KUALA LUMPUR: It’s a case of something old, something new, something borrowed and something due for  season eight of popular reality TV show, Akademi Fantasia (AF8).

At last night's announcement on the line-up of hosts, principal and faculty for the show, it was a mix of familar faces and newcomers, a new concept "borrowing" from established schematics of another show and host Sarimah Ibrahim finally getting to be in the spotlight after two years waiting in the wings.

As predicted by The Malay Mail since December, KRU Studios president and  chief executive officer Norman Abdul Halim, 37, became the youngest candidate to fill the spot of principal.

Joining seasoned campaigners Siti Hajar (technical vocals — her sixth season), Linda Jasmine (dance — seventh), Adnan Abu Hassan (vocal performance — fifth) and Fatimah Abu Bakar (English and resident counsellor — seventh), Norman will have another newcomer to the Akademi in actor Que Haidar as the drama coach.

The show, meanwhile, has decided to 'borrow' a familar concept from the Idol series.

After seven years, the programme has opted for a change that may or may not sit well with fans.

While the weekly Diari remains the same, the show will now be a weeklong affair with the concert remaining
on Saturdays, but the results only to be announced on Sunday in Debaran AF.

And as for the hosts, fans can rejoice that crowd-pleaser Sarimah finally gets to be able to move beyond her daily Diari AF slot to the more prominent Konsert AF stage.

The move, however, saw a compromise of sorts in Astro’s attempt to rejuvenate the programme, by pairing her up with Jimmy Shanley as the new co-hosts.

While both will co-host the weekly concerts, Sarimah will be responsible for the Debaran AF8 while Jimmy will be the new face of Diari AF8.

Norman, who is known as a savvy businessman, said marketing the talents was his aim.

“We need to identify their strengths and to help them to discover themselves. “There is always a delicate balance between commercial appeal and artistic credibility.”

Promising to take time off until June, the busy entrepreneur and head of the KRU empire urged everyone not to  look down on new talents from the show, and  opposed the tag of artis mee segera or instant noodles acts for their short shelflife.

On the revamped show format, Astro Ria channel manager Azlin Reza Azmi said the "new" format was to allow  fans to enjoy the concert, mull over it and make their choice.

“It’s time for a difference after seven years.”

As for Sarimah, fresh off her successful stint with The Biggest Loser Asia, Astro Entertainment executive  director Zainir Aminullah refused to disclose the sum paid to acquire her but echoed Azlin’s explanation that her shared "glory" onstage for the Konsert was to add colour to the show.