AMERICAN IDOL

American Idol
American Idol title card
Format	Interactive reality Game Show
Created by	Simon Fuller
Directed by	Bruce Gowers
Presented by	Ryan Seacrest Brian Dunkleman (Co-host Season One 2002)
Judges	Simon Cowell Paula Abdul Randy Jackson
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	202 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Nigel Lythgoe Ken Warwick Simon Fuller
Location(s)	Various locations (Auditions) Orpheum Theatre, Los Angeles, California (Hollywood) CBS Television City (Semi-finals and finals) Kodak Theatre (Finale)
Running time	Varies
Broadcast
Original channel	FOX
Picture format	480i (NTSC), 720p (HDTV)
Original run	June 11, 2002 – Present - Renewed through 2009
External links
Official website
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

American Idol is an annual American televised singing competition, which began its first season on June 11, 2002. Part of the Idol franchise, it originated from the British reality program Pop Idol.

The program seeks to discover the best young singer in the country, through a series of nationwide auditions. The outcomes of the latter stages of this competition are determined by public voting by phone. The format features three judges who critique the contestants' performances in order to facilitate the voting: record producer and bass player Randy Jackson; former pop star 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 show usually airs on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. In its six seasons, its six winners have been, in order of their season, Kelly Clarkson, Ruben Studdard, Fantasia Barrino, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Hicks, and Jordin Sparks. The first five American Idols are from the Southern United States of America (U.S) and the sixth, Jordin Sparks, is from the Southwest. Hicks was the oldest winner at 29, Sparks the youngest at just 17.

American Idol is televised on Fox in the United States and on Fox, on ABC5 in Philippines, and CTV in Canada. The Idol series was first created by Simon Fuller (manager of the Spice Girls and S Club 7) and developed by Simon Jones of FremantleMedia. The director is Bruce Gowers (director of Queen's original "Bohemian Rhapsody" video) and executive producers are Nigel Lythgoe (a judge on So You Think You Can Dance) and Ken Warwick (Gladiators and Grudge Match). With the exception of the Super Bowl and the Academy Awards, American Idol is the highest rated (viewed) program on U.S. national television.

[edit] Rules

Contestants 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). Contestants must be U.S. citizens 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.

Auditioning contestants must bring with them to the audition a valid proof of age and citizenship, such as a birth certificate, 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 sign on to the Web at www.americanidol.com and print out a copy of the release form 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 out 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.^[1]

Others who are ineligible include: those who made the top 40 or farther of past seasons; people employed with affiliates of Fox, Fremantle, 19, (e.g., its sponsors, subsidiaries and parent companies); those holding recording or management contracts and those who are not US citizens or permanent residents. 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.

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.

[edit] Early auditions

In the show, hopeful contestants are screened by preliminary panels to be selected for singing talent or humorous potential and human interest. The audition process is long and tedious, beginning with tens of thousands of candidates strategically interviewed and eliminated before being individually auditioned by show producers Ken Warwick and Nigel Lythgoe (often slide shows of horrendously terrible candidates are shown from this interview).

Contestants then audition before the three main judges - Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, and Randy Jackson - in selected cities across the nation. Sometimes a celebrity fourth judge may be added. These are generally held at large convention centers where thousands of people wait in line for auditions. Contestants are required to sing a short one-minute a cappella snatch. Those who impress the judges (at least two out of three must say yes to move on) enough move on to the second-round auditions, which take place in Hollywood (typically only several dozen out of the thousands in each city move on with an average of about 150-200 total in Hollywood).

Much like the original Pop Idol, one of the most popular segments of each season are initial episodes showcasing Idol hopefuls auditioning before the panel. These early episodes primarily feature a mixture of the finer auditioning singers and many of the outright "rejects"; these included Season 1's portrayal of Lady Marmalade, Season 2's performance of Madonna's Like a Virgin by Keith Beukelaer and Season 3's rendition of Ricky Martin's She Bangs by William Hung.

[edit] Idol audition cities

[edit] Hollywood and semifinals

Once in Hollywood, the three judges narrow the initial field of a few hundred down to a group of 24 semi-finalists (30 in Season 1 and 32 in Seasons 2 and 3). Beginning with the fourth season, the semi-finalists were split into two groups separating the male contestants from the female contestants, promoting an equal number of each sex to the finals. The judges, from this point on, serve almost entirely in an advisory capacity, with no direct influence on the results.

Viewers have two hours following the broadcast of the show in their time zone to phone in votes for their favorite contestant by calling a toll-free number. Callers are allowed to vote as many times as they like for any number of contestants, as long as they vote within the voting window for the time zone assigned to their phone's area code.

The contestants sing a song of their choice and the two from each gender with the lowest public vote total are eliminated from the competition.

[edit] Final twelve

In the finals, which last eleven weeks, each finalist performs 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 Billy Joel, Neil Sedaka, The Bee Gees, Barry Manilow, Rod Stewart, Gloria Estefan, Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Queen and Elvis Presley. Once in the top 5, the contestants sing two songs each.

When there are three finalists remaining, themes are no longer used. Instead, each contestant sings three songs: one of their own choice, one chosen by the judges, and one chosen by record executive Clive Davis. However, in Season 2, in the final three, one song was chosen randomly from a bowl, with one chosen by the performer and one by the judges. In season 6, each contestant sings one song of their own choice, one chosen by the judges, and a third chosen by the producers instead of Clive Davis.

In any case, each week on the following night's live "results" episode, Ryan Secreast will recap each contestant's performance before revealing if he or she is safe for the week. In the end, 3 contestants were pulled out from the couch to the centre of the stage. These 3 contestants received the lowest number of votes, and were known as the "bottom 3". After that, one contestant was saved, leaving the bottom 2 in the centre of the stage, before the eliminated contestant was revealed. The eliminated contestant's monatage on Idol will be shown, before he or she was given one last chance to sing a song to close up the results show, and this was also when the credits started rolling. However, in some cases, all the contestants were grouped on the centre of the stage. In the top 7, particularly, 2 groups of 3 were formed, leaving only one safe contestant in the middle of the stage to choose between the two groups. These "choosers" include George Huff, Bo Bice, Taylor Hicks, and also Melinda Doolittle, who refused to choose between the two groups.

In the top 3, though, no bottom 2 was revealed, instead one contestant will be revealed to be eliminated. This process continued till season 6, where Jordin Sparks was announced to be safe first, followed by Blake Lewis, eliminating Melinda Doolittle. Even in season 6, it was not revealed whether Blake or Jordin gained the most votes in the top 3.

In the finale, one remaining contestant is declared the winner. The stage is moved to the Kodak Theatre for the finale showdown, where the two remaining contestants perform for an audience of at least 3,400. It was also noted that all winners of the seasons sang last, with the exception of Ruben Studdard. The winner is announced at the end of the 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.

Each season a compilation album with the top twelve finalists (top ten for Season One) is also released. Other compilations, such as a Christmas album, have also been released. The top ten finalists participate in a post-season American Idol promotional concert tour.

[edit] Season synopses

[edit] Season 1

Main article: American Idol (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 after being rejected by numerous other networks. 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 climbed to 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. Appearances on numerous entertainment/news shows followed, as did videos for the singles that began airing on MTV's TRL. Clarkson has subsequently had three successful albums: Thankful, Breakaway, and "My December", and 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 5.9 million albums sold worldwide. The less successful third album, "My December" as of December 05, 2007 has sold 708,000 domestically, approxiately one million copies worldwide, and was certified Platinum in Canada.

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^[2] 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 did not 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, 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 in 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 is being repackaged as "American Idol Rewind" and syndicated on select T.V.D. stations in the US.

American Idol
American Idol Finalists (with dates of elimination)
Season 1 (2002)
Kelly Clarkson	Winner
Justin Guarini	September 4
Nikki McKibbin	August 28
Tamyra Gray	August 21
RJ Helton	August 14
Christina Christian	August 7
Ryan Starr	July 31
A.J. Gil	July 24
Jim Verraros	July 17
EJay Day	July 17
Season 2 (2003)
Ruben Studdard	Winner
Clay Aiken	May 21
Kimberley Locke	May 14
Joshua Gracin	May 7
Trenyce	April 30
Carmen Rasmusen	April 23
Kimberly Caldwell	April 16
Rickey Smith	April 9
Corey Clark	Disqualified April 2
Julia DeMato	March 26
Charles Grigsby	March 19
Vanessa Olivarez	March 12
Season 3 (2004)
Fantasia Barrino	Winner
Diana DeGarmo	May 26
Jasmine Trias	May 19
LaToya London	May 12
George Huff	May 5
John Stevens	April 28
Jennifer Hudson	April 21
Jon Peter Lewis	April 15
Camile Velasco	April 7
Amy Adams	March 31
Matthew Rogers	March 24
Leah LaBelle	March 17
Season 4 (2005)
Carrie Underwood	Winner
Bo Bice	May 25
Vonzell Solomon	May 18
Anthony Fedorov	May 11
Scott Savol	May 4
Constantine Maroulis	April 27
Anwar Robinson	April 20
Nadia Turner	April 13
Nikko Smith	April 6
Jessica Sierra	March 30
Mikalah Gordon	March 24
Lindsey Cardinale	March 16
Season 5 (2006)
Taylor Hicks	Winner
Katharine McPhee	May 24
Elliott Yamin	May 17
Chris Daughtry	May 10
Paris Bennett	May 3
Kellie Pickler	April 26
Ace Young	April 19
Bucky Covington	April 12
Mandisa Hundley	April 5
Lisa Tucker	March 29
Kevin Covais	March 22
Melissa McGhee	March 15
Season 6 (2007)
Jordin Sparks	Winner
Blake Lewis	May 23
Melinda Doolittle	May 16
LaKisha Jones	May 9
Chris Richardson	May 2
Phil Stacey	May 2
Sanjaya Malakar	April 18
Haley Scarnato	April 11
Gina Glocksen	April 4
Chris Sligh	March 28
Stephanie Edwards	March 21
Brandon Rogers	March 14

[edit] Season 2

Main article: American Idol (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 a special correspondent. 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.^[3] 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.^[4] 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 of 2006. Kimberley Locke's debut album, One Love was released in 2006. 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 8 cashed checks to validate their claim. The allegations, if true, indicate a clear violation of the American Idol rules.^[5] The lawsuit was settled out of court.^[6]

Rumor mills concerning Season Two contestants buzzed again when, in 2005, contestant Corey Clark (who producers kicked off the show because of him not disclosing a police record) alleged he had an affair with judge Paula Abdul during his time on the competition influencing his removal from the competition. Clark also alleged that Abdul gave him preferential treatment on the show because of their alleged romance. A subsequent investigation by an independent councel hired by Fox "could not corroborate the evidence or allegations provided by Mr. Clark or any witnesses".^[7]

[edit] Season 3

Main article: American Idol (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-winning and Academy Award-winning actress Jennifer Hudson was discovered.

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 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.^[8][9] 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.

Second Runner-up Jasmine Trias signed with an independent label. Although she has failed to achieve commercial success in the mainland USA, she has become a major celebrity in other countries, such as the Philippines and Japan, where she is 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 will begin playing the role of Nettie in the touring edition of the Broadway musical, The Color Purple, which will begin with an extended run in Chicago, Illinois in April, 2007. The musical also stars 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), was released to preview audiences on December 15, 2006, in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles, drawing sellout crowds. On its first day in wide release (Christmas Day 2006), Dreamgirls sold 8.8 million dollars worth of tickets to claim the top spot at the box office. It 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 2007.

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 UHype Records.

Eleventh place contestant Matthew Rogers is now a TV personality, starring alongside Mikalah Gordon on American Idol Extra, which went behind the scenes of American Idol's fifth season.

In May 2005, Telescope announced that the third season had a total of approximately 360 million votes.

[edit] Season 4

Main article: American Idol (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.^[10][11] 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 has continued with Chris Daughtry 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, the first winner since Kelly Clarkson to not only win but avoid being in the bottom three for the entire competition. 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 peaked and debuted at #2 on Billboard. It has currently sold over 6 million copies, and has gone 6x platinum. Underwood's first single, "Jesus, Take the Wheel" was made available for radio airplay on October 18, 2005. It received so much airplay that it debuted at #39 on the Billboard Country Chart in its first week, setting a record. As it climbed, it finally reached #1 for 6 consecutive weeks, just two weeks shy of Connie Smith's record of an 8 week run back in 1964-1965. The single also debuted at #48 on the Billboard Hot 100 where it peaked at #20. Underwood's second single, "Don't Forget to Remember Me", peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot Country Charts, as well as, #49 on the Billboard Hot 100. Underwood's third single "Before He Cheats" not only hit #1 on the Billboard Hot Country charts, but also has peaked at #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 becoming a crossover pop hit. Currently, Underwood has the most successful debut album sales out of the American Idol finalists. Some Hearts has sold over 6 million copies as of December 2007, becoming the best selling album by any American Idol alumni. Underwood's fourth single "Wasted" has become her 3rd #1 single on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and also peaked at #37 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Bo Bice's first single "The Real Thing" has appeared on American Top 40 radio. Although Bice's sales did not 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 Queen tribute album, 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. 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).

[edit] Season 5

Main article: American Idol (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. ^{[12] [13]}

Taylor Hicks was named American Idol on May 24, 2006; he was the third 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. ^[14] Hicks' album, Taylor Hicks, has sold 690,000 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.^[15] 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 finale had surprise performances from stars such as Live, Mary J. Blige, and Toni Braxton singing duets with the members of the final 12. The unannounced appearance and live performance of Prince was said in the media to have perhaps signaled the music industry's acceptance of Idol as a promotional tool for established artists as well.

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 three 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.^[16]

Runner-up Katharine McPhee's debut album has sold 350,000 copies; she has 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, selling 600,000 copies to date with two Top 15 Country Songs 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.

[edit] Season 6

Main article: American Idol (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.^[17] 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,^[18][19] 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.^[20] 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 had 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 balled "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.

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 will join Kelly Clarkson, Clay Aiken, Carrie Underwood and Taylor Hicks as Top 3 contestants never to have been in the bottom 2 or 3.

[edit] Season 7

Main article: American Idol (season 7)

Auditions for the seventh season of American Idol began July 30.

The Auditions were held in the following cities:^[21]

• San Diego, California: Qualcomm Stadium - July 30
• Dallas, Texas: Texas Stadium - August 6
• Omaha, Nebraska: Qwest Center - August 10
• Atlanta, Georgia: Georgia Dome - August 14
• Charleston, South Carolina: North Charleston Coliseum - August 18
• Miami, Florida: American Airlines Arena - August 22
• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Wachovia Center - August 27

The above list is subject to change. Contestants are required to be between the ages 16 and 28 on July 28, 2007 and eligible to work in the United States. Those ineligible include former contestants who reached the top 40 of past seasons, those holding recording or management contracts or those who are not US citizens or landed immigrants (i.e. temporary residents).

The seventh season of American Idol will air in January 15, 2008^[22].

It has recently been revealed that the show might allow contestants who play an instrument to play them during a Hollywood week; it's unsure if this will happen though.

[edit] Media sponsorship

American Idol is often noted for advertising its sponsors during the show's runtime. Being the number one rated show in the United States, it costs around $705,000 for a 30-second commercial.^[23]

Coca-Cola is a major sponsor in the U.S., and all the judges, hosts, and contestants are seen consuming beverages out of cups bearing the Coca-Cola logo, while contestants and host Ryan Seacrest gathering for a Keeping it Real segment between songs in the Coca-Cola Red Room, the show's equivalent to the traditional green room. (During rebroadcast on ITV in the UK, the Coca-Cola logo is obscured in the shots.) In seasons 1 through 4, after every Wednesday results show, the remaining contestants and host meet in the Coca-Cola Red Room to discuss next week's theme; the footage of this meeting is shown at the start of the following Tuesday's performance show.

Text voting is made possible by AT&T Mobility, formerly Cingular Wireless. It was provided by AT&T Wireless Services before Cingular acquired that company.

Kellogg and Pop-Tarts are also two major sponsors, especially of the cast tour that follows the end of every season^[24].

Products from the Ford Motor Company also receive prominent product placement; contestants appear in Ford commercials on the results shows, and the final two of Seasons 4, 5 and 6 each won free Mustangs. Previous contestants Kelly Clarkson and Taylor Hicks have also been tapped to do commercials for Ford. Also, in the top 24's studio, in the red room there is a glass table with a Ford tire inside of it. The camera routinely captures the logo

Contestants will occasionally don Old Navy clothing during performances,^[24] and celebrity stylist Steven Cojocaru appeared in two previous seasons to assist contestants with picking out wardrobe pieces from Old Navy. Clairol hair care products also sponsors the show, with contestants usually getting Clairol-guided hair makeovers after the first two or three episodes during the round of 12.^[24]

The show's marketing reach is not limited to the hours of broadcast. Edy's Icecream is tapping into the buzz with a campaign to have people vote for their favorite 'Idol' inspired Ice Cream. ^[25]

[edit] Controversy

Main article: American Idol controversy

• American Idol has come under fire for maintaining what some claim to be total control of the careers of the winners of the contest. Former co-host Brian Dunkleman referred to the show as "owning" the winning contestants, noting that winners sign contracts to only record with companies owned by the show's producers and to allow related agencies to manage their careers.
• Former contestant Corey Clark told reporters in April 2005 that he and Idol judge Paula Abdul had a "secret affair" prompting an investigation by external counsel hired by Fox, FremantleMedia and 19 Entertainment. The 600-hour investigation spanning three months cleared Abdul of all charges levied by Clark.^[26]
• During season three, controversy arose at the poor showing during the semi-finals of three highly praised African American contestants, Jennifer Hudson, LaToya London and Fantasia Barrino - collectively known during that season as the 'Three Divas'. After the surprise elimination of Hudson, Sir Elton John, who was a guest judge for that season criticized the vote as 'incredibly racist' in a press conference.^[27] The elimination of both Hudson and London relatively early in the competition has been pointed out as a classic demonstration of vote splitting in the American idol vote.^[28] Barrino would eventually go on to win the competition.
• Since the 2004 season, American Idol producers have battled online community services such as the websites DialIdol.com, Worldsentiment.com, and VotefortheWorst.com. DialIdol predicts which contestants may be voted off or are in danger of being voted off based on the percentage of times an automatic dialer encounters a busy signal for each contestant; Worldsentiment uses very large samplings and algorithms to predict the outcome of the vote-off; and VotefortheWorst exhorts viewers to vote for what the site deems to be the worst contestant, rather than the best. Some in the media have implied that Las Vegas odds makers exert behind-the-scenes influence in protecting the services.^[29][30]
• A series of provocative photos surfaced on the Internet of Season 6 Top 24 Contestant Antonella Barba.^[31]
• According to the Howard 100 News LaKisha Jones's departure (Season 6) was not because of America's vote, but rather a predetermined outcome. Their source claims that travel arrangements for LaKisha to return home were made prior to the start of the May 8, 2007 performance show, well before the phone lines were opened. The source also claims that a significant sized crew was sent to Flint, Michigan for reaction shots, however crews were not sent to the remaining contestants' home towns.^[32]
• Fans and critics alike were stunned at Melinda Doolittle's departure. Simon Cowell admitted that the sixth season's crown should have rightfully gone to Melinda.^[33] Executive producer Nigel Lythgoe responded, noting that "[Idol producers] were so engrossed with the mentors and didn't really focus on the Melinda Doolittles of the show". Lythgoe also produces So You Think You Can Dance, and has noted that the dance program gives background information about its contestants, while American Idol will focus more on its big name celebrity mentors, such as Tony Bennett, Gwen Stefani, and Jennifer Lopez.^[34]

[edit] Television ratings

[edit] U.S.

Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of American Idol on FOX.

Each U.S. network television season starts in late September and ends in late May, which coincides with the completion of May sweeps.

American Idol does not have a ranking for the 2001-2002 season because it aired in the summer of 2002. If it had aired within the official 2001-2002 U.S. television season, the Wednesday results show would have ranked #25 and the Tuesday performance show would have ranked #30, assuming it would have had the same rating as it did in the summer.

American Idol has bucked the trend of most successful television programs, past and present, by growing in audience numbers in its fifth season. According to the overnight ratings for May 24, 2006, an average of 42.94 million viewers^[43] tuned in to the final half-hour of the fifth season finale when Taylor Hicks was announced as the 2006 American Idol.

Season Six: On the season finale of the sixth season, the ratings of American Idol saw a drop of 19 percent^[44] from last year, when Taylor Hicks was crowned as the 2006 Idol. However, the results are preliminary as the ratings were measured between 8pm-10pm. Ratings of the season finale peaked at 34.9 million viewers at 10pm, just five minutes before Jordin Sparks was declared the winner of Idol.^[45]

[edit] International

American Idol is broadcast to over 100 nations outside of the United States, including many with their own version of Idol; however, it is not a live broadcast and may be tape delayed by several days or weeks (excluding Pakistan, India, Israel, Canada, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and the United Arab Emirates in which it is also aired live).

[edit] Top-selling American Idol alumni

This first list only includes contestants with at least one certified album, and the totals do not include pre-Idol recordings. Clay Aiken is the first American Idol artist (and the 4th ever) to have his first three albums debut in the top five on the Billboard 200. Kelly Clarkson is the second American Idol artist (and the 5th ever) to have her first three albums debut in the top five on the Billboard 200.

Gold, Platinum, and/or Multi-platinum (US Sales Only)

A comprehensive list of other American Idol alumni album sales reflects that commercial success can be achieved through association with American Idol and with post-Idol promotion, although the degree of success varies considerably (this list only includes contestants who have numbers available, and again does not include pre-Idol recordings):

[edit] Major award–winning American Idol alumni

Further information: List of Awards/Nominations for American Idol Finalist

On a detailed note, Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood are the only two Idols to win at all three of these major music awards shows. Carrie Underwood also is the only Idol to sweep up honors at all these awards ceremonies in the same season (2006-2007), and the only Idol to win Best New Artist at the Grammys. Underwood also is the quickest Idol to pick up Grammys, with only about a year and 4 months between the Grammy wins and the release of her Debut Album, Some Hearts.

[edit] American Idol Hot 100 singles

The following Idol songs have charted on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Of the 60 songs that have made the Hot 100, Kelly Clarkson has the most charted hits, with 11. Kelly Clarkson, Clay Aiken, and Chris Daughtry are all tied with having the most top 5 hits, all with two each.

Contestants from season five have produced the most hits with 14. Season one and season two each have produced 11 hits. Season four has produced 10 hits, season three has 7, and season six has produced the fewest so far, with 6. Overall, 60 hits have been produced by contestants from all six seasons.

Titles on a yellow background are active singles, which appear on the Hot 100 of the current issue of Billboard magazine. Artists' names listed in bold indicate their Hot 100 debut single.

[edit] American Idol video games

Photograph of American Idol video games for the PlayStation 2.

• American Idol - PlayStation 2, personal computer, Game Boy Advance, mobile phone
• Karaoke Revolution Presents American Idol - PlayStation 2

[edit] Spin-offs

• The Next Great American Band^[48]

[edit] See also

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