The seventh season of American Idol has some new changes in store for us.

As all viewers know, during the Hollywood week the contestants were allowed to play instruments for the first time ever.

Nigel Lythgoe, American Idol producer, said that they will be able to do that in the regular competition this year.

Some other changes will include the first theme week in the semifinal rounds.

For the top 24 the contestants will have to perform songs from the sixties. In a change from last year when the contestants had to use a song from a given CD or they were allowed to use any kind of song they wanted, this year they had to pick from 50 songs pre-selected.

That’s not very modern pop you would think, but Lythgoe said this move was made because of the bad choices made in the past regarding the songs and for the wish of the producers to speed the process. Also the themed songs are to make the TV show more attractive, which appeals to all ranges of viewers.

In the auditions the boys seemed to come out strong, but according to Lythgoe things might change. Referring to the upcoming sixties week, he said that “the girls have been fantastic this week.”

Also on this show there will be only four mentors due to the fact that the show wants to put more emphasis on the contestants.

This will be done in the 60-minute-long results shows, instead of 30 minutes we were used to. In the results show there will be included “Where are they now?” packages on the ex-contestants of the American Idol.

Lythgoe said: “We want you to know the contestants an awful lot better this year, so we're doing packages on them [during the results shows]. And we're also doing a package on ‘Where Are They Now?’; I want to bring back people that we have known and see what they're up to,” the New York Daily News reports.