American Idol changes are paving the way for the upcoming season of the hit singing competition. According to the latest reports, Idol is parting ways with long-time sponsor Coca-Cola along with AT&T, and in addition, the show is being trimmed down to one night a week.
The show has been known for the judges sipping their beverages using Coke cups since the beginning of the singing competition in 2001. Idol returns in January 2015 for its fourteenth season and the only remaining sponsor the show will retain is Ford. It hasn’t been revealed if another soft drink giant will take Coke’s place on the judge’s table.
A rep for Coca-Cola revealed, “I can confirm that Coca-Cola and Fox mutually decided to end our 13-year American Idol partnership. After 13 years, we feel it is the right time for the Coca-Cola brand to venture into new spaces and pursue other opportunities to connect with teens and leverage music as a passion point.”
The show’s host Ryan Seacrest offered up spoilers for the upcoming season. He said that the show is following in the footsteps of “Dancing With The Stars” in that they are dropping a second weekly broadcast showing the results. The show will be whittled down to one night a week, thus combining the performance episode with the results show.
American Idol’s changes aren’t affecting who will be returning as judges on the hit show. Jennifer Lopez, Harry Connick, Jr. and Keith Urban will all be returning for the fourteenth season. Former judge Randy Jackson bailed on the show following his mentoring capacity in season 13. Despite that, the show has left the door open to his eventual return should they need him.
American Idol’s changes are seemingly permanent as the show is bringing in lower amounts of viewers with every season. Idol’s season fourteen kicks off on January 7, 2015 at 8PM EST with a two-night premiere on Fox.
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