How Season 11 Will Roll Out

Yesterday, FOX announced the upcoming schedule for the eleventh season of “American Idol.”

Wait. Did that just say 11 seasons? Wow…

Beginning January 18^th, we’ll see auditions every Wednesday and Thursday through February 2^nd. There will also be a special audition episode Sunday, January 22^nd at 10 p.m. after the NFC Championship Game.

The final auditions episode will be Wednesday, February 8^th with the Hollywood Round kicking off Thursday, February 9^th. We’ll get three Hollywood episodes this year as they’ll continue through Thursday, February 16^th. Then Wednesday, February 22^nd it’s the Performance Challenge as the remaining contestants sing one more time for the judges. We’ll learn the identity of the semifinalists when the “Green Mile” episode airs Thursday, February 23^rd.

The next week, the show expands to three nights as voting begins. Tuesday, February 28^th, the first group of semifinalists will perform on a special 400^th episode. Wednesday, February 29^th, the second group of semifinalists will perform and Thursday, March 1^st, we’ll have our first results show as the votes are revealed and the judges choose their wild cards.

The finalists will perform for the first time Wednesday, March 7, with the results shows beginning March 8^th.

No word yet on how many finalists there will be this year. And although nothing was said in the release, it appears the show will be following the same girls-guys formula it did last year to divide the semifinalists.

Are we ready to roll?