"American Idol" kicks off its 15th (and farewell) season tonight in the first of its two-night premier.

When the show premiered in June of 2002, no one knew that it would go on to become one of TV's biggest juggernauts and eventually change the television landscape, helping coin the phrase "Reality TV."

The show would also make household names of season one winner Kelly Clarkson and season four's Carrie Underwood along with a host of contestants like eventual Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson, Clay Aiken, Chris Daughtry and Adam Lambert, all of whom would succeed without being crowned winner.

"Idol" also made household names of its original judging panel, including Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Paula Abdu – all of whom are rumored to be returning in some capacity this season following an announcement by host Ryan Seacrest on his morning radio show last year. 

"You know, you found out the same time I did," Abdul told HNGN exclusively. "I will go on record as saying I feel the most blessed girl to have been a part of something that changed the face of television and brought families together. It was a blessing in my career, and I loved every minute of it."

While exactly how they will return remains to be seen, Jackson, who was last seen on the show in 2013 as a contestant advisor, told HNGN, "You'll see me on there somewhere; you'll be like, 'There's the dog!' It'll be fun."

"That would be awesome," admits current "Idol" judge Harry Connick Jr. (who has helmed the panel alongside Jennifer Lopez and Keith Urban since season thirteen) regarding the original judges return. "I look forward to anything. Whatever they want to do is going to be fun. I mean, the whole thing is based on entertainment, and I love to entertain. So we're going to have a good time regardless."

Fans can also expect more changes and a few surprises this season. While the show will have a shorter run, the heartfelt sentiment remains of the audition rounds remain intact. Some familiar past "Idol" faces are on hand to offer words of wisdom, and – yes – the quirky, less-talented singers we've come to love will still feature prominently.

HNGN caught up with Connick Jr. to get the lowdown on the what's being called the "farewell" season of American Idol, which premiers tonight and continues tomorrow at 8 p.m. on Fox.

HNGN: How are your making this season more fun? Will there be fewer clothes?

CONNICK: The last one I'm not opposed to (laughs). I think there are really two groups at stake. There are the Idol producers and there's us. In terms of what we can do; we picked some ridiculously good talent, really, really good. But I don't know what Idol's going to do. We keep hearing about these surprises and these rumors about people coming back. We haven't been told any of that, but I'm sure the combination of great talent, our enthusiasm and the fact that it's the last year, the fact that there's going to be a lot of surprises, it's all going to add up to a very special year.

How do you feel about "Idol" coming to an end when other similar format shows aren't?

Well, I don't think the shows that are out there now are really that similar to "Idol." "Idol" is really the only one that does it like this. There's no confusion about who the judges are and their relationship. There's a mentor. There's no confusion there. There's no other stuff. It's just a streamlined competition. Who knows what will happen? The other shows do their thing. But I think 'Idol's' not going to go away.

A little break maybe?

I wouldn't be surprised if, at some point, it came back. You notice they're not calling it the final season. They're calling it the "farewell" season.

How have your co-judges changed. Is there a difference working with them now?

Not really. I was real specific about the type of judge I wanted to be when I signed up. I thought a lot about it and before I accepted it. It's not my nature to judge people and say, 'I liked it. I didn't like it.' Here's why - I'm more of a mentor-type personality. I like working with people. This is not that job. I don't fraternize with these kids. I don't talk to them. People think that we talk backstage. When I see them backstage, I walk the other way. They look at me, and they must wonder why I'm so anti-social, but it's very specific. I have to be impartial. So I literally do not speak to them until the competition is over for them. So I was real specific on how I wanted to be a judge and I haven't changed much. It's important to be honest and spontaneous, but also have a degree of specificity there that they can learn. You can't just say, "I don't like your tattoo." You have to say why. Or if I do like the tattoo why I do. I think you have to be specific, you can't just say I didn't dig it.

How do you, as a judge, grow each season?

I think the biggest change has been the communication that I have with Jen and Keith. We picked this top 24 pretty quickly. We understand that, let's say, if I like somebody, and Jennifer and Keith don't like them that person's not going through unless I really decide to fight for them. But if it's two against one, that person is going through. And sometimes, you have to fight for somebody. If I say, "Jenny, I really think this person needs to go through," more often than not, she'll say, "Absolutely. Give him another shot." And it will happen. Until it gets down to the top 24, we have to be very specific. But we kind of know the routine now, so that part of it's gotten a little bit better.

How important is it to still find a superstar?

Well, we want to. I mean they set such a high bar in the early years of the show that we're really looking for someone that can do that. But I think we may be onto something this year. Of course, we thought that the last two years too, and there have been some great people. People who didn't even win that were good. But man, these are some talented people. So if it were going to be somebody, I think it might be somebody from this year.

When this is all over, what's the take-away for the winner?

Any experience on live television, you're going to learn something. It's hard to articulate specifically what that is because I've been around show business for a pretty long time, but it shows me that it's frustrating to watch performers for hours on end and not be able to do it myself. That's a tough thing. But I grew up around people judging me and telling me what they thought and giving me things to help me improve. So it's been a unique experience, and I've loved every minute of it. It's been pretty spectacular.

Is there a sense with you or the industry why 'Idol' has managed to do what no other show has managed to do, which is to produce a star?

I think [show creator] Simon Fuller is to be credited for that, he's extremely clear with his vision for the show, it's a competition show, it's not a game show, it's a singing show and pretty simple in its format. I used to compete a lot as a classical pianist growing up and it's the same thing. They have a couple of judges there and a ton of people, it winds down to a few and the winner wins. That's what "Idol" is; it's a simple concept and is really good with evolving with the times. People talk about the ratings not being as good, but they still get 8 or 12 million viewers a night and I don't know how many shows would turn that away. They've done pretty well.

As an artist how you feel so many recording artists have blasted "American Idol" saying, "It's terrible karaoke and ruining the music business?"

I haven't heard anyone say that it's ruining the music business; I don't know how that's possible. I have heard people criticize Idol for not... Well for taking away the dues experience for kids. But let's say you're 16 years old and audition for "Idol", let's say you only make it through the first audition day, that's a great experience. And then you go back to doing what you were doing, if you make it all the way to the finale that's 8 months of your life spent with the best most intensive boot camp training you could get. That's paying dues. It's a lot harder to do 8 months of Idol than 8 months of playing in a bar every night. I've done both, I haven't been a contestant, but I've seen what "Idol" does. We have "Idol" to thank for a lot of great talent. I'm not sure we'd know about Kelly Clarkson or Fantasia, Jennifer Hudson or Adam Lambert without it. So I don't know what they mean.

Do you think the music industry has changed and is now harder for contestants to become a Kelly Clarkson?

That is unquestionably true. Back when Kelly Clarkson was in the competition, I may be wrong, but I don't think there was a twitter, Instagram or anything. I don't think most people had a cell phone then. So it's very different. Also when Kelly Clarkson came out the record companies was in a completely different state than now. I don't know these numbers, but I would venture to say record companies were selling 10 times the records they are selling now. It's much more difficult with or without "American Idol" to make it in this business, so this is very helpful for these young folks.

Can you say anything about this season's crop – why they are different?

I think across the board they are little more ready for prime time. We saw some people last year and the year before that were really talented but would get under the bright lights and kind of wilt. That doesn't mean we were looking for these big dynamic performers, it just meant we were looking for people that felt they could come alive on stage. We put a lot of faith in potential and we didn't see that. You can't blame the kids because it takes a little longer than a season; it takes years to develop that. These performers I think across the board are more suited for what Idol is and all 3 of us thought about that. Like it's almost not fair to put somebody through, like we saw someone yesterday that didn't make it through to the top 24 that is a ridiculously talented singer. A beautiful young lady, extremely gifted and we just saw her collapse a little bit and we haven't even started yet. So where we might have put her through before in the hope that she might come out of her shell, we said this isn't the right place for you. These kids are like horses and the starting gate that are ready to run a race.