It’s been almost two months since the latest season of “American Idol” ended.

That’s a long time for those who need a weekly fix of watching aspiring young singers compete.

Luckily for them, a solution is on the horizon.

The Bay Area Teen Idol competition will begin in earnest Thursday when the first eliminations are announced.

The singing contest kicked off last week with an opening round in which all 17 competitors advanced to this week’s round. The event will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Egyptian Theatre in Coos Bay.

Contest coordinator Stephanie Kilmer said the competition does not reveal in advance how many contestants will be eliminated any week, but there are only seven contest events before the finals, when only three contestants will remain. To get from 17 to three in that time, the contest will need to eliminate an average of two contestants per week — likely three some weeks and one others.

But no one really leaves Teen Idol. Among the quirks of the competition, eliminated contestants are asked to return each week to perform in group numbers. The event is designed to give young people something to do during the summer without drugs, alcohol or tobacco, and weekly attendance is expected.

While the event format remains the same, there is a slight change in the organization of the judging panel. Instead of three regular judges or two regular judges plus a guest judge, as past years have featured, there will be a rotating panel of judges.

Heading the panel is Kim Handsaker, a local band manager and former Opry director who has judged Teen Idol for several years. She will be joined each week by two others from the following: Barbara Bates, a local musical theater performer who is preparing to sing at Carnegie Hall; Mike Campbell, who has sung professionally in a quartet and in the Air Force’s Tops in Blue; Kevin Freeman, a member of the Young Bucs; Dennis Lindall, a vocal and instrumental teacher for 42 years; and Kevin Stufflebean, the contest’s original organizer.

Bay Area Teen Idol is sponsored by Bay Area Together for Youth, the Coos County Commission on Children and Families, the Department of Human Services and KDOCK Radio.