Everything about American Idol totally explained
American Idol is an
American reality-competition show airing on
Fox. It debuted on
June 11,
2002, and it has since become the most popular show on American television. Part of the
Idol franchise, it originated from the
reality program Pop Idol created by
British entertainment executive
Simon Fuller, which was first aired in
2001 in the
United Kingdom.
The program seeks to discover the best singer in the country through a series of nationwide auditions. The outcomes of the later stages of this competition are determined by public voting by phone. The format features three judges who give critiques of the contestants' performances in order to facilitate the voting:
record producer Randy Jackson;
pop singer and
choreographer Paula Abdul; and music executive
Simon Cowell. The show is hosted by former children's game show emcee and television personality
Ryan Seacrest; comedian
Brian Dunkleman cohosted with Seacrest in season one. The American Idol band is led by
Rickey Minor.
The show usually airs on Tuesday and Wednesday nights in the US and Thursday and Friday nights in the UK (two days after the US airing). In its seven seasons, its winners have been
Kelly Clarkson,
Ruben Studdard,
Fantasia Barrino,
Carrie Underwood,
Taylor Hicks,
Jordin Sparks and
David Cook. Hicks was the oldest winner at 29, Sparks the youngest at just 17.
Winners
Rules
Contestants must be singers and are not permitted to have any current record deals or talent management agreements (though they may have had one at some point in the past). They must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents eligible to work full-time and, for the first three seasons, had to be 16 to 24 years of age on
October 19 of the year of audition. Since the fourth season, the upper age limit was raised to 28 with an earlier cutoff date,
August 4, to attract more mature and diverse contestants.
Others who are ineligible to compete include those who have made it into the top 40 contestants in past seasons (or the top 50 of season 7), and people employed by affiliates of
Fox,
Fremantle or
19 Entertainment (including sponsors, subsidiaries and parent companies). Even if a person is eligible, he or she may not have a chance to audition or be seen because the show can see only a limited number of people in each city.
Auditioning contestants must bring with them to the audition a valid proof of age and work eligibility, such as a
birth certificate and
driver's license or a
passport, and minors under the age of 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. All auditioning contestants are required to print out a copy of the release form (available on the show's web site) to fill out and turn in at the audition in order to grant permission to be seen and heard by the producers' cameras. Contestants who were found to have given false information are disqualified. It should be noted that after auditioning - regardless of the outcome (even if eliminated on the very first cut) - contestants are under contract with the show until three months after the final episode.
In an interview with
Anderson Cooper on the
CBS TV current affairs show
60 Minutes on
March 17,
2007 (repeated in extended format on
CNN's
AC 360 program on
March 27, 2007), judge Simon Cowell openly declared that the underlying primary purpose of the Idol franchise (including
American Idol) was for
19 Entertainment (the parent corporation that produces the Idol TV shows) to discover new singing talent that can be signed to recording agreements that the corporation maintains with a major record company (
Sony/BMG), and benefit from the record sales of contestants and winners who are exposed to the worldwide marketplace through the TV shows. Cowell indicated that revenue from recordings by performers associated with the Idol franchise has already exceeded US $100 million.
19 Entertainment also retains exclusive right of refusal for management and merchandising of any contestant. Exercising management rights is at the sole discretion of 19 Entertainment; in the alternative the contestant performer is free to pursue his or her own career.
Audition sites
| Season |
Year |
City |
Venue |
Number of Hollywood Qualifiers |
| 1 |
Spring 2002 |
New York, New York |
|
|
| Chicago, Illinois |
|
23 |
| Dallas, Texas |
|
11 |
| Miami, Florida |
Fontainbleau Hilton Hotel |
6 |
| Atlanta, Georgia |
AmericasMart |
|
| Seattle, Washington |
Hyatt Regency Hotel |
17 |
| 2 |
Fall 2002 |
New York, New York |
Regent Wall Street Hotel |
|
| Los Angeles, California |
Rose Bowl |
44 |
| Miami, Florida |
Fontainbleau Hilton Hotel |
|
| Detroit, Michigan |
Athneum Suites Hotel |
|
| Atlanta, Georgia |
AmericasMart |
42 |
| Nashville, Tennessee |
Gaylord Entertainment Center |
29 |
| Austin, Texas |
Doubletree Hotel |
36 |
| 3 |
Fall 2003 |
New York, New York |
Jacob Javits Convention Center |
26 |
| Los Angeles, California |
Rose Bowl |
24 |
| San Francisco, California |
Pacbell Park |
24 |
| Houston, Texas |
Minute Maid Park |
13 |
| Atlanta, Georgia |
Georgia Dome |
27 |
| Honolulu, Hawaii |
Aloha Stadium |
18 |
| 4 |
Fall 2004 |
San Francisco, California |
Cow Palace |
31 |
| Las Vegas, Nevada |
Orleans Arena |
21 |
| St. Louis, Missouri |
Edward Jones Dome |
30 |
| Cleveland, Ohio |
Cleveland Browns Stadium |
30 |
| New Orleans, Louisiana |
Louisiana Superdome |
16 |
| Orlando, Florida |
Orange County Convention Center |
16 |
| Washington, D.C. |
Washington Convention Center |
42 |
| 5 |
Fall 2005 |
San Francisco, California |
Cow Palace |
18 |
| Las Vegas, Nevada |
Las Vegas Convention Center |
11 |
| Denver, Colorado |
Invesco Field At Mile High |
37 |
| Austin, Texas |
Frank Erwin Center |
12 |
| Chicago, Illinois |
Soldier Field |
27 |
| Greensboro, North Carolina |
Greensboro Coliseum |
33 |
| Boston, Massachusetts |
Gillette Stadium |
28 |
| 6 |
Summer 2006 |
Los Angeles, California |
Rose Bowl |
40 |
| San Antonio, Texas |
Alamodome |
24 |
| New York, New York/East Rutherford, New Jersey |
Continental Airlines Arena |
35 |
| Birmingham, Alabama |
Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex |
20 |
| Memphis, Tennessee |
FedEx Forum |
22 |
| Minneapolis, Minnesota |
Target Center |
17 |
| Seattle, Washington |
Key Arena |
14 |
| 7 |
Summer 2007 |
San Diego, California |
Qualcomm Stadium |
31 |
| Dallas, Texas |
Texas Stadium |
24 |
| Omaha, Nebraska |
Qwest Center |
19 |
| Atlanta, Georgia |
Georgia Dome |
19 |
| Charleston, South Carolina |
North Charleston Coliseum |
23 |
| Miami, Florida |
American Airlines Arena |
17 |
| Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
Wachovia Center |
29 |
Hollywood
Once in Hollywood, the contestants perform on different days, with dramatic eliminations by the judges on each day. The first day typically has each hopeful sing a song that they'd selected from a list. The next round, the contestants split themselves into small groups and perform a song together. In the final round, the contestants perform a song of their choice
a cappella.
Starting in the 2008 season, the structure of the Hollywood round was revamped. There were no longer musical group rounds; rather, the contestants would sing on the first day and if the judges felt the performance was adequate, the contestant moved onto the final Hollywood round. If the performance wasn't up to par, the contestant would have one more chance to impress the judges before the third day. For the first time, contestants were able to perform with a musical instrument if they'd the ability; however, with the exception of only a few contestants, the judges criticized the use of the instruments.
Semifinals
In the first three seasons, the semifinalists were randomly split into different groups. Each contestant would then sing in their respective group's night and the two who received the most votes from America in each group would advance to the finals. In season one, there were three separate groups and the top three contestants made it to the finals. In seasons two and three, there were four groups of eight and the top two contestants would move onto the finals.
The first three seasons each featured a Wildcard show in that contestants who failed to make it to the finals would be allowed to perform once more for a chance at a spot. In season one, only one Wildcard contestant would be chosen by the judges. However, in seasons two and three, each judge would champion one contestant and the public would advance the fourth Wildcard contestant into the finals. In the second season, a few hopefuls who had failed to make the semifinals were selected by the judges to compete in the Wildcard round. In the third season, the judges eliminated four contestants from the Wildcard round before they'd the opportunity to sing.
From season four and on, the semifinals were cut down to twenty-four contestants who were divided by gender. The men and women would sing on sequential nights and the bottom two would be eliminated from each group on the results show until the top twelve finalists were left.
Finals
In the finals, which last eleven weeks, each finalist out of all of the contestants performed a song live in
prime time from a weekly theme (two songs in later rounds) at
CBS Television City in
Los Angeles,
California in front of a live studio audience. Themes have included
Motown,
disco,
big band music, and
Billboard #1 hits. Some themes are based on music recorded by a particular artist, and the finalists have a chance to work with that artist in preparing their performances. Artists around whom themes have been based include
The Beatles,
Billy Joel,
Neil Sedaka,
Mariah Carey,
The Bee Gees,
Barry Manilow,
Rod Stewart,
Gloria Estefan,
Elton John,
Stevie Wonder,
Andrew Lloyd Webber,
Neil Diamond,
Queen,
Bon Jovi, and
Elvis Presley. Once in the top five and four, the contestants sing two songs each; once in the top three and finale, the contestants sing three songs each to the three judges, Paula Abdul, Simon Cowell, and Randy Jackson.
Following each performance episode, a results show airs that reveals the breakdown of the voting public's decision. The most popular contestants are not typically revealed (although they've been in very rare cases), but the bottom three vote-getters are typically called to the center of the stage. From the bottom three, the bottom two are revealed, until finally the contestant who received the lowest amount of votes is eliminated from the competition. A montage of the contestant's experience is played and they give their final performance.
In the finale, one remaining contestant is declared the winner. Until the 2008 season, the stage was moved to the
Kodak Theatre for the finale showdown, where the two remaining contestants perform for an audience of at least 3,400. In 2008, the venue was shifted to the
Nokia Theatre, which holds an audience of over 7,000. The winner is announced at the following results show. The winner receives a one million (US) dollar record deal with a major label, and is managed by
American Idol-related
19 Management. In some cases, non-winners have also been signed by the show's management company (who has first option to sign contestants) and received record deals with its major label partner.
So far, all of the seasons' winners and runner-ups have had major record deals.
Season synopses
Season 1
The first season of
American Idol debuted without hype as a summer replacement show (with the full title
American Idol: The Search For A Superstar) in June 2002 on the
Fox Broadcasting Company. Fox, along with other networks, initially rejected the show. However, Rupert Murdoch, head of Fox's
parent company, was persuaded to buy the show by his daughter
Elisabeth who was a fan of the British version. The show's co-hosts were
Ryan Seacrest and
Brian Dunkleman. Through word of mouth generated by the appeal of its contestants and the presence of acid-tongued British judge
Simon Cowell, the show grew into a phenomenon. An estimated fifty million people watched the Season 1 finale in September 2002. Following such a success, the second season was moved to air the upcoming January. The number of episodes increased, as did the show's budget and the charge for commercial spots.
Winner
Kelly Clarkson signed with
RCA Records, the label in partnership with
American Idol's 19 Management. Immediately post-finale, Clarkson released two singles, most notably the coronation song "
A Moment Like This" which debuted at number 52, but marked the biggest jump in
Billboard Hot 100 history when it shot to number one, breaking a record set by
The Beatles. As part of the promotion planned for the show's first winner, the song had been pre-recorded ready to air on radio stations the day after the finale. (As such, a version of the song was also recorded by runner up
Justin Guarini which remains unreleased.) Appearances on numerous entertainment/news shows followed, as did videos for the singles that began airing on
MTV's
TRL. Clarkson has subsequently had two successful albums:
Thankful and
Breakaway. She has several hit singles mostly from her more successful second album
Breakaway. While her first album failed to sell outside of North America, her second was a global success and garnered two
Grammy Awards in 2006 with 11 million albums sold worldwide. The less successful third album,
My December as of December 2, 2007 has sold 720,000 domestically, approximately 2,000,000 copies worldwide, and was certified Platinum in Canada and the United States.
The show inspired a 2003 musical film,
From Justin to Kelly, featuring Kelly Clarkson and runner-up Justin Guarini. The musical love story, produced by American Idol's
Simon Fuller, was filmed in
Miami,
Florida over a period of six weeks shortly after the season ended. Released several months later in June 2003, the film failed to make back its budget during its short run in theatres and is often ranked among the
worst movies ever made. A DVD with additional footage was released and the movie airs periodically in the U.S. and other countries.
Besides Clarkson and Guarini, also signed were
Nikki McKibbin (3rd),
Tamyra Gray (4th),
RJ Helton (5th), and
Christina Christian (6th). It is the only year the runner-up didn't release a single following the show's finale.
Runner-up
Justin Guarini also signed with
RCA Records. Contract restrictions required him to reject outside offers received and delay solo projects following the season finale, eventually debuting an album in 2003 after the conclusion of Season 2. RCA dropped him shortly after its debut. Guarini went on to form his own entertainment company, and independently produced a
jazz album in 2005, with an album of soul/funk/jazz currently in production. He has also composed/performed music for various projects by other artists, continues to act in independent movies/short films/television, and is a host/commentator for the
TV Guide Network.
Nikki McKibbin signed with RCA, but quit because she refused to record a country album. She has since made appearances on various
Reality TV shows and is working on her debut album.
Tamyra Gray was signed to RCA, but was dropped before releasing an album. She then signed with
Idol creator
Simon Fuller's new label
19 Entertainment. Gray's self-written debut album was released in 2004. In 2005, she was also dropped by that label. She had a supporting role in the 2005 movie
The Gospel, and limited guest runs in
Broadway's "Bombay Dreams" and "Rent".
RJ Helton released a Christian album, but sales were lackluster.
Ryan Starr had trouble getting out of her contract with
RCA Records but managed to independently release a single,
My Religion, which sold 360,000 downloads via
iTunes. She is expected to release her debut album in 2007.
Jim Verraros, who came out of the closet after being voted off
American Idol, starred in an indie film and released a dance-pop album, charting a dance hit on Billboard.
Christina Christian,
EJay Day (tenth), and AJ Gil (eighth) have had little success after the show.
Starting
September 30 2006, the first season of American Idol was repackaged as "
American Idol Rewind" and syndicated direct to stations in the
US.
| Date |
Bottom Three |
| July 17 |
EJay Day |
Jim Verraros |
Nikki McKibbin |
| July 24 |
A.J. Gil |
Ryan Starr |
Christina Christian |
| July 31 |
Ryan Starr (2) |
Justin Guarini |
Nikki McKibbin (2) |
| August 7 |
Christina Christian (2) |
RJ Helton |
Nikki McKibbin (3) |
|
Bottom Two |
| August 14 |
RJ Helton (2) |
Nikki McKibbin (4) |
| August 21 |
Tamyra Gray |
Nikki McKibbin (5) |
|
Final Three |
| August 28 |
Nikki McKibbin (6) |
| September 4 |
Justin Guarini (2) |
Kelly Clarkson |
Season 2
In Season 2, Seacrest surfaced as the lone host. Dunkleman reportedly hated working on the show and the studio was dissatisfied with his performance.
Kristin Holt was originally announced to be added to the show as a co-host to Ryan Seacrest, but upon airing, she was introduced as a special correspondent with all of the takes with her acting as a host cut out of the first few shows. This time,
Ruben Studdard emerged as the winner with
Clay Aiken as runner-up. Out of 24 million votes recorded, Studdard finished 130,000 votes ahead of Aiken. There was discussion in the communication industry about the phone system being overloaded, and that more than 150 million votes were dropped, making the voting suspect. Since then, the voting methods have been modified to avoid this problem.
In an interview prior to
fifth season, a statement by executive producer
Nigel Lythgoe suggested that Aiken had led the fan voting from the wild card week onward until the finale. Clay Aiken became the first
American Idol non-winning contestant to have a
U.S. Hot 100 number-one with "
This Is the Night", written by British songwriter Chris Braide with Gary Burr and
Aldo Nova. Studdard and Aiken both released albums in the fall/winter of 2003, 2004 and 2006. Third place finalist
Kimberley Locke's debut album,
One Love was released in 2004. Her second album,
Based on a True Story, was released in May 2007.
Fourth-place finisher and former Marine
Josh Gracin became a country artist. His first album spawned three charted singles, including the number-one U.S. country song, "Nothing to Lose". He is signed with
Lyric Street Records.
Sixth-place finisher
Carmen Rasmusen signed with
independent country record label Lofton Creek Records, and released her debut album and a single in 2007.
After a strong showing during the early stages of auditions, contestant
Frenchie Davis was disqualified from the competition when topless photos of her surfaced on the internet. Shortly afterwards she landed a role in the
Broadway musical
Rent, and continues to work on Broadway.
During the course of the contest, Studdard became known for wearing 205 Flava jerseys representing his
area code. Shortly after the end of the contest, Studdard sued 205 Flava, Inc. for
$2 million for using his image for promotional purposes. Flava responded by alleging that Studdard had accepted over $10,000 in return for wearing 205 shirts, and produced eight cashed checks to validate their claim. The allegations, if true, indicate a clear violation of the
American Idol rules. The lawsuit was settled out of court.
Rumor mills concerning Season Two contestants buzzed again when, in 2006, contestant
Corey Clark (who producers kicked off the show because of him not disclosing a police record) alleged that he and judge Paual Abdul had an affair while he was on the show and that this contributed to his removal. Clark also alleged that Abdul gave him preferential treatment on the show because of their alleged romance. A subsequent investigation by an independent counsel hired by Fox "could not corroborate the evidence or allegations provided by Mr. Clark or any witnesses".
American Idol Rewind started re-airing this season in the fall of 2007.
| Date |
Bottom Three |
| March 11 |
Vanessa Olivarez |
Julia DeMato |
Kimberley Locke |
| March 18 |
Charles Grigsby |
Corey Clark |
Julia DeMato (2) |
| March 25 |
Julia DeMato (3) |
Kimberly Caldwell |
Rickey Smith |
|
Corey Clark (disqualified) |
| April 1 |
Carmen Rasmusen |
Trenyce |
Kimberley Locke (2) |
| April 8 |
Rickey Smith (2) |
Kimberly Caldwell (2) |
Kimberley Locke (3) |
| April 15 |
Kimberly Caldwell (3) |
Carmen Rasmusen (2) |
Trenyce (2) |
| April 22 |
Carmen Rasmusen (3) |
Joshua Gracin |
Trenyce (3) |
|
Bottom Two |
| April 29 |
Trenyce (4) |
Ruben Studdard |
|
| May 6 |
Joshua Gracin (2) |
Kimberley Locke (4) |
|
|
Final Three |
| May 13 |
Kimberley Locke (5) |
|
|
| May 20 |
Clay Aiken |
Ruben Studdard (2) |
|
- None of the bottom 2 were eliminated on the April 1st results show due to the disqualification of Corey Clark.
Season 3
The third season of
American Idol premiered on
January 19,
2004. The winner of this season of American Idol was
Fantasia Barrino, later known professionally as simply "Fantasia," and the runner-up was
Diana Degarmo. This was also the season that
Golden Globe Award- and
Academy Award-winning actress
Jennifer Hudson was discovered.
During the audition process Alonzo Munyeneh of Absecon, NJ was the first prospective contestant to ever be arrested for their actions during their audition. Munyeneh finished his performance of Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On" and was told he didn't make it to Hollywood. He then became belligerent and started tearing the set apart. He shouted obscenities at the judges while ripping down lighting rigs and knocking over the judges' table. He was finally restrained by security and the authorities were called to take him away. No one was injured but the judges were visibly rattled and had to take a break from the process for a few hours.
The early part of the season introduced
William Hung, a
UC Berkeley student, who received widespread attention following his off-key rendition of
Ricky Martin's "
She Bangs." His performance, as well as his positive attitude facing Simon's criticisms (a stark contrast to other hopeful contestants' confrontational, angry reactions), landed him a record deal with
Koch Entertainment and made him over $500,000 in record sales. He also starred in a Cingular Wireless commercial with host Ryan Seacrest.
During the season, controversy over the legitimacy of the contest increased as rocker
Jon Peter Lewis and young crooner
John Stevens stayed afloat while others were unexpectedly eliminated.
Jasmine Trias, despite negative comments from Simon Cowell over her later performances, survived elimination and took the third spot over
Latoya London. Trias later released a CD and attracted fans in her home state of
Hawaii, the
Philippines,
Singapore,
Guam and other South East Asian countries. The third season was also shown in
Australia on
Network Ten about half a week after episodes were shown in the U.S.
After a nationwide vote of more than 65 million votes in total - more than the first two seasons combined -
Fantasia Barrino won the
American Idol title over runner-up
Diana DeGarmo. She released her first single in June 2004 on the RCA record label. The single included "I Believe" – cowritten by former Idol contestant Tamyra Gray (who also sang backup) – which Fantasia performed on the finale of Idol, the Aretha Franklin hit "Chain of Fools" (released before on an American Idol compilation), and her signature version of "Summertime". The single entered the Billboard Hot 100 at #1, making Fantasia the first artist in the history of Billboard to debut at number one with their first single. The song remained at the number one for one week (it topped the sales chart for 11 weeks in the US and 10 weeks in Canada). Fantasia's CD,
I Believe, went on to become the top selling single of 2004 in the U.S and has since been certified double platinum by the CRIA and received 3
Billboard Music Awards. In 2006, she received 4
Grammy nominations for her double platinum debut album
Free Yourself.
Sales of Diana DeGarmo's first CD,
Blue Skies, suffered partly from a lack of promotion by RCA. DeGarmo eventually asked to be released from her RCA record contract. She received a role in the
Broadway production of
Hairspray, where she played the part of Penny Pingleton from
February 7-May 21 to positive reviews. DeGarmo then starred with Melba Moore in the national tour of
Brooklyn the Musical through mid-August. On
September 8, she returned to the Broadway production of
Hairspray to once again assume the role of Penny Pingleton for a six month period. DeGarmo is also working independently on a second album while performing in the musicals. She recently appeared on the
CMT reality show
Gone Country.
Jasmine Trias signed with an independent label. Although she's failed to achieve commercial success in the mainland USA, she's become a major celebrity in other countries, such as the Philippines and Japan, where she's signed with
Universal Records.
Latoya London signed with
Peak Records and released an
R&B/
soul album, "
Love & Life," selling 55,000 copies. Her single, "Appreciate/Every Part of Me/All by Myself," charted at number 8 on the Billboard Singles Sales Chart, and her songs, "Appreciate," "Every Part of Me," and "State of My Heart," all received moderate success on urban and adult contemporary radio. She starred in the
Los Angeles revival of the retro-musical, "Beehive," and also starred with
Angie Stone and
Kim Fields in the tour of the play, "Issues: We All Got 'Em." Latoya played the role of Nettie in the touring production of the
Broadway musical,
The Color Purple, which began with an extended run in
Chicago,
Illinois in April, 2007. The musical also starred
Michelle Williams of
Destiny's Child.
George Huff signed with
Word Records to release a gospel album and has since had mild success in that genre.
John Stevens landed a deal with
Maverick Records but was dropped due to low album sales.
Jennifer Hudson starred alongside
Beyoncé Knowles and
Jamie Foxx in the 2006 feature film
Dreamgirls and won several honors and awards, including a
Golden Globe for her performance and an
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. The film, which also won the Golden Globe for Best Picture (Comedy or Musical), sold 8.8 million dollars worth of tickets to claim the top spot at the box office on its first day in wide theatrical release, whcih was the single highest daily gross for a musical in motion picture history. The soundtrack to
Dreamgirls, featuring Hudson's acclaimed version of "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going," reached Number One on the Billboard Top 200 album chart on
January 10 2007, after five weeks in release. Hudson, who signed a recording contract with Clive Davis' Arista label in late 2006, is expected to release her debut album sometime in 2008.
Camile Velasco returned to the Philippines in December 2004 after 17 years for a whirlwind tour of television appearances and a concert with Martin Nievera. In 2005, she signed to
Motown Records, but left the label after a lack of promotion for her first single. Camile performed at several concerts in Hawaii, California and Illinois, maintaining her ambition to become an artist. In 2006, she appeared in a Black Eyed Peas video and performed in Hawaii, California, Nevada, New Jersey, New York and the Philippines. Camile is now writing and producing her own songs on
Up Above Records.
In May 2005, Telescope announced that the third season had a total of approximately 360 million votes.
| Date |
Bottom Three |
| March 17 |
Leah LaBelle |
Jennifer Hudson |
Amy Adams |
| March 24 |
Matthew Rogers |
Camile Velasco |
Diana DeGarmo |
| March 31 |
Amy Adams (2) |
Jennifer Hudson (2) |
LaToya London |
| April 7 |
Camile Velasco (2) |
Jasmine Trias |
Diana DeGarmo (2) |
| April 15 |
Jon Peter Lewis |
John Stevens |
Diana DeGarmo (3) |
| April 21 |
Jennifer Hudson (3) |
Fantasia Barrino |
LaToya London (2) |
| April 28 |
John Stevens (2) |
George Huff |
Jasmine Trias (2) |
|
Bottom Two |
| May 5 |
George Huff (2) |
Jasmine Trias (3) |
|
| May 12 |
LaToya London (3) |
Fantasia Barrino (2) |
|
|
Final Three |
| May 19 |
Jasmine Trias (4) |
|
|
| May 26 |
Diana DeGarmo (4) |
Fantasia Barrino (3) |
|
Season 4
The fourth season of
American Idol premiered on
January 18,
2005. It was the first season in which the age limit was raised to 28, in order to increase variety. All Season 4 contestants had to be between the ages of 16 and 28 on
August 4,
2004, born on or between
August 5,
1975 and
August 4,
1988. Among those who benefited from this new rule were
Constantine Maroulis (born
September 17,
1975) and
Bo Bice (born
November 1,
1975), considered to be the eldest and somewhat most experienced of the season's Idol contestants. They were also constantly mentioned by Seacrest and in the media as "the two rockers", since their long hair and choice of rock songs made them stand out from conventional Idol standards. The presence of more rock-oriented contestants continued with
Chris Daughtry (External Link
)in Season 5, who was inspired to audition for the show by Bice.
This season also implemented new rules for the final portion of the contest. Instead of competing in semi-final heats in which the top vote-getters are promoted to the final round, 24 semi-finalists were named; 12 men and 12 women, who competed separately, with 2 of each gender being voted off each week until 12 finalists were left.
Mario Vazquez, who was originally one of the top 12, dropped out of the competition on
March 11, just days before the top 12's first performance, citing "personal issues", opening a spot in the final 12 for
Nikko Smith (son of
Baseball Hall of Famer
Ozzie Smith), who had been voted off in the semi-finals the previous week.
The winner was
Carrie Underwood, a country singer. Carrie Underwood's first single, "
Inside Your Heaven", was released on
June 14,
2005. The single debuted at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, with first-week sales of 170,000 copies, and briefly stopped
Mariah Carey's run at #1 with "
We Belong Together". One week later, runner-up Bo Bice released his version of the song, which debuted at #2. The B-side of Underwood's CD was "Independence Day", a cover of the
Martina McBride hit. On
November 15 2005, Carrie released her debut album,
Some Hearts, which both debuted and peaked at #2 on Billboard. Underwood's first single, "
Jesus, Take the Wheel" was made available for radio airplay on
October 18,
2005. The single also debuted at #48 on the Billboard Hot 100 where it peaked at #20.
Bo Bice's first single "The Real Thing" has appeared on
American Top 40 radio. Although Bice's sales didn't match that of Underwood, he stands as the third-most successful recording artist to not win the
American Idol title with RIAA platinum status. Third-place contestant
Vonzell Solomon landed a role in a film,
Still Green and a single on a Christmas album. Fourth-place contestant
Anthony Fedorov has appeared in television shows such as
Fear Factor, where he competed with Season 2 contestant
Carmen Rasmusen, winning second place, and has finished taping several episodes for a new MTV show to air in the fall. Federov will be performing in
The Fantasticks on
off-Broadway May through July of 2007. Sixth-place contestant Constantine Maroulis has redone his rendition of "
Bohemian Rhapsody" for a, and released his first full-length solo album in 2007. Since August 2006, Maroulis has appeared in the Broadway musical
The Wedding Singer and the now closed off-broadway play
Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris and has appeared on CBS' The Bold & the Beautiful. Seventh-place contestant
Anwar Robinson has released his self-titled EP on an independent label. Twelfth-place contestant
Lindsey Cardinale's first single, "Nothing Like A Dream", was released in March 2006.
In May 2005, Telescope announced that the fourth season had a total of approximately 500 million votes.
On
February 11 2007, Carrie Underwood became the first winner of
American Idol to sweep all three major music awards (
American Music,
Billboard, and
Grammy Awards) in a single season (for 2006-07).
| Date |
Bottom Three |
| March 16 |
Lindsey Cardinale |
Mikalah Gordon |
Jessica Sierra |
| March 23 |
Mikalah Gordon (2) |
Nadia Turner |
Anthony Federov |
| March 30 |
Jessica Sierra (2) |
Anwar Robinson |
Nadia Turner (2) |
| April 6 |
Nikko Smith |
Scott Savol |
Vonzell Solomon |
| April 13 |
Nadia Turner (3) |
Bo Bice |
Scott Savol (2) |
| April 20 |
Anwar Robinson (2) |
Anthony Federov (2) |
Scott Savol (3) |
| April 27 |
Constantine Maroulis |
Anthony Federov (3) |
Vonzell Solomon (2) |
|
Bottom Two |
| May 4 |
Scott Savol (4) |
Anthony Federov (4) |
|
| May 11 |
Anthony Federov (5) |
Vonzell Solomon (3) |
|
|
Final Three |
| May 18 |
Vonzell Solomon (4) |
|
|
| May 25 |
Bo Bice (2) |
Carrie Underwood |
|
None of the bottom 3 on the April 20th results show were sent back to safety before the elimination announcement.
Season 5
The fifth season of American Idol began on January 17, 2006; this was the first season of the series to be aired in high definition. Auditions were in Austin, Boston, Chicago, Denver and San Francisco, with Greensboro, North Carolina and Las Vegas, Nevada included after the cancellation of the Memphis auditions due to Hurricane Katrina. The season used the same rules as Season 4.
Taylor Hicks was named American Idol on May 24, 2006; he was the fourth contestant to never fall into any week's "bottom three". His first post-Idol single, "Do I Make You Proud", would debut at #1 and be certified gold. Hicks' album, Taylor Hicks, has sold 702,000 copies to date.
On May 30 2006, Telescope announced that a total of 63.5 million votes were cast in the finale round. A total of 580 million votes were cast in the entire season. Taylor Hicks is the second American Idol winner from the city of Birmingham, Alabama (the first being Ruben Studdard), and the fourth finalist with close ties to the city.
The fifth-season contestant with the most commercial success is fourth-place finisher Chris Daughtry, now lead singer of the band Daughtry. Their eponymous debut album has sold over 3.2 million copies to date - surpassing former winners Studdard and Fantasia's respective two-album totals - and produced two top-ten singles. The album, which spent two weeks at #1 in the US, is also the fastest-selling debut rock album in Soundscan history.
Runner-up Katharine McPhee's debut album has sold 367,000 copies to date; she's two Top 40 Billboard hits to date. Also notable: sixth-place finisher Kellie Pickler, whose Small Town Girl reached #1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and has sold over 700,000 copies to date. Strong early sales have also been achieved by mid-2007 eponymous album releases by third-place Elliott Yamin and eighth-place Bucky Covington.
| Date |
Bottom Three |
| March 15 |
Melissa McGhee |
Lisa Tucker |
Ace Young |
| March 22 |
Kevin Covais |
Bucky Covington |
Lisa Tucker (2) |
| March 29 |
Lisa Tucker (3) |
Katharine McPhee |
Ace Young (2) |
| April 5 |
Mandisa |
Elliott Yamin |
Paris Bennett |
| April 12 |
Bucky Covington (2) |
Ace Young (3) |
Elliott Yamin (2) |
| April 19 |
Ace Young (4) |
Chris Daughtry |
Paris Bennett (2) |
|
Bottom Two |
| April 26 |
Kellie Pickler |
Paris Bennett (3) |
|
| May 3 |
Paris Bennett (4) |
Elliott Yamin (3) |
|
| May 10 |
Chris Daughtry (2) |
Katharine McPhee (2) |
|
|
Final Three |
| May 17 |
Elliott Yamin (4) |
|
|
| May 24 |
Katharine McPhee (3) |
Taylor Hicks |
|
None of the bottom 3 on the April 12th results show were sent back to safety before the elimination announcement.
Season 6
The sixth season began on Tuesday, January 16, 2007. The premiere episode of the season drew a massive audience of 37.7 million viewers, peaking in the last half hour with more than 41 million viewers.
Jordin Sparks was declared the winner on May 23 2007, at 10:05 EST, with a new record of 74 million votes in the finale against runner-up Blake Lewis.
Teenager Sanjaya Malakar was the season's most polarizing and talked about American Idol contestant, as he continued to survive elimination for several weeks. The weblog Vote for the Worst and satellite radio personality Howard Stern both encouraged fans to vote for Sanjaya. However, on April 18, after over 38 million votes, Sanjaya was voted off.
The Top 6 singers performed inspirational music as a part of the first ever "Idol Gives Back" telethon-inspired event which raised more than $60 million in corporate and viewer donations. None of the singers were eliminated, and the votes from that week were added to the votes from the following week to eliminate two singers. Both weeks saw a two-hour extension of the regular two-hour voting window, and in the end, with a two-week total of over 135 million votes, Chris Richardson and Phil Stacey were eliminated. The next week, Lakisha Jones was sent packing after 45 million votes were cast, a result Simon had successfully predicted. Then, in the top 3, Melinda Doolittle, a frontrunner of the show, was ousted after nearly 60 million votes, despite predictions from Randy Jackson and Simon Cowell that she should be in the finale.
A little over a month earlier, the show had launched the American Idol Songwriter contest which enabled fans to select the "coronation song" to be performed by whichever two contestants made it to the finale. In the songwriting contest, amateur songwriters were able to submit original songs they'd written and recorded. A selection committee headed by Idol creator Simon Fuller then narrowed thousands of submissions down to twenty finalists. With "one online vote per fan," fans were able to listen to snippets from each song and rate them. When the ratings were tallied, the winning song was the ballad "This is My Now" co-written by Scott Krippayne and Jeff Peabody.
In the finale, both Jordin and Blake started the night off strong. However, the final song of the night was "This is My Now," the winner of the American Idol Songwriter contest. Since the song had been specifically written for the American Idol finale, neither contestant was allowed much flexibility to make it their own. Some fans complained that this song was written in Jordin's style of singing which would give her an advantange over Blake. In fact, the next night, Simon predicted that Jordin would win purely on this final song. At the end of the episode, Ryan confirmed both Randy's and Simon's predictions announcing Jordin Sparks the Season 6 winner of American Idol, after approximately 74 million votes. Jordin Sparks first non American Idol single is Tattoo, while Blake Lewis' single is Break Anotha. Phil Stacey, tied for fifth place with Chris Richardson, is now signed to Lyric Street and has released his first single If You Didn't Love Me. Jordin's second single is the hit No Air with Chris Brown.
This season of American Idol produced two Top 3 contestants that were never in bottom 2 or 3, Jordin Sparks (the Season 6 winner) and Melinda Doolittle (third place). They are joined by Kelly Clarkson, Clay Aiken, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Hicks, David Archuleta and David Cook as Top 3 contestants never to have been in the bottom 2 or 3.
| Date |
Bottom Three |
| March 14 |
Brandon Rogers |
Sanjaya Malakar |
Phil Stacey |
| March 21 |
Stephanie Edwards |
Chris Richardson |
|
| March 28 |
Chris Sligh |
Haley Scarnato |
Phil Stacey (2) |
| April 4 |
Gina Glocksen |
Haley Scarnato (2) |
Phil Stacey (3) |
| April 11 |
Haley Scarnato (3) |
Phil Stacey (4) |
Chris Richardson (2) |
| April 18 |
Sanjaya Malakar (2) |
LaKisha Jones |
Blake Lewis |
|
Bottom Two |
| May 2 |
Phil Stacey (5) |
