer during a (typically) 2-hour period following the conclusion of each show. The results are announced the following night, and each week the singer with the least number of votes leaves the show. The group of singers decreases each week, and finally the one singer who remains wins the title of American Idol.