American Idol

American Idol
Format	Interactive talent show Reality show
Created by	Simon Fuller
Directed by	John Pritchett (live shows, 2008) Bruce Gowers (live shows, 2002–2008, 2009) Nigel Lythgoe (audition shows, 2002–2008, 2010–present) Ken Warwick, Gregg Gelfland (audition shows)
Presented by	Ryan Seacrest Brian Dunkleman (2002)
Judges	Randy Jackson Paula Abdul (2002–2009) Simon Cowell (2002–2010) Kara DioGuardi (2009–2010) Ellen DeGeneres (2010)
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	9
No. of episodes	355 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Nigel Lythgoe (2002–2008, 2010–present) Ken Warwick Cecile Frot-Coutaz
Location(s)	Initial auditions: Various Hollywood auditions: Kodak Theatre Hollywood Semi-finals and finals: CBS Television City Finale: Nokia Theatre
Running time	Varies between 1/2 hour and 2 hours
Production company(s)	FremantleMedia North America 19 Television
Distributor	FremantleMedia Enterprises
Broadcast
Original channel	Fox
Picture format	480i (NTSC), 720p (HDTV) (since 2006)
Original run	June 11, 2002 (2002-06-11) – present
Status	Latest season ended
External links
Official website

American Idol is a reality television competition to find new solo singing talent. Part of the Idol franchise, it was created by Simon Fuller as a spin-off from the British show Pop Idol. Debuting on June 11, 2002, as American Idol: The Search for a Superstar on the Fox network, the show has since become one of the most popular in the history of American television. It is currently the most-watched TV series in the Nielsen ratings and is the only program to have been number 1 for an unprecedented six consecutive seasons, surpassing All in the Family and The Cosby Show, which were both number 1 for five consecutive seasons.

The program aims to discover the best singer in the country where the winner is determined by the viewers. Through telephone and SMS text voting, viewers have chosen as winners Kelly Clarkson, Ruben Studdard, Fantasia Barrino, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Hicks, Jordin Sparks, David Cook, Kris Allen, and Lee DeWyze (listed in chronological order).

The series employs a panel of judges who critique the contestants' performances. The original three judges were Grammy award-winning record producer and music manager Randy Jackson, award-winning music executive and music manager Simon Cowell, and Grammy award-winning pop singer and Emmy award-winning choreographer Paula Abdul.^[1] Currently the judging panel consists of Randy Jackson only, the other positions are as yet unfilled. The show is hosted by Ryan Seacrest.

The show has been described by rival TV executives as "the most impactful show in the history of television."^[2] It has also become a recognized springboard for launching the career of many artists as bona fide stars. As Entertainment Weekly puts it, "It's given us Kelly, Carrie, Daughtry, and J. Hud. Idol rules the reality roost because the winners of Fox's ratings juggernaut actually do go on to greatness. And Taylor Hicks? He's the exception that proves the rule."^[3].

History

American Idol was created based on the British show Pop Idol, which was in turn inspired by Popstars, a show TV producer Nigel Lythgoe saw in Australia and brought over to Britain.^[4] Using the idea from Popstars of employing a panel of judges to select singers in audition, and adding other elements such as telephone voting by the viewing public, which at the time was already in use in shows such as Eurovision Song Contest, Simon Fuller then created the show Pop Idol. The show debuted in 2001 in Britain with Nigel Lythgoe as the producer and Simon Cowell as one of the judges, and became very successful.^[5]

Simon Fuller and Simon Cowell attempted to sell the Pop Idol format to the U.S in 2001, but the idea was met with poor response from U.S. TV networks.^[6] 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.^[6] The show was renamed American Idol: The Search for a Superstar, debuted in the summer of 2002^[7], and became one of the summer hit shows that year^[8]. The show, with the personal engagement of the viewers with the contestants, and the presence of the caustic-tongue judge Simon Cowell, grew into a phenomenon. By 2005 it became the biggest show on U.S. TV, a position it then held on for six straight years.^[9] In November 2005, executives at Fox Broadcasting and the producers of American Idol reached a deal allowing the show to remain on the air through 2011.^[10]

Show overview

The show selects in series of step an eventual winner out of many tens of thousands of contestants. The season premiers with the audition rounds in different cities where a few hundreds contestants may be selected by the judges to proceed on to the next round in Hollywood. The audition rounds typically feature a mix of potential finalists, interesting characters and woefully inadequate contestants. Those selected are further winnowed down by the judges in Hollywood so they can participate in the semifinal rounds. From the semifinal onwards the contestants are voted for by the audience in successive weeks until a winner emerges. The results of public votes are typically revealed the night following their performance.

The singers perform with a full band in the finals. From Season 4 to Season 9, the American Idol band was led by Rickey Minor. Other personnel like music directors, vocal coaches, song arrangers such as Dorian Holley (left 2010), Michael Orland, and Debra Byrd may provide assistance to the contestants behind the scene.

The show usually airs on Tuesday and Wednesday nights in the United States and Canada, Wednesday and Thursday nights in Australia, parts of Asia, and the United Kingdom, Friday nights in Ireland, Friday and Saturday nights in Israel, and Saturday and Sunday nights in Latin America.

Audience voting

A prominent feature of the show is the encouragement to the public to vote for their favorite performer. During the contestant's performance as well as the recap at the end, a toll-free telephone number for each contestant is displayed on the screen. For a two-hour period after the episode ends in each US time zone, viewers may dial or text their preferred contestant's telephone number, and each call or text registered as a vote for that contestant. Viewers are allowed to vote as many times as they can within the two-hour voting window. Over 110 million votes were cast in the first season, and by Season 8 the seasonal total has increased to 624 million.^[11] Voting via text messaging was made available in the second season when AT&T Wireless joined as a sponsor of the show, and 7.5 million text messages were sent to American Idol in this season^[12]. The number of texts rapidly increased, reaching a peak of 178 million texts in Season 8^[13].

Judges and presenters

The show had originally planned on having four judges following the Pop Idol format, however only three judges had been found by the time of the audition round in the first season, namely Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson. The show kept with the three judges format until Season 8, with the occasional guest judges introduced. All three original judges stayed on the judging panel for eight seasons.

Latin Grammy Award-nominated singer–songwriter and record producer Kara DioGuardi was added as a fourth judge for the eighth season. Paula Abdul left the show in 2009 after failing to agree terms with the show producers. On September 9, 2009, Emmy Award-winning talk show host Ellen DeGeneres was confirmed to be Abdul's replacement for the ninth season.^[14] On January 11, 2010, Simon Cowell announced that he was leaving the show to pursue introducing his show The X Factor to the USA for 2011.^[15] On July 29, 2010, it was announced that Ellen DeGeneres would also leave the show, after only one season on the judging panel.^[16] On September 3, 2010, it was announced that Kara DioGuardi would also leave the show after two seasons.^[17]

The first season was presented by Ryan Seacrest and Brian Dunkleman. Brian Dunkleman chose not to return after the first season and Ryan Seacrest has presented the show alone since.

• bold denotes person is still active on the show

Selection process

Contestant eligibility

The eligible age-range for contestants is currently 15–28 years old. The initial age limit was 16-24 in the first three seasons, but the upper limit was raised to 28 in Season 4. On June 21, 2010, Idol announced that the age limit would be lowered to 15.^[18] The contestants must be legal U.S. residents, and must not hold any current recording or talent representation contract by the semifinal stage (in previous years by the audition stage).^[19]

Season 9's Denver audition, at Invesco Field at Mile High.

Initial auditions

Contestants went through three rigorous sets of cuts. The first was a brief audition with three other contestants in front of selectors which may include one of the show's producers. The successful contestants were then sent through to the next round of audition in front of producers. The number of auditioners can exceed 10,000 people each city, but only about 100–200 contestants in each city may make it past this round of preliminary auditions. More contestants were cut in the producers round before they can proceed to audition in front of the judges, which is the only audition stage shown on the show.^[20] However, in more recent seasons, some contestants were able to skip the first two auditions and go straight through to audition in front of the American Idol judges, one example being Jordin Sparks who earned that privilege as the winner of Arizona Idol ^[21] . Those selected by the judges were sent to Hollywood. Only about 10–40 people in each city made it to Hollywood. They have never visited the same city three seasons in a row.

Hollywood

Once in Hollywood, the contestants perform on different days, with eliminations in 3 rounds by the judges. For the first round, contestants select a song from a list to sing for the first round. For the next round, with the exception of Season 7, the contestants split themselves up into small groups and performed a song together. This musical group round was eliminated in Season 7, and a contestant may move directly to the final Hollywood round if the judges considered their first round performance good enough. In the final round, the contestants performed a song of their choice a cappella. Contestants were free to perform with a musical instrument if they so wished for the first time in Season 7.

Semifinals

In the first three seasons as well as Season 8, the semifinalists were split into different groups where each would perform in their respective group's night. In Season 1, there were three groups of ten, with the top three contestants from each group making the finals. In Seasons 2 and 3, there were four groups of eight, and the top two contestants selected. In Season 8 there were three groups of twelve, with three contestants moving forward - the highest male, the highest female, and the next highest-placed singer.

These four seasons each featured a wildcard show. Contestants who failed to make it to the finals were invited back for another chance at a spot in the finals. However, four contestants in the wildcard round were eliminated in Season 3 by the judges before they had the chance to sing. In Season 1, only one wildcard contestant was chosen by the judges, giving a total of 10 finalists. In Seasons 2 and 3, each judge championed one contestant with the public advancing a fourth into the finals, making 12 finalists in all. In Season 8, four were chosen to produce a final 13.

From Seasons 4 to 9, excepting Season 8, the 24 semifinalists were divided by gender in order to ensure an equal gender division in the Top 12. The men and women sang separately on consecutive nights, and the bottom two in each groups were eliminated each week until only six of each remained. In season 7, contestants were permitteded to play any instrument while singing.^[22]

With the exception of Season 1 and 2, the contestants in the semifinals performed with a studio audience.

Finals

The finals are broadcast live in prime time from CBS Television City in Los Angeles, in front of a live studio audience. The finals lasted for eight weeks in season one and eleven weeks in subsequent seasons. Each finalist performs a song or songs selected from a weekly theme. The themes may be based on a musical genre, songs recorded by particular artists, or more generic themes such Billboard #1 hits, or songs from each contestant's year of birth. Past themes have included Motown, disco, and big band music, as well as music by such artists as Michael Jackson, The Beatles, Queen, Bee Gees, Gloria Estefan, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Dolly Parton, and Elvis Presley. Contestants usually work with a celebrity mentor related to the theme. Initially the contestants sing one song each week, but this is increased to two song from Top 4 or 5 onwards, then three songs for the Top 2 or 3.

The most popular contestants are usually not revealed in the result show, instead typically the three contestants (two in later rounds) who received the lowest number of votes are called to the center of the stage. From these bottom three, one contestant is sent to safety so that two remain (although they may not necessarily be the two with the fewest votes^[23]). The contestant who received the lowest number of votes is then revealed and eliminated from the competition. When a contestant is voted off, a montage of the contestant's experience is played and they give their final performance.

In Season 8 and Season 9, the judges were given the power of a "save". The contestant with the fewest votes performs their song again while the judges decide on their fate. If the judges reach a unanimous decision, they can save the contestant for another week, but the following week 2 will be eliminated. The save can only be used once, and only before Top 5.

In the finale, the two remaining contestants perform to determine the winner. From season one to six, apart from season two, the finale was broadcast from the Kodak Theatre, which has an audience capacity of approximately 3,400. The finale for season two took place at the Gibson Amphitheatre. For season seven onwards, the venue was changed to the Nokia Theatre, which holds an audience of over 7,000. A special 2-hour result show the next night follows where the winner is announced at the end.

Rewards for winners and finalists

The winner receives a record deal with a major label, which may be five albums in seven years, and secures a management contract with American Idol-affiliated 19 Management (which has the first option to sign all contestants), as well as various lucrative contracts. By 2009 all winners were reportedly earning at least $1 million in their first year as winner^[24]. All the runner-ups of the first nine seasons, as well as some of other finalists, have received record deals with major label. The top 10 finalists typically go on a tour where the participants may each earn a six-figure sum.

Season synopsis

Former logo of American Idol from 2002 to 2008.

Season 1

The first season of American Idol debuted as a summer replacement show in June 2002 on the Fox network. It was co-hosted by Ryan Seacrest and Brian Dunkleman. The show ran for 13 weeks from June–September. An estimated 22.7 million people watched the finale in September 2002.^[25]

The winner, Kelly Clarkson, signed with RCA Records, the label in partnership with American Idol's 19 Management. Immediately post-finale, Clarkson released two singles, including the coronation song, "A Moment Like This".

Runner-up Justin Guarini also signed with RCA Records, eventually debuting an album in 2003 after the conclusion of season 2. RCA dropped him shortly after its debut.

In addition to Clarkson and Guarini, also signed were Nikki McKibbin, Tamyra Gray, R. J. Helton, and Christina Christian.

The show inspired a 2003 musical film, From Justin to Kelly, featuring Kelly Clarkson and Justin Guarini.

Starting September 30, 2006, the first season of American Idol was repackaged as "American Idol Rewind" and syndicated directly to stations in the US.

Season 2

Following the success of season 1, the second season was moved up to air in January 2003. The number of episodes increased, as did the show's budget and the charge for commercial spots. Dunkleman left the show, leaving Seacrest as the lone host. Kristin Holt was originally announced as a co-host,^[26] but upon airing, her role was reduced to special correspondent.

This time, Ruben Studdard emerged as the winner. Out of a total of 24 million votes, Studdard finished just 134,000 votes ahead of Clay Aiken. The slim margin of victory was controversial due to the large number of calls that failed to get through.^[27]

In an interview prior to season five, a statement by executive producer Nigel Lythgoe suggested that Aiken had led the fan voting from the wildcard week onward until the finale.^[28] Aiken became the first non-winning contestant to have a U.S. Hot 100 number-one with "This Is the Night", written by Chris Braide, Aldo Nova and Gary Burr. It was the biggest US single of 2003, selling over one million copies and reaching six times platinum status in Canada as well as number 1 in New Zealand.^[29]

In addition to Studdard and Aiken, Kimberley Locke, Josh Gracin, and Carmen Rasmusen have signed with various record labels.

The show caused controversy when contestant Frenchie Davis was disqualified from the competition after 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. The producers of the show added a Christian marketing team to protect and build faith viewers with faith guru Rick Hendrix after the Frenchie Davis incident.

In 2005, contestant Corey Clark (whom producers disqualified because he had not disclosed a police record) alleged that he and judge Paula 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 due to this affair. A subsequent investigation by an independent counsel hired by Fox "could not corroborate the evidence or allegations provided by Mr. Clark or any witnesses".^[30]

American Idol Rewind started re-airing this season in the fall of 2007.

¹ Neither of the bottom 2 were eliminated on the April 1 results show due to the disqualification of Corey Clark.

Season 3

The third season premiered on January 19, 2004. By the end of its third season, the network had profits of more than $260,000,000.^[31] The winner was Fantasia Barrino, later known simply as "Fantasia," and the runner-up was Diana DeGarmo. The third season was also shown in Australia on Network Ten about half a week after episodes were shown in the U.S. In May 2005, Telescope announced that the third season had a total of approximately 360 million votes.

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 Cowell's criticisms, landed him a record deal with Koch Entertainment and made over $500,000 in record sales.

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, such as Jennifer Hudson, 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.

Over 65 million votes were cast on the night of the finale, more than the first two seasons combined. Fantasia was crowned the winner. Her first single, released in June 2004 on the RCA record label, 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.

In addition to Fantasia and DeGarmo, Jasmine Trias, LaToya London, George Huff, Jennifer Hudson, and Camile Velasco have released albums since the season ended. Hudson has also received praise for her acting in Dreamgirls (for which she won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress), Sex and the City, and The Secret Life of Bees.

Jon Peter Lewis advanced to the top 12 after receiving the majority of the public vote but it is unclear whether the highest vote recipient was already picked by one of the judges as Jon Peter Lewis was told he had made the top 12 after the judges had revealed their picks.

Season 4

The fourth season premiered on January 18, 2005. The age limit was raised to 28 in this season to increase the variety of contestants.^[32][33] Among those who benefited from this new rule were Constantine Maroulis and Bo Bice, considered to be the eldest and most experienced of the season's 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 in Season 5, who was inspired to audition for the show by Bice. In May 2005, Telescope announced that the fourth season had a total of approximately 500 million votes.

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 two of each gender being voted off each week until 12 finalists were left. This was in response to season 3 results, which produced a Top 12 of eight women and just four men.

The winner was Carrie Underwood, a country singer. Underwood's first single, "Inside Your Heaven", debuted at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on June 14, 2005 and had first-week sales of 170,000 copies. One week later, runner-up Bo Bice released his version of the song, which debuted at #2.

¹ None of the bottom 3 on the April 20 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. It remains the highest-rated season in the show's run so far. 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.^[34][35]

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.^[36] Hicks' album, Taylor Hicks, has sold 703,000 copies. He later parted with Arista Records. His follow-up album, "The Distance," was released March 10, 2009 on his own record label Modern Whomp Records.

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.^[37] 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 5 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.^[38]

As of November 2008: Runner-up Katharine McPhee's debut album has sold 374,000 copies; she has two Top 40 Billboard hits. Also notable: sixth-place finisher Kellie Pickler, whose Small Town Girl reached #1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and was certified gold. To date it has sold over 815,000 copies. Third-place finisher Elliott Yamin's eponymous debut album was certified gold and produced a platinum-selling single. Eighth-place finisher Bucky Covington's self-titled debut album has sold over 400,000 copies and generated a top 20 and two top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart. Ninth-place finisher Mandisa's True Beauty album earned a Grammy Award nomination for Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album in 2007.

¹ None of the bottom 3 on the April 12 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.^[39] 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,^[40][41] 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.^[42] When Ryan Seacrest was about to eliminate Jordin Sparks he said since it was a charity night none of the contestants were voted off, 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, the two-week combined voting totaled 135 million votes.

In April 2007, the show launched the American Idol Songwriter contest which enabled fans to select the "coronation song" to be performed by the final two contestants on the top two performance show and by the winner on the finale. Amateur songwriters were able to submit recordings of original songs. 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. The winning song was the ballad "This Is My Now" co-written by Scott Krippayne and Jeff Peabody. "This Is My Now" was recorded by Jordin Sparks and released on May 24, 2007. The song peaked at #15 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Sparks' first non-American Idol single was the top hit (peaking at #8) "Tattoo", which received platinum certification. Her second single was the Billboard Hot 100 #3 hit "No Air" with Chris Brown. The song went to #1 in several countries, and also topped Billboard's Pop Airplay chart. "No Air" had been certified platinum in April but recently passed the 3 million copies mark. It stands as the best-selling single by any Idol contestant. Sparks released a third single off her album, "One Step at a Time", which peaked at #17. "One Step at a Time" has so far sold over a million copies and is certified platinum. Sparks released her sophomore album Battlefield in July 2009. The album's title track became Jordin's fifth top 20 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 10. This makes Jordin Sparks the only American Idol contestant to have their first five singles become Top 20 Hits.

Blake Lewis's first single was "Break Anotha!", which failed to chart on the Billboard Hot 100. His second single, "How Many Words", also failed to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #25 in the Bubbling Under chart (Hot 100 equivalent = 125). Shortly afterward, Lewis confirmed that he had been dropped by Arista records. His album sales are just over 300,000. The drop also canceled his apparent plans for a third single release.

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". Richardson recently produced his first single, "All Alone." Tenth place finalist Chris Sligh recently released a Christian album after signing with Brash Music.

Sparks became the fourth winner to never be in the bottom two or three, joining Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, and Taylor Hicks. Second season runner-up Clay Aiken also avoided being in the bottom group.

¹ On the March 21 results show, only the bottom two were announced.
² From the Final 6 onward, only the names of the eliminated contestants were announced, with no mention of a bottom three or two.

Season 7

American Idol returned for its seventh season on January 15, 2008^[43] for a two-day, four-hour premiere. David Cook was announced the winner of American Idol season 7 on May 21, 2008. Known for his rock-oriented cover versions, most of which he arranged himself, Cook was the first 'rocker' to win the show.

Prior to the start of season 7, Executive Producer Nigel Lythgoe admitted that season 6 had placed more focus on the guest mentors than the contestants.^[44] Changes were planned for season 7 designed to return attention to the contestants by providing more information on their backgrounds and families. In addition, starting with the Hollywood rounds, contestants were allowed to accompany themselves on musical instruments.^[45]

On March 11, 2008, American Idol debuted a new state-of-the-art set and stage, along with a new on-air look. The two-night season finale, as announced by Seacrest, was broadcast live from the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles on May 20 and 21, 2008.

Idol Gives Back, which raised more than $75 million in 2007 for various charitable organizations, returned on April 9, 2008. It is said that the revenue earned from the April 9, 2008 event is comparable to the amount raised in 2007 and will be distributed by the Idol Gives Back Foundation.^[46]

The media noted that several of the season 7 semi-finalists had previously had record deals, including Kristy Lee Cook, Brooke White, Michael Johns, and Carly Smithson. (David Cook released an independent solo album and had finished recording a follow-up prior to his audition for the show, but he was never involved with a record label or contract.) Idol rules state that contestants may have had a record deal in the past, but are still eligible as long as they are no longer under contract when Idol begins. Former season 2 contestant Clay Aiken commented during an interview on The View in May 2008 about the general innocence of the contestants, that has increasingly been lost over the years. Aiken stated that the contestants are "increasingly more experienced than ever before".^[47]

The American Idol Songwriter contest, launched during season 6, was continued for this season. During the top two performance show, each contestant performed a song he had selected from the top ten vote getters, but neither of their selections was used as the "coronation song". The winning song, "The Time of My Life", was recorded by David Cook and released on May 22, 2008. The song was certified platinum by the RIAA on December 12, 2008.^[48]

This season David Archuleta and David Cook joined Kelly Clarkson, Clay Aiken, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Hicks and Jordin Sparks as the Top 2 contestants to never have been in the bottom 3 or 2. This season's finale was the first time in the show's history where neither one of the top 2 were ever in the bottom 3.

David Cook's debut album was released on November 18, 2008, on 19 Recordings / RCA Records and was certified platinum by the RIAA on January 22, 2009.^[48] Cook teamed with Grammy winning producer Rob Cavallo (Green Day, Kid Rock) on the album. A single from the album, "Light On", was released and peaked at 20 on the billboard top 100 list.^[49]

David Archuleta signed with Jive Records and his self-titled debut album was released on November 11, 2008 and debuted at number 2. Archuleta's album certified gold. Archuleta's first single, "Crush", debuted at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the Hot Digital Songs chart, giving it the highest single debut of 2008 and the highest single debut in 18 months. The song has sold 1.9 million copies as of January 2009,.^[50]

¹ None of the bottom 3 on the April 10 results show was sent back to safety before the elimination announcement.
² From the Final 5 onward, only the names of the eliminated contestants were announced, with no mention of a bottom three or two.

Season 8

The eighth season of American Idol began on January 13, 2009. Auditions began July 17 the previous year. This season featured fewer drawn-out semifinal episodes.^[51] Mike Darnell, the president of alternative programming for Fox, stated that this season would focus more on the contestants' reality and emotional state.^[52] This season introduced a fourth judge on the panel: record producer, singer and songwriter Kara DioGuardi.^[53] Also, this was Paula Abdul's final season of judging the show.

After Fox and producers promised changes to the show, on August 4 showrunner and executive producer Nigel Lythgoe announced he was leaving "Idol" to focus on international versions of his other show So You Think You Can Dance.^[54] It was also announced that Idol Gives Back would not return during the season due to the ongoing economic crisis and recession.^[55] In addition, the Hollywood round was moved to the Kodak Theatre for 2009 and was also extended to two weeks.

This season featured for the first time 36 semifinalists with 12 different semifinalists performing every Tuesday. The male, female, and the next top vote getter with the highest number of America's votes made it into the top 13. This season also featured the return of the Wild Card round, last used in season 3. The judges selected eight eliminated contestants. The plan was for them to select three of those to advance to the finals based on their singing on March 5. When the time came, they put through four instead of three.^[56] Another change in the Idol format, which was revealed on March 11, 2009, is that the judges are able to exercise a veto power on one eliminated contestant up until the top 5 of the competition and spare them from elimination. This is called the "Judge's Save". Executive producer Ken Warwick stated they tested it with the sixth season of Nouvelle Star.^[57] The winner was Kris Allen, a native of Conway, Arkansas, who was then signed to 19 Entertainment/Jive Records. In addition to Allen, Adam Lambert, Danny Gokey, Allison Iraheta, Lil Rounds and Michael Sarver all signed record deals.

¹ In Week One of the finals, even though Anoop Desai and Megan Joy were brought to center-stage as is traditionally done with bottom 3 contestants, Ryan never actually stated that they were low vote-getters.
² On April 15, the judges used their one save on Matt Giraud.
³ Because of the Judges' Save on April 15, Lil Rounds and Anoop Desai were both eliminated on April 22.

Season 9

The ninth season of American Idol premiered on January 12, 2010. Auditions had began on June 14 of the previous year, less than a month after previous season's finale. Ellen DeGeneres joined the show as a judge, replacing Paula Abdul, and made her appearance at the start of Hollywood Week, which aired February 9, 2010. After the season finished, DeGeneres announced that she would be leaving the show. This was Simon Cowell and Kara DioGuardi's final season on American Idol as well. Their departures left three vacant seats on the judging panel for season ten.

The season also reverted to the 24 semi-final format.^[58]

In addition, guest mentors this season included Miley Cyrus, Usher, Alicia Keys, Shania Twain (who was also a guest judge during the Chicago auditions), Jamie Foxx (who had also mentored the previous season), Harry Connick, Jr., and Adam Lambert (who was the first Idol alum asked to be a mentor).

Idol Gives Back also returned on April 21, 2010.

This was the second season where neither of the final 2 contestants had been in the bottom 2 or 3. Lee DeWyze and Crystal Bowersox join Kelly Clarkson, Clay Aiken, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Hicks, Jordin Sparks, David Cook, and David Archuleta as members of the final 2 who had never been in the bottom 2 or 3. Paula Abdul made an appearance on the finale to talk about Simon Cowell.

The winner was declared Lee DeWyze during the May 26 finale, defeating runner-up Crystal Bowersox.

¹ On April 7, the judges used their one save on Michael Lynche.
² Because of the Judges' Save on April 7, Andrew Garcia and Katie Stevens were both eliminated on April 14.

Season 10

The tenth season of the series is slated to premiere on January 12, 2011 on Fox. This will be the first season where teenagers aged 15 will be eligible to audition for the show. Contestants as of season 10 will be signing to UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M Records.

After season nine, Simon Cowell, Ellen DeGeneres and Kara DioGuardi left the show as judges.^[16]

On August 4, 2010 it was announced that Nigel Lythgoe will return as executive producer.^[59][60]

Media sponsorship

American Idol is often noted for advertising its sponsors during the show's runtime. Idol showed 4,151 product placements in its first 38 episodes during season 7, according to Nielsen Media Research.^[61] In Season 8, as the top-rated television show in the United States, Idol was estimated to earn an average of $623,000 for a 30-second commercial.^[62]

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. Cups of Vitaminwater, a subsidiary of Coca-Cola, have also been seen on the judges' table during the Season 9 audition episodes.^[63] Contestants and host are shown 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.) The red room was removed in season 7 at the beginning of the top 12 when American Idol switched to a new stage. Highlights of the show were also featured on the official American Idol web site with a Coca-Cola logo surrounding them.^[31]

Products from the Ford Motor Company also receive prominent product placement; contestants appear in Ford videos on the results shows, and the final two of seasons 4, 5 and 6 each won free Mustangs; the final two of season 7 received Ford Escape Hybrids; the final two of season 8 received Ford Fusion Hybrids;^[64] the final two of season 9 received Ford Fiestas.^[65] Winners Kelly Clarkson, Taylor Hicks, and Kris Allen have appeared in commercials for Ford. Also, in the top 24's studio, in the red room there is a glass table with a Ford wheel inside of it. The camera routinely captures the logo.

Text voting is made possible by AT&T Mobility, formerly Cingular Wireless. AT&T created an ad campaign that centered on an air-headed teenager going around telling people to vote. This kind of branding to American Idol enabled AT&T to become the favored system to vote for many Americans.^[31]

Apple iTunes joined as a season 7 major sponsor in the U.S., and Ryan Seacrest notes during the program that all performances are available via iTunes. Video is regularly shown of contestants learning their songs by rehearsing with iPods. During season 8 iTunes has been promoted as the official source to download contestant performances. iTunes is listed in the closing credits as a sponsor of the show.

During the first seven seasons, Kellogg and Pop-Tarts were major sponsors, especially of the cast tour that follows the end of every season.^[66] Guitar Hero was added as a sponsor during the season 7 tour. Promotion included demonstrations during intermission as well as a music video featuring the top 10 Idols. In addition, David Cook and David Archuleta appeared in "Risky Business" inspired Guitar Hero commercials that aired during the season 7 finale.^[67] M&M's Pretzel Chocolate Candies was announced as the sponsor of the season 9 tour.^[68]

Jordin Sparks, the winner of the sixth installment of 'Idol', filmed a commercial promoting the new "American Idol Experience" attraction of the Florida theme park, Disney's Hollywood Studios.

Contestants will occasionally don Old Navy clothing during performances,^[66] 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.^[66]

Controversy

The show had been criticized for the excessive control given to 19 Entertainment over the contestants' future career in the contract contestants had to sign when they entered the competition.^[69]

In Season 3, guest judge Elton John called the show 'incredibly racist' in a press conference after African American contestants Jennifer Hudson, LaToya London and Fantasia Barrino received the 3 lowest numbers of votes resulting in the elimination of Hudson.^[70] Others pointed to vote splitting as the more likely cause.^[71] Since the 2004 season, the vote has been affected to some degree by online community services such as DialIdol.com, Worldsentiment.com, and VotefortheWorst.com.

Individual contestants have generated controversy in this competition, such as Season 7 contestant Carly Smithson who had a prior major label record deal MCA Records under the name Carly Hennessy, her maiden name. Contestant Robbie Carrico who had a minor hit in 2000 with the single "Messed Around", as well as opening for Britney Spears in 1999 as a member of Boyz N Girlz United.^[72] Joanna Pacitti was originally a top 36 contestant on season 8, but was later disqualified when it was revealed that she had connections to the producers at 19 Entertainment.^[73]

Chris Golightly of Season 9 was originally selected as a semi-finalist. According to reports, Chris was disqualified February 17, 2010, over an existing contract in violation of the rules. He was replaced by Tim Urban.^[74]

Geographical bias

Since the show's inception in 2002, six of the nine Idol winners, including its first five have come from the American South.^[75] The three exceptions are Jordin Sparks who came from Arizona, David Cook from Missouri and Lee DeWyze from Illinois. A large number of other notable finalists during the series' run have also hailed from the American South, including Clay Aiken, Kellie Picker, and Chris Daughtry who are all from North Carolina.^[75] At the time of the 2004 finals, which pitted North Carolina's Fantasia Barrino against Georgia's Diana DeGarmo, their hometowns' respective mayors each cited "character" as an appealing characteristic of successful Idol contestants.^[76] More recently, Chris Muratore, vice president of Nielsen Entertainment noted, “Each one of these artists appeals to the larger music consumer ... Carrie Underwood is not a traditional country artist; she crosses over. Kelly Clarkson is the same.”^[75] Data from Nielsen SoundScan, a music-sales tracking service, showed that of the 47 million CDs sold by Idol contestants through January 2010, 85 percent were by contestants with ties to the American South.^[75]

The show itself is particularly popular in the American South, with households in the Southeastern United States 10 percent more likely to watch American Idol during the eighth season in 2009, and those in the East Central region, such as Kentucky, were 16 percent more likely to tune into the series.^[75] When asked about the appeal of Southern contestants, season 5 winner Taylor Hicks, from the state of Alabama said, "People in the South have a lot of pride ... So, they’re adamant about supporting the contestants who do well from their state or region."^[75]

Idol Gives Back

Starting in Season 6 of American Idol, Idol started the annual charity tradition, "Idol Gives Back". "Idol Gives Back" featured performances, celebrities and had the contestants answering phones to receive donations from viewers. Season 7's "Idol Gives Back" featured Robin Williams, Celine Dion, Billy Crystal, Forest Whitaker, Dane Cook, Kiefer Sutherland, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, Jennifer Connelly, Elliott Yamin, Miley Cyrus and others.

"Idol Gives Back" was not held for Season 8, as producers did not think it appropriate during an economic crisis.^[77] However, it returned on April 21, 2010 during season 9.^[78]

In 2010, American Idol received a nomination for the Do Something TV Show Award from the VH1 Do Something Awards. The awards show is produced by Vh1 and Do Something. American Idol won a nomination for raising over $45 million during its Idol Gives Back episode.

Television ratings

Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of American Idol on Fox. It is one of the highest-rated TV shows in the history of television.

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

By 2007, a growing number of television executives have begun to regard American Idol as a programming force unlike any seen before. Jeff Zucker, the new chief executive of NBC Universal, said, "I think Idol is the most impactful show in the history of television."^[2]

American Idol's consistent dominance of an hour two or three nights a week exceeds the 30- or 60-minute reach of previous hits such as The Cosby Show. As a result, competing networks—whose personnel call the show "the Death Star"^[98]—have often rearranged their schedules in order to minimize losses. Conversely, Fox has used American Idol to help promote other programs on its schedule.^[2]

However, since season 6, the show has shown a steady decline in viewership. On the season finale of the sixth season, the ratings of American Idol saw a drop of 19%^[99] from last year, when Taylor Hicks was crowned as the 2006 Idol. Ratings of the season finale peaked at 34.9 million viewers at 10 pm, just five minutes before Taylor Hicks was declared the winner of Idol.^[81]

Season 7 coincided with the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, which, according to early predictions would help the show's ratings by eliminating scripted competition (Idol, being unscripted, was unaffected by the strike).^[100] However, the ratings decline continued into season seven, starting with the premiere which was down 11% among total viewers and 13% among adults ages 18 to 49 from last year.^[101] The performance show featuring the top seven finalist was the lowest-rated Tuesday American Idol show in five years among adults ages 18 to 49. The subsequent results show, in which Kristy Lee Cook was eliminated, delivered American Idol's lowest-rated Wednesday among adults ages 18 to 34 since its first season back in 2002.^[102] Overall, ratings for the seventh season were down 10% from last season.^[103] General attrition of television audiences was the primary reason cited for this ratings decline.

Initial numbers for season 8 showed further erosion, as numbers had fallen approximately 15% compared to similar episodes from season 7.^[104] Though the Wednesday show continued to hold a dominating lead, on Tuesdays, the show was losing ground to CBS's NCIS, which is coming very close to beating Idol in overall viewers.^[105]

Idol's extended streak of perfection in the ratings was broken in season 9. During season 9, NBC's coverage of the 2010 Winter Olympics beat Idol on February 17, with 30.1 million viewers compared to 18.4 million for the results show, the first time Idol had been beaten in six years,^[106] and the lowest ratings since 2003.^[107] The previous night, Idol had earned 23.6 million viewers compared to 19.7 million for the Olympics during the same two hours.^[108] NBC also defeated the following Idol elimination show with its Olympic coverage on Thursday, February 25.^[109] Later in that same season, Dancing with the Stars on ABC drew more viewers than Idol during the last week of March 2010, with Dancing drawing 23 million viewers compared to Idol drawing 21.8 million.^[110] Nevertheless, American Idol finished its ninth season as the most-watched TV series for the sixth year running, breaking the previous record of five consecutive seasons achieved by CBS' All in the Family and NBC's The Cosby Show.^[9][111]

International

American Idol is broadcast to over 100 nations outside of the United States. In most nations these aren't live broadcasts and may be tape delayed by several days or weeks. Episodes are aired live in Canada, Australia & Israel (for most episodes), but Malaysia, India, Indonesia, the Philippines and the Middle East on STAR World; it may be simsubbed with CTV by the BDUs depending on provider and region for those in Canada. In the instances where the airing is delayed, the shows are usually combined into one episode to summarize the results. Australia airs episodes just 5 hours after their US showing, MBC4 another Middle East Channel broadcasts American Idol 19 hours after its showing in the US most people may watch it on MBC4 as it is a free channel unlike STAR World where you have to pay for a showtime package to watch it,and also on MBC4 the finales are live. and the UK airs episodes 1 day after their US showing on digital channel ITV2. It is also aired in Ireland on TV3 Ireland 2 days after the showing. In Brazil and Israel, the show airs 2 days after the showing in the United States.

From season 7 onwards, American Idol is being broadcast direct to Australia exclusively via satellite on FOX8 just seven hours after its US premiere.

It also airs in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico, in English because that market has a Fox affiliate that serve a US market. The broadcast is live, as it is in the Central time zone on XHRIO, while in the rest of the country, as of the rest of Latin America, the show is broadcast and subtitled by Sony Entertainment Television.

In southeast Asia, this show is brought to the audiences via satellite by STAR World every Wednesday and Thursday exactly nine hours after.

Top-selling American Idol alumni

Major award–winning American Idol alumni

Idols in musical theater

Many American Idol finalists have turned to musical theatre post-Idol, some even leaving their mark on the Great White Way. These people include:

• Justin Guarini - Carlos in Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (Broadway)
• Tamyra Gray – Priya in Bombay Dreams (Broadway), Mimi in Rent (Broadway)
• Ruben Studdard – Fats Waller in Fats Waller's Ain't Misbehavin (National Tour)
• Clay Aiken – Sir Robin in Spamalot (Broadway)
• Trenyce – a performer in Fats Waller's Ain't Misbehavin (National Tour)
• Vanessa Olivarez – Tracy Turnblad in Hairspray (Toronto)
• Fantasia Barrino – Celie in The Color Purple (Broadway and National Tour)
• Diana DeGarmo – Penny Pingleton in Hairspray (Broadway), Brooklyn in Brooklyn (National Tour), Sarah in The Toxic Avenger (Off-Broadway), Sheila Franklin in Hair (Broadway), and Doralee Rhodes in 9 to 5 (National Tour)
• LaToya London – Nettie in The Color Purple (National Tour)
• Amy Adams – The Narrator in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (National Tour)
• Anthony Fedorov – Matt in The Fantasticks (Off-Broadway)
• Constantine Maroulis – Sammy in The Wedding Singer (Broadway), Young Soldier in Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris (Off-Broadway), Drew in Rock of Ages (Tony Award Nomination, 2009) (Broadway)
• Anwar Robinson – Tom Collins in Rent (Tour)
• Ace Young – Kenickie (Broadway) and Danny (National Tour) in Grease, Berger in Hair (Broadway)
• Taylor Hicks – Teen Angel in Grease (Broadway and National Tour)
• Jordin Sparks – Nina Rosario in In the Heights (Broadway)
• Syesha Mercado – Deena Jones in Dreamgirls (Apollo Theatre NYC/National Tour)
• Adam Lambert – u/s Fiyero in Wicked (National Tour, Los Angeles) (before American Idol)

American Idol video games

• American Idol – PlayStation 2, PC, Game Boy Advance, mobile phone
• Karaoke Revolution Presents American Idol – PlayStation 2, Xbox 360
• Karaoke Revolution Presents American Idol Encore – PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360
• Karaoke Revolution Presents American Idol Encore 2 – PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360

Spin-offs

Theme park attraction

On February 7, 2008, The Walt Disney Company announced the development of "The American Idol Experience", a live attraction based on American Idol to be built at its Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. The show is co-produced by 19 Entertainment. The attraction opened on February 14, 2009, with many of the former Idol contestants present for the event.

Park guests choose from a list of songs and audition privately for Disney cast members. Those selected then perform on a stage in a 1000 seat theater replicating the American Idol set used during later rounds of recent seasons for an audience of park guests. Three judges, cast to resemble the actual American Idol judges, critique the performances ^[113] Audience members vote for their favorite. There are numerous shows each day with the last show combining the winners of previous shows that day to select the overall winner that day.^[114] Winners are selected by a combination of audience vote and input from a panel of judges. Winners each day are given a "Dream Ticket" which grants them front of the line privileges at any American Idol audition for the real TV series.^[115]

See also

• Nashville Star
• Star Search
• List of American Idol finalists
• American Idol Hot 100 singles
• American Idol concert tours

References

External links

• American Idol Official Website (owned by Fox Interactive Media)
• American Idol at the Internet Movie Database
• American Idol at TV.com
• American Idol Episodes on TVGuide.com

Idol series National franchises United Kingdom (original) • Armenia • Australia • Belgium • Brazil • Bulgaria • Canada • Croatia • Czech Republic • Denmark • Estonia • Finland • France • Georgia • Germany • Greece • Iceland • India • Indonesia • Kazakhstan • Macedonia • Malaysia • Netherlands • New Zealand • Nigeria • Norway • Philippines • Poland • Portugal • Russia • Singapore • Slovakia • South Africa • Sweden • Turkey • United States • Vietnam Regional franchises Pan Arab • Asia • Czech Republic & Slovakia • East Africa • Latin America • Serbia, Montenegro & Macedonia • West Africa • World Idol List of winners