The eighth season of Akademi Fantasia premiered on 13 March 2010 and continued until 22 May 2010 on the Astro Ria television channel. The show underwent a number of changes from the seventh season, including the return Adlin Aman Ramlie as judge while Aznil Nawawi joined the judging panel following the departures of Khatijah Ibrahim and Edry Hashim.
The professional trainers for this season were announced in a press conference for media which took place in Hilton Hotel, Kuala Lumpur on 8 February 2010. In the ceremony, Norman Abdul Halim was revealed to be the Principal for this season, while Sarimah Ibrahim and Jimmy Shanley were selected as the new hosts replacing AC Mizal.
The eight season saw a new change to the format of the show. Instead of eliminating a student at the end of each concert, the elimination process was conducted in a new 30-minute segment called Debaran Akademi Fantasia, which was conducted by Sarimah Ibrahim.
The final concert was broadcast live in high definition technology, an Akademi Fantasia first, which was accessible for Astro B.yond subscribers in Channel 124 through Astro.
On 22 May 2010, Ahmad Shahir Zawawi from Kampar, Perak was announced the winner of the eighth season of Akademi Fantasia, defeating Siti Adira Suhaimi. He made history for being the first student to win the title after being re-entered into the competition through AFMASUK following his elimination in Week 7.
As many as 3.75 million votes were cast the entire season.
Auditions
Auditions were held in the following cities:
National Stadium, Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur - 9 & 10 January
The Zon, Johor Bahru, Johor - 16 & 17 January
Redbox Gurney, Plaza Gurney, Penang - 16 & 17 January
Promenade Hotel, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah - 22, 23 & 24 January
Merdeka Palace Hotel, Kuching, Sarawak - 23 & 24 January
National Stadium, Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur - 30 & 31 January
List of songs during auditions
Contestants were required to be between the ages of 18 and 45, and are Malaysian and Singaporean citizens who are not embedded with recording or management contracts.
Concert summaries
Tirai Concert
Original Airdate: 13 March 2010
Week 1
Original Airdate: 20 March 2010
Week 2
Original Airdate: 27 March 2010
Week 3
Original Airdate: 3 April 2010
Week 4
Original Airdate: 10 April 2010
Week 5
Original Airdate: 17 April 2010
Week 6
Original Airdate: 24 April 2010
Week 7
Original Airdate: 1 May 2010
Week 8
Original Airdate: 8 May 2010
Week 9
Original Airdate: 15 May 2010
Week 10
Original Airdate: 22 May 2010
Students
(ages stated are at time of contest)
Summaries
Elimination chart
The student won the competition
The student was the runner-up
The student was the second runner-up
The students were finalists
The student was the original eliminee but was saved
The student was re-entered into the competition through AFMASUK
The student was eliminated
In week 5, there was no elimination. The accumulated votes were forwarded to the following week.
In week 8, Shahir was re-entered into the competition after scoring the highest votes through AFMASUK.
Cast members
Hosts
Jimmy Shanley - Host of concert of Akademi Fantasia and Diari Akademi Fantasia
Sarimah Ibrahim - Host of concert of Akademi Fantasia and Debaran Akademi Fantasia
Professional trainers
Norman Abdul Halim - Principal
Adnan Abu Hassan - Vocal Technical
Siti Hajar Ismail - Vocal Presentation
Linda Jasmine - Choreographer
Fatimah Abu Bakar - English Language Consultant & Counsellor
Que Haidar - Drama & Acting
Judges
Adlin Aman Ramlie
Aznil Nawawi
Season statistics
Total number of students: 12
Oldest student: Zafarina Jamhari, 28 years old
Youngest students: Dayang Nor Anum Arjuna Aharun & Muhammad Alif Kadim, both 18 years old