The huge change coming to Australian Idol in 2024 as filming begins

The upcoming season of Australian Idol commenced filming in Sydney over the weekend with one huge change coming to the popular singing competition.

While this year’s season saw Kyle Sandilands, Amy Shark, Harry Connick Jr and Meghan Trainor feature on the judging panel, next year’s line-up looks slightly different.

Marcia Hines, who served as a judge for all seven seasons of the original series and made guest appearances on two episodes in season eight, will be returning to the panel in an official capacity alongside Kyle and Amy.

Meanwhile, it appears both Harry and Meghan have decided not to return, leaving the panel without an A-list star for at least the initial audition phases.

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Although fans have speculated this may be due to budget cuts, Yahoo Lifestyle can reveal there's a much simpler explanation.

“There are too many singing shows where the judges distract from the contestants, and this year they want the talent to be the main focus,” an insider tells us.

“Last year Kyle and Harry's feud often overshadowed the performances.”

This comes after TV Blackbox reported that US singer and Queen frontman Adam Lambert could potentially join the Australian Idol judging panel later in the season when the live performances begin.

The Whataya Want from Me hitmaker rose to fame as the runner-up on American Idol in 2009, and appeared as a judge on The X-Factor Australia in 2016 where he mentored his contestant Isaiah Firebrace to victory.

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It’s expected that Channel Seven will officially confirm the line-up of judges at their upcoming Upfront event later this month.

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