American Idol (titled
American Idol: The Search for a Superstar
in the first season) is a reality competition to find new solo
musical talent, created by
Simon
Fuller. It debuted on June 11, 2002 on the
Fox network, and has since become
one of the most popular shows on American television. It is
currently the #1 TV show in the
Nielsen
Ratings and is one of only three that have been #1 for five
consecutive seasons, along with
All in the Family and
The Cosby Show.
Part of the Idol franchise, it is a spinoff from
the reality program Pop Idol,
which first aired in 2001 in the United
Kingdom
.
The program seeks to discover the best singer in the country
through a series of nation-wide auditions. Through phone voting
America has chosen past winners
Kelly
Clarkson (Season One),
Ruben
Studdard (Season Two),
Fantasia
Barrino (Season Three),
Carrie
Underwood (Season Four),
Taylor
Hicks (Season Five),
Jordin Sparks
(Season Six),
David Cook (Season
Seven), and
Kris Allen (Season Eight).
Notably,
with the exception of Jordin Sparks (whose parents are from
Arizona
) all
American Idol winners have been from the American South
In order to aid voters, the judges give critiques of the
contestants' performances:
Grammy
award-winning record producer and music manager
Randy Jackson; award-winning music executive
and music manager
Simon Cowell; and
Grammy award-nominated
singer-songwriter and record producer
Kara DioGuardi.
Grammy award-winning pop singer and
Emmy award-winning
choreographer Paula
Abdul was a judge for seasons one through eight. The format
originally featured three judges with DioGuardi added in the
eighth season. After
Abdul's exit, on September 9, 2009,
Ellen DeGeneres was confirmed to be her
replacement.
Ryan Seacrest has hosted the show in
its entirety; he was joined by comedian
Brian Dunkleman during the show's first
season. The
American Idol band is led by
Rickey Minor.
The show
usually airs on Tuesday and Wednesday nights in the United States
and Canada, Wednesday and Thursday nights in Australia and Asia, Thursday
and Friday nights on digital television in the United Kingdom
Friday and Saturday nights in Israel
, and
Saturday and Sunday nights in Latin
America.
Selection process
Initial auditions
Before contestants get the chance to see the show's judges, they go
through two rigorous sets of cuts. The first is a brief audition
with three other contestants in front of one or two of the show's
producers. Contestants are then either sent through to the next
round of producers or asked to leave. Out of the thousands of
people who show up to audition, only about 100–200 contestants in
each city make it past this round. The remaining contestants haha
in front of the four American Idol judges, and those who advance
are sent to Hollywood.
Not all auditions are shown due to time constraints.
Hollywood
Once in Hollywood, the contestants perform on different days, with
eliminations by the judges on each day. During the first six
seasons, contestants select a song from a list to sing for the
first round. For the next round, the contestants split themselves
into small groups and performed a song together. In the final
round, the contestants performed a song of their choice
a cappella.
In the seventh season, the structure of the Hollywood auditions was
revamped and the musical group round was eliminated. Instead,
contestants sang alone on the first day. If the judges felt the
performance was adequate, the contestant moved on to the final
Hollywood round; otherwise, the contestant had one more chance to
impress the judges before the final round. For the first time,
contestants were able to perform with a musical instrument if they
had the ability.
Semifinals
Seasons 1–3
In the first three seasons, the semifinalists were randomly split
into different groups. Each contestant would then sing in their
respective group's night. In season one, there were three separate
groups and the top three contestants from each group made it to the
finals. In seasons two and three, there were four groups of eight
and the top two contestants moved on to the finals.
The first three seasons each featured a wildcard show. Contestants
who failed to make it to the finals were invited back to perform
for another chance at a spot in the finals. In season one, only one
wildcard contestant was chosen by the judges. However, in seasons
two and three, each judge championed one contestant and the public
advanced a fourth into the finals. In the second season, a few
hopefuls who had failed to make the semifinals were selected by the
judges to compete. In the third season, the judges eliminated four
contestants from the wildcard round before they had the opportunity
to sing.
Seasons 4–7
From seasons four to seven, the semifinals were cut down to
twenty-four contestants who were divided by gender in order to
ensure an equal division in the top twelve. The men and women sang
on sequential nights and the bottom two in both groups were
eliminated each week until only twelve finalists were left. By
season 7, contestants were now allowed to play any instrument along
with singing their song.
Season 8
In season eight, there were thirty-six semifinalists. For three
consecutive Tuesdays, twelve different semifinalists performed each
night in the hopes of moving on to the finals. The three
semifinalists with the highest number of votes—one male, one
female, and the next top vote getter—advanced to the finals. The
wild card round also returned, with the judges choosing three
previously eliminated contestants to advance to the finals.
Notably, they chose 4 wildcard contestants this year instead of 3
making it a final 13 instead of a final 12.
Finals
see main disambiguation page, The American Idol finales
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. During the
first few weeks, contestants sing one song each. The top four and
five contestants must sing two songs apiece. The top three perform
three songs apiece.
Themes are based on a musical genre, songs recorded by particular
artists, or
Billboard #1
hits. In the past, themes have included
Motown,
disco, and
big band music, as well as music by such artists as
Michael Jackson,
The Beatles,
Billy
Joel,
Mariah Carey,
Gloria Estefan,
Elton
John,
Andrew Lloyd Webber,
Dolly Parton, and
Elvis Presley. Contestants usually work with a
celebrity mentor during each week.
Following each performance episode, a results show airs that
reveals the breakdown of the voting public's decision. The most
popular contestants are not typically revealed, though they have
been on occasion. The three contestants (two in later rounds) who
received the lowest number of votes are typically called to the
center of the stage. From the bottom three, one contestant is sent
to safety so that two contestants remain (although these are not
necessarily the two contestants with the lowest votes) and finally
the contestant who received the lowest amount of votes is
eliminated from the competition. During Season 8, the judges are
given the ability to perform a "save" if they feel like the voting
audience made a mistake. If they reach a unanimous decision, they
can save the contestant for another week, but the following week
will eliminate 2 people, and the person saved can not be saved
again. Once the contestants get to the top 5, the save can no
longer be used. When a contestant is voted off the show, a montage
of the contestant's experience is played and they give their final
performance.
In the finale, the two remaining contestants perform and one
remaining contestant is declared the winner.
For the first six
seasons, the finale was broadcast from the Kodak
Theatre
, which holds
an audience of approximately 3,400. For season seven, the
venue was changed to the Nokia
Theatre
, which holds an audience of over 7,000. The
winner is announced at the end of the following results show.
The winner receives a one million (US) dollar record deal with a
major label, and is managed by
American Idol-related
19 Management. In some cases, other
finalists 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.
Season synopses
Overview
Fox, along with other networks, initially rejected
American
Idol. 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. 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. It was recently picked up for its ninth season by FOX.
In November 2005, executives at FOX Broadcasting and the producers
of American Idol reached a new deal, allowing the show to remain on
the air through 2011.
Season 1
The first season of
American Idol debuted without hype 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 50 million people watched
the finale in September 2002.
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". Clarkson
has since released four successful albums—
Thankful,
Breakaway,
My December, and
All I Ever Wanted. Her fourth
album
All I Ever Wanted was released on March 10, 2009.
Clarkson was the first contestant ever to win a
Grammy and has gone on to receive several awards and
sell over 20 million records worldwide, the most from any Idol
worldwide. She is the first contestant to have two number one
albums, the only contestant to have two number one singles on
The Billboard Hot 100, have a
non-related Idol single to peak at number one, and to have two
singles reach the 2 million mark in digital download sales with
Since U Been Gone, and
My Life Would Suck Without
You. Clarkson is currently working on her fifth studio album,
which she plans to release in the fall of 2010.
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. Guarini went on to form his own entertainment
company and independently produced a
jazz album
in 2005, and is a host/commentator for the
TV Guide Network.
In addition to Clarkson and Guarini, also signed were
Nikki McKibbin (3rd),
Tamyra Gray (4th),
R. J. Helton (5th), and
Christina Christian (6th).
Tamyra Gray was signed, but was dropped before
releasing an album. She then signed with
Idol creator
Simon Fuller's new label
19 Entertainment, released her debut album
in 2004, and was dropped from that label in 2005.
The show inspired a 2003 musical film,
From Justin to Kelly, featuring
Kelly Clarkson and Justin Guarini.
The musical love story, produced by
Idol s Simon Fuller, was filmed in Miami
,
Florida
over a
period of six weeks shortly after the season ended. Released
several months later in June 2003, the film failed to make back its
budget during its short run in theaters, and is often ranked among
the
worst movies ever
made.
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, and Seacrest surfaced as the lone host.
Kristin Holt was originally announced to be
added as a co-host, but upon airing, her role was reduced to
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. Since then,
the voting methods have been modified to avoid this problem.
In an interview prior to season 5, a statement by executive
producer
Nigel Lythgoe suggested that
Aiken had led the fan voting from the wildcard week onward until
the finale. Aiken became the first non-winning contestant to have a
U.S. Hot 100 number-one with "
This Is the Night".
In addition to Studdard and Aiken,
Kimberley Locke (3rd),
Josh Gracin (4th), and
Carmen Rasmusen (6th) have signed with
various record labels.
The show caused controversy when 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. 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.
Also, after the end of the contest, Studdard sued 205 Flava, Inc.
for
$2 million for using his
image for promotional purposes. Flava responded by alleging that
Studdard had accepted over
$10,000 in return for wearing 205
shirts, and produced eight cashed checks to validate their claim.
The case was settled out of court.
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".
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 profited more than $260,000,000. 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 him 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 over runner-up Diana DeGarmo and released her first single
in June 2004 on the RCA record label. 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, and remained there for one week. Fantasia's debut single
I Believe has been certified double platinum by the CRIA
and received 3
Billboard Music
Awards.
DeGarmo was also signed to RCA. However, the sales of her debut
album
Blue Skies suffered partly from a lack of promotion
and she eventually asked to be released from her contract.
Since
then, she has played different roles on Broadway. She also appeared as a contestant on the
first season of
CMT's reality show
Gone Country.
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.
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. On November 15, 2005,
Underwood released her debut album,
Some Hearts, which
both debuted and peaked at #2 on Billboard.The album was certified
7x platinum and became the highest certified album by an American
Idol . On February 11, 2007, Underwood became the second winner of
American Idol to sweep all three major music awards
(
American Music,
Billboard, and
Grammy Awards) in a single season (for
2006–07), Kelly Clarkson being the first (for 2005-06). She has
become one of the best selling contestant in the show's history and
has sold 9.6 million albums in the U.S.
Other contestants have also seen success in their
post-
Idol careers. 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 and has
finished taping several episodes for a new MTV show to air in the
fall; he also performed in the
off-Broadway production of
The Fantasticks in 2007. Sixth-place
contestant
Constantine Maroulis
released his first solo album in 2007. Maroulis is currently
starring in the new Broadway musical
Rock of Ages for which he has
received a nomination for the
Tony Award for Best Actor
in a Musical.He has also 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 released a
self-titled EP on an independent label. Twelfth-place contestant
Lindsey Cardinale's first single,
"Nothing Like A Dream", was released in March 2006.
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.
Taylor Hicks was named
American
Idol on May 24, 2006; he was the fourth contestant to never
fall into any week's "bottom three". His first post-
Idol
single, "Do I Make You Proud", would debut at #1 and be certified
gold. Hicks' album,
Taylor Hicks, has sold 703,000 copies
, becoming the lowest selling debut winners album to date. 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.
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.
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.
Jordin Sparks was declared the
winner on May 23, 2007, at 10:05 EST, with a new record of 74
million votes in the finale against runner-up
Blake Lewis.
Teenager
Sanjaya Malakar was the
season's most polarizing and talked-about American Idol contestant,
as he continued to survive elimination for several weeks. The
weblog
Vote for the Worst and
satellite radio personality
Howard
Stern both encouraged fans to vote for Sanjaya. However, on
April 18, after over 38 million votes, Sanjaya was voted off.
The Top 6 singers performed inspirational music as a part of the
first ever "Idol Gives Back" telethon-inspired event which raised
more than
$60 million in
corporate and viewer donations. None of the singers were
eliminated, and the votes from that week were added to the votes
from the following week to eliminate two singers. Both weeks saw a
two-hour extension of the regular two-hour voting window, and in
the end, the two-week combined voting totaled 135 million
votes.
In April 2007, the show had 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 2.5 million copies mark. Sparks
released a third single off her album, "
One Step at a Time", which peaked
at #17. This makes Jordin Sparks the only American Idol contestant
to have their first 4 singles become a Top 20 Hit. "One Step at a
Time" has so far sold 1 million copies and is certified
platinum.
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". Tenth place finalist Chris Sligh recently released
a Christian album after signing with Brash Music.
Chris Richardson also recently produced his first single, "All
Alone."
This season of American Idol,
Jordin
Sparks became the fourth winner to never be in the bottom two
or bottom three. She is joined by
Kelly
Clarkson,
Clay Aiken,
Carrie Underwood,
Taylor Hicks as the Top 2 contestants never to
have been in the bottom 2 or 3.
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
for a two-day, four-hour premiere.
David Cook was announced the winner of
American Idol season 7 on May 21, 2008, with a record breaking 56%
of the 97.5 million votes. 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.
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.
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 broadcasted
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.
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. (Eventual winner 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".
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.
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. Cook teamed
with
Grammy winning producer Rob Cavallo
(
Green Day,
Kid
Rock) on the album. A single from the album, "
Light On", was released in September 2008.
David Archuleta signed with
Jive
Records and his
self-titled
debut album was released on November 11, 2008 and was 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. The song has sold 1.5 million
copies as of January 2009, making it one of the most successful
singles ever from an
Idol contestant. A second single from
the album, "
A Little Too Not
Over You" has been released.
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.
Mike Darnell, the president of alternative
programming for Fox, stated that this season would focus more on
the contestants' reality and emotional state. This season
introduced a fourth judge on the panel: record producer, singer and
songwriter
Kara DioGuardi. 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. It was also announced that
Idol Gives Back would not return during the
season due to the
ongoing economic crisis and
recession. 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.
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.
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' Save' was used. Matt Giraud
was kept in the competition and nobody went home.
3 Because of the Judges' Save on April 15, Lil Rounds
and Anoop Desai were both eliminated on April 22.
Season 9
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. As
the top-rated television show in the United States,
Idol
earns an average of $623,000 for a 30-second commercial.
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 although video
evidence suggests there is no liquid in the cups. 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.) In seasons 1 through 4, after every
Wednesday results show, the host and remaining contestants 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. 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.
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; the final two of season 7 received
Ford Escape Hybrids; the final
two of season 8 received
Ford Fusion
Hybrids. Previous contestants
Kelly
Clarkson and
Taylor Hicks have 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 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 around 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.
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.
Kellogg and
Pop-Tarts are also two major sponsors, especially
of the cast tour that follows the end of every season.
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.
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, 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.
Controversy
The show and its producers have been criticized for what some claim
to be total control of the careers of the winners of the contest.
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. Others
pointed to
vote splitting as the more
likely cause. Since the
2004
season, the vote has been manipulated to some degree by online
community services such as
DialIdol.com,
Worldsentiment.com, and
VotefortheWorst.com.
Individual contestants have generated controversy in this amateur
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.
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.
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. However, it will
return on April 21, 2010 during season 9.
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.
| Season |
Premiered |
Ended |
TV Season |
Timeslot |
Rank |
| Date |
Viewers
(in millions) |
Date |
Viewers
(in millions) |
|
1st |
June
11-June 12, 2002 |
9.90 |
Final Performances: September 3, 2002 |
18.69 |
2002 |
Tuesday
9:00PM
(performance show) |
#30 |
|
Season Finale: September 4, 2002 |
22.77 |
Wednesday
9:30PM
(results show) |
#25 |
|
2nd |
January
21-January 22, 2003 |
26.50 |
Final Performances: May 20, 2003 |
25.67 |
2003 |
Tuesday
8:00PM
(performance show) |
#5 |
|
Season Finale: May 21, 2003 |
38.00 |
Wednesday
8:30PM
(results show) |
#3 |
|
3rd |
January
19-January 20, 2004 |
28.56 |
Final Performances: May 25, 2004 |
25.13 |
2004 |
Tuesday
8:00PM
(performance show) |
#2 |
|
Season Finale: May 26, 2004 |
28.84 |
Wednesday
8:30PM
(results show) |
#3 |
|
4th |
January
18-January 19, 2005 |
33.58 |
Final Performances: May 24, 2005 |
28.05 |
2005 |
Tuesday
8:00PM
(performance show) |
#1 |
|
Season Finale: May 25, 2005 |
30.27 |
Wednesday
8:00PM
(results show) |
#3 |
|
5th |
January
17-January 18, 2006 |
35.53 |
Final Performances: May 23, 2006 |
31.78 |
2006 |
Tuesday
8:00PM
(performance show) |
#1 |
|
Season Finale: May 24, 2006 |
36.38 |
Wednesday
8:00PM
(results show) |
#1 |
|
6th' |
January
16-January 17, 2007 |
37.7 |
Final Performances: May 22, 2007 |
25.33 |
2007 |
Tuesday
8:00PM
(performance show) |
#2 |
|
Season Finale: May 23, 2007 |
30.74 |
Wednesday
8:00PM
(results show) |
#1 |
|
7th |
January
15-January 16, 2008 |
33.4 |
Final Performances: May 20, 2008 |
27.06 |
2008 |
Tuesday
8:00PM
(performance show) |
#1 |
|
Season Finale: May 21, 2008 |
31.66 |
Wednesday
9:00PM
(results show) |
#2 |
|
8th |
January
13-January 14, 2009 |
30.4 |
Final Performances: May 19, 2009 |
23.82 |
2009 |
Tuesday
8:00PM
(performance show) |
#2 |
|
Season Finale: May 20, 2009 |
28.84 |
Wednesday
9:00PM
(results show) |
#1 |
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."
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"—have often rearranged their
schedules in order to minimize losses. Conversely, Fox has used
American Idol to help promote other programs on its
schedule.
However, since Season Six, 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% 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.
Season Seven 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). 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. 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. Overall, ratings for the seventh season were down 10% from
last season. General attrition of television audiences was the
primary reason cited for this ratings decline.
Initial numbers for season 8 show further erosion, as numbers have
fallen approximately 15% compared to similar episodes from season
7. Though the Wednesday show continues to hold a dominating lead,
on Tuesdays, the show has been losing ground to CBS's
NCIS, which is coming very close to
beating
Idol in overall viewers.
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 the UK airs
episodes 2 days 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 3 days after the showing in the United States.
| Country / Region |
Channel |
United
States
(origin) |
Fox |
| Australia |
FOX8 |
Canada |
CTV/Fox |
| Asia, Middle
East |
MBC4 |
Denmark |
TV3 Viasat |
Estonia |
TV3 |
Finland |
Sub ->2007, MTV3 |
Hong Kong , India, Southeast Asia |
STAR World |
Hong Kong, Macau , Guangdong, China |
aTV World |
China |
STAR TV |
Hungary |
TV2 |
Iceland |
Stöð 2 |
| Indonesia |
Global TV |
Ireland |
TV3 Ireland |
| Israel |
HOT family / yes stars Base |
Italy |
Sky Uno |
Japan |
FOXlife, FOX HD, BS11 |
| Brazil |
Sony
Entertainment Television |
Uruguay , Venezuela |
Sony |
| Malaysia |
8TV |
New
Zealand |
TVNZ |
Norway |
TV2 Zebra |
| Philippines |
QTV11, STAR World |
Portugal |
FOXlife |
Singapore |
Channel5 |
| South Africa |
MNET Series |
Sweden |
TV4 |
| United
Kingdom |
ITV2 |
Vietnam |
HTV2 |
From season 7 onwards, American Idol is exclusively being broadcast
direct to Australia via satellite on
FOX8 just
seven hours after its US premiere.
It also airs in
Matamoros, 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 broadcasted 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 theatre
Many
American Idol finalists have left their marks on the Great White
Way and starred in Broadway
musicals. Some of those people include:
American Idol video games
Spin-offs
Theme park attraction
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. 3
judges (usually including an African American man, a women and a
British man) critique the performances. 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. 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.
See also
References
-
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/17/AR2006041701758.html
-
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118006911.html?categoryId=2848&cs=1
- Kelly Clarkson Says Next Album Will Be 'Really
Different MTV.com
- New York Times.com blog on The Tony Awards
- Telescope Inc
- Daughtry News + Blog | The Official Daughtry
Site
- Usmagazine.com | Buh-Bye-Ya, Sanjaya!
- Yahoo! Buzz
- Netscape Celebrity
- Moldova.org - Music - News - "American Idol" season 7
Auditions begin July 30 in San Diego
- Idol producer: We made mistakes |
American Idol | TCA Press Tour | TV | Entertainment Weekly
- Idol Charities Still Waiting For Funds, The
NonProfit Times, 2008-06-01, Retrieved on 2007-06-05.
- [1], Clay Aiken on The View Retrieved on
2008-5-08.
- RIAA Search - David Cook
- Marnie September (2008).\
http://www.americanidol.com/news/view/?pid=1413
- Idol Chatter 2009-01-28
- OK! Magazine - First for Celebrity News - Less is More for
Next Season of American Idol
- 'Idol's' emotional focus will highlight Abdul
- 'American Idol' adds fourth judge
- Lythgoe Leaving 'American Idol' Retrieved on
2008-05-08.
- American Idol Shelves "Give Back" Show for 2009
Season
- Fox releases 'American Idol' schedule, confirms
format changes
- [2]
- TV's Biggest Moneymakers - Forbes
- Paul Abdul Fakes Drinking Her Coke
- David Cook Wins "American Idol"
- Re the
official American Idol website
- Guitar Hero(R) Hits the Road with the American
Idols Live! Tour 2008
- Elton John Says 'American Idol' Vote Is 'Racist',
Reuters via
Yahoo.com, 2004-04-28, Retrieved on 2007-03-02.
- American Idol voting, Votefair.org, Retrieved
on 2007-03-02.
- Former Britney Flame Headed to Hollywood on
American Idol - Fall TV Watch
- Idol Gives Back 2009 Canceled according to TV
Guide.com
- 'Idol Gives Back' will return to 'American Idol' on
April 21
- 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.
- [3]
- Viewership numbers of primetime programs during the
2004 television season
- Viewership numbers of primetime programs during the
2005 television season
- Viewership numbers of primetime programs during the
2006 television season
- Viewership numbers of primetime programs during the
2007 television season
- 'Idol' Finale Audience Tops 30 Million
- Ratings Wrapup: CBS and Fox Win, Again
- 'Idol' Takes Skinny Ratings Dip
- 'Idol' showdown brings ratings win
- 'Idol' finale matches last year
- Nine of the top 20 shows in 2007-2008 were reality;
Idol's performance show takes #1
- 'American Idol' night 2 draws 29.8 million
viewers. Retrieved on 2009-01-21.
- 'Idol,' 'Dancing' top Tuesday ratings.
Retrieved on 2009-05-27.
- [4]. Retrieved on 2009-05-22.
- 'Idol' finale ratings down 19 percent
- Fox Exec Says Strike Is "Probably a Positive"
Thing
- Update: Fox Pleased Despite 'Idol' Ratings
Dip
- Ominous signs for American Idol
- 'Idol' Tries to Keep Viewers Guessing
- Inaugural ratings likely second best. Variety. 22
January 2009.
- CBS nips at FOX's heels Tuesday: 'American Idol'
still carries the night, but it's close. Zap2It.com. 8 April
2009.
- [5]
- Topic Galleries - OrlandoSentinel.com
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