''American Idol'' is on the
Fox Network in the
United States , often compared unfavorably to
Chuck Barris ' ''
The Gong Show '' of the 1970s. It was created by acerbic judge
Simon Cowell with
Simon Fuller (manager of the
Spice Girls and
S Club 7 ) and
Simon Jones (of
Thames Television ). The directors are
Bruce Gowers (director of
Queen 's original "
Bohemian Rhapsody " video),
Nigel And Simon Lythgoe (directors of ''
Survivor '') and
Ken Warwick (''
Gladiators '' and ''
Grudge Match '').
''American Idol'' is produced by
Fremantle North America which is owned by German
Bertelsmann . Each contestant may sign a contract with one of Bertelsmann's many music labels because Bertelsmann owns half of
Sony BMG .
.]]
In the show, hosted by
Ryan Seacrest , hopeful contestants are screened by preliminary panels to be selected for singing talent or humorous potential and human interest. Those who pass the prelims are potentially aired on the show. They then audition before the three main judges -
Simon Cowell
(one of the judges from ''
Pop Idol ''),
Paula Abdul , and
Randy Jackson - in selected cities across the
United States . Sometimes a celebrity fourth judge may be added. These are generally held at large convention centers where thousands of people wait in line for auditions. Past audition cities have included;
New York City ,
Los Angeles ,
San Francisco ,
Miami ,
Atlanta ,
New Orleans ,
Chicago ,
Philadelphia ,
Greensboro ,
Washington, DC ,
Houston ,
Honolulu ,
Denver ,
Detroit ,
St. Louis ,
Boston ,
Las Vegas ,
Orlando ,
Nashville ,
Memphis ,
Dallas ,
Cleveland and
Austin . (Contestants from the season 5 Austin auditions were flown to
San Francisco to audition before the judges due to the effect of
Hurricane Katrina evacuees on the city.) In order to be eligible, the contestants are not permitted to have any current recording or talent management agreements (but may have had one at some point in the past). Based on turnout and availability, producers select a certain number from the crowd to audition before the three judges (this usually takes 2-4 rounds). Contestants are required to sing ''
A Cappella ''. Those who impress the majority of the judges move on to the second round auditions which take place in
Hollywood (typically only several dozen out of the thousands in each city move on). The contestants selected despite lack of singing talent for appearance before the panel provide a major attraction to the viewing audience as they simultaneously proclaim their talent while turning out gut-wrenching performances which are ridiculed by the judges.
reacts to a contestant's poor audition.]]
Much like the original Pop Idol version, one of the most popular portions of each season are initial episodes showcasing ''American Idol'' hopefuls auditioning before the panel of judges. These early episodes focus mainly on the poorest performances from contestants who often appear oblivious to their lack of star talent. These "contestants" have been selected by the preliminary panels in a negative sense; a typical combination is lack of singing ability combined with vanity regarding their "talent." Others are selected for human interest potential: the 2005 auditions featured a "cannibal" who had sampled human flesh in an anthropology class and an aspiring female prize fighter. Other examples include a man dressed in pajamas with no shoes (whose comments made Cowell explode with laughter) and a transvestite who kisses Cowell on the cheek after his (or her) audition wraps up. Poor singers often face intense and humbling criticism from the judges, and especially from Cowell, who can be harsh and blunt in his rejections. Typically the judges express disgust or dismay or suppressed laughter. Some poor performances have attained notoriety on their own; these have included season one's portrayal of "
Lady Marmalade ", season two's performance of
Madonna 's "
Like A Virgin " by
Keith Beukelaer and season three's rendition of
Ricky Martin 's "
She Bangs " by
William Hung .
Contestants must be U.S. citizens and, for the first three seasons, had to be 16 to 24 years of age. For the fourth season, the upper age limit was raised to 28 to attract more mature and diverse contestants. In early 2003, a 50-year-old college professor named Drew Cummings filed a complaint with the
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission , charging the show with age discrimination because producers denied him an audition due to his age. His case was not taken up by the EEOC.
, one of 175 contestants to make it to
Hollywood in season 5, performs before the judges at the Orpheum theatre in
Los Angeles, CA .]]
Once in Hollywood, the three judges narrow the initial field of several hundred down to a group of 24 semifinalists (30 season 1, 32 seasons 2 and 3) (
Complete List ). In season 1, the 30 semifinalists were split into 3 groups of ten and the top 3 of each group advanced to the final 10. This left 9, so the 10th finalist was chosen in a wild-card show in which the 5 performers that were originally eliminated but the judges felt deserved a second chance performed again, allowing one to still advance to the golden ten. In seasons 2 and 3, the 32 semifinalists were split into 4 groups of 8, who would compete for 2 slots in the finals. After 8 were chosen, a wild-card round featuring singers who were previously eliminated but whom the judges felt deserved a second chance gave the audience the chance to select one additional contestant through viewer voting, while each judge selected an additional singer to advance to the finals, filling the field of 12. It is worth noting that the season 2 runner up,
Clay Aiken , was the viewers' wild card choice, having originally fallen short to eventual winner
Ruben Studdard and third-place finisher
Kimberley Locke in the second round of 8. Starting with the 4th season, the semifinalists were split into male-only and female-only. On three consecutive weeks, the male semifinalists perform only against the other men, and the women only against the other women. Each contestant performs live (in the
Eastern and
Central Time Zones ), in primetime, a song of his or her choice, and receives critiques from the judges, who, from this point on, serve almost entirely in an advisory capacity, with little direct influence on the results.
Viewers have two hours following the broadcast of the show in their time zone to phone in votes for their favorite contestant by calling a toll-free number. Viewers with
Cingular Wireless cell phones (Cingular is the official cellular service provider for ''American Idol'') may also send
Text Messages to vote. Callers are allowed to vote as many times as they like for any number of contestants, as long as they vote within the voting window for the time zone assigned to their phone's area code. (Cell phone voters who have tried voting while on business/vacation/etc. in other time zones have reported on various fan forums that their votes were rejected if they tried to vote outside the time zone assigned to their cellular number.) On the following night's episode the results of the nationwide vote are announced, and the bottom two vote-getters are eliminated each week. At the end of the semifinal rounds, the six men and six women who remain advance to the finals.
Semifinalists (and in some cases, other contestants as well) must submit to background checks and may be summarily disqualified for past behavior deemed undesirable, such as an arrest record. Several finalists have been disqualified for revelations that surfaced late in the competition. Semifinalists are also subjected to drug tests, in order to avoid scandals involving drug usage. Contestants who failed the test have not been allowed to proceed in the competition.
Also contestants are contracted to be "conclaved" from the outside world. This stops contestants from using cell phones (unless between family members or during an emergency), the
Internet (especially chatting and message boards), leaving the
Hollywood jurisdiction, leaving their apartments without consent, talking to third-parties, watching TV (especially News and Sports), listening to radio stations, and reading newspapers during their duration in the competition.
In the finals, which last eleven weeks, each finalist performs a song live in primetime from a weekly theme (two songs in later rounds) at
CBS Television City in
Los Angeles, California in front of a live studio audience. Themes have included
Motown ,
Disco ,
Big Band music, and ''
Billboard '' #1 hits. Some themes are based on music recorded by a particular artist, and the finalists have a chance to work with that artist in preparing their performances. Artists around whom themes have been based include
Billy Joel ,
Neil Sedaka ,
The Bee Gees ,
Barry Manilow ,
Gloria Estefan ,
Elton John ,
Stevie Wonder and
Queen .
When there are three finalists remaining, themes are no longer used. Instead, each contestant sings three songs: one of their own choice, one chosen by the judges, and one chosen by record executive
Clive Davis . However in Season Two, in the final three, one song was chosen randomly from a bowl, with one chosen by the performer and one by the judges.
In any case, each week on the following night's live "results" episode, the contestant with the fewest votes is sent home. The bottom three vote-getters are separated from the remaining contestants. Over the course of the episode, two are revealed as being "safe" for the week, and the loser is sent home after performing one final song to end the episode. This process is repeated each week until the one remaining contestant is declared the winner.
, the winner of Season One]]
See Also: American Idol (Season 1)
In the first season the show was co-hosted by Seacrest and
Brian Dunkleman . Winner
Kelly Clarkson has had two successful albums, "Thankful" and "Breakaway". While her first album failed to sell outside of North America, her second set was a global success and garnished two
Grammy Awards in 2006. Other Season One contestants have released albums, but have had little commercial success. Seventh place finisher
Ryan Starr has yet to release an album, citing ''American Idol's'' restrictive contract as the reason, but has appeared on numerous television shows. Her debut album is due out in 2007.
The show also inspired a
2003 movie,
From Justin To Kelly , featuring
Kelly Clarkson and runner-up
Justin Guarini in a musical love story. The film failed to make back its budget
{Link without Title} .
, winner of season two of "American Idol"; also the only male winner so far.]]
See Also: American Idol (Season 2)
In season two, Seacrest surfaced as the lone host, since Dunkleman reportedly hated working on the show, and the studio was dissatisfied with his performance. has also enjoyed radio success after American Idol, with her debut album, "One Love". Her next album is also rumored to be released in 2006.
During the course of the contest Ruben became known for wearing 205 Flava jerseys representing his area code. Shortly after the end of the contest Ruben sued 205 Flava, Inc for $2 Million dollars for using his image for promotional purposes. Flava responded by alleging that Ruben had accepted over $10,000 in return for wearing 205 shirts, and produced 8 cashed checks to validate their claim. The allegations, if true, were a clear violation of the American Idol rules. [http://www.realitytvworld.com/index/articles/story.php?s=1518] The lawsuit was settled out of court. [http://www.realitytvworld.com/news/ruben-studdard-settles-lawsuit-against-birmingham-jersey-maker-205-flava-2109.php]
The rumor mills were buzzing once again in 2005 when Season Two contestant
Corey Clark , who was himself kicked off the show because of a police record he had not disclosed to the show, alleged that he had had an affair with judge Paula Abdul. Clark also alleged that Abdul gave him preferential treatment on the show because of their alleged romance. A subsequent investigation by Fox found no evidence to support Clark's charges.
{Link without Title}
See Also: American Idol (Season 3)
, the winner of season three of American Idol]]
The third season of ''American Idol'' premiered on
January 19 ,
2004 .
The early part of the season introduced
William Hung , a UC Berkeley student, who became popular following his rendition of
Ricky Martin 's "
She Bangs ". His performance as well as his attitude facing Simon's criticisms (which was a stark contrast to other contestants' confrontational, angry reactions) landed him a record deal with Koch Entertainment Records making 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 were unexpectedly eliminated.
Jasmine Trias , despite some negative comments from Simon Cowell survived elimination and took the third spot over
Latoya London . Jasmine later released a CD and attracted fans in her home state of Hawaii and in the Philippines, Singapore, Guam and other South East Asian countries. The third season was also shown in
Australia on
Network Ten about half a week after episodes were shown in the US.
After a nationwide vote of more than 65 million votes in total - more than the first two seasons combined -
Fantasia Barrino won the "American Idol" title and
Diana DeGarmo was runner up. Fantasia has enjoyed commercial success and has been labeled by many respected individuals as a future musical legend. Fantasia also has the honor of being the first artist in history to debut at number one on the
US Hot 100 with a first record which was
"I Believe" . Fantasia has also taken part in writing and acting projects. These include her life memoir, "Life is Not a Fairy Tale", and an original Lifetime movie about her life story, scheduled for a Summer
2006 release on the cable network. Diana DeGarmo's first CD, ''Blue Skies'', was not a commercial success. She has since received a role in the
Broadway production of ''
Hairspray (musical) ''.
, winner of the fourth season of American Idol]]
See Also: American Idol (Season 4)
The fourth season of ''American Idol'' premiered on
January 18 2005 . It was the first season in which the age limit was raised to 28, in order to increase variety. Among those who benefitted from this new rule were
Constantine Maroulis and
Bo Bice , considered to be the eldest (and most experienced) of the season's Idol contestants. They were also constantly mentioned by Ryan 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-orientated contestants has continued with
Chris Daughtry in season five, who was inspired to audition for the show by Bice. However, it should be noted that a female rocker has not yet emerged from the show in any season.
This season also implemented new rules for the final portion of the contest. Instead of competing in semifinal heats in which the top vote-getters are promoted to the final round, 24 semifinalists were named; 12 men and 12 women, who competed separately, with 2 of each gender being voted off each week until 12 finalists were left.
Mario Vazquez , who was originally one of the top 12, dropped out of the competition on
March 11 , just days before the top 12's first performance, citing "personal issues," opening a spot in the final 12 for
Nikko Smith , who had been voted off in the semi-finals the previous week.
The winner was
Carrie Underwood , a country singer, the first winner since Kelly Clarkson to not only win but avoid being in the bottom three for the entire competition.
Bo Bice came in first runner-up.
Her first single, "Inside Your Heaven", was released on June 14, 2005. The single debuted at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, with first-week sales of 170,000 copies, and briefly stopped Mariah Carey's run at #1 with "We Belong Together." One week later, runner-up, Bo Bice, released his version of the song, which debuted at #2. Underwood's version was shunned by country radio reaching a peak of #59 on the country charts. The B-side is "Independence Day", a cover of the Martina McBride hit.
See Also: American Idol (Season 5)
The fifth season of ''American Idol'' began on
January 17 ,
2006 . 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 while picking 12 girls and 12 boys as the semi-finalists. From the beginning, favorites to win the competition were Chris Daughtry, Kellie Pickler, Katharine McPhee, Paris Bennett, Taylor Hicks, and Mandisa. Many people were surprised with Mandisa's elimination country week. The group was then narrowed down to 12 finalists with themes so far as Stevie Wonder, 1950's, 21st century, country, Queen, The Great American Songbook, and Classic Love Songs. The group is presently down to 5 finalists: Elliott Yamin, Paris Bennett, Taylor Hicks, Chris Daughtry, and Katharine McPhee. The season was noted for having the most diverse contestants on the show ever. The season was also noted for having the very first Top 12 that had no criminal records until a crime bubbled up about a twin-switching scandal involving Bucky Covington and his brother Rocky Covington.
The show has since been renewed for five more years; meaning it is expected to air until at least
2013 , running for a total of at least 10 seasons (or longer if still successful then). The auditions for season six are likely to be held between July and October 2006, with the show expected to begin airing in January
2007 .
American Idol is often noted for advertising its sponsors during the show's runtime. Being the number one rated show in the United States, it costs around $705,000 for a 30-second commercial.
Coca-Cola is a major sponsor in the U.S., and all the judges, hosts, and contestants are seen consuming beverages out of cups bearing the Coca-Cola logo, while contestants and host Ryan Seacrest gathering for a "Keeping It Real" segment between songs in the "Coca-Cola Red Room", the show's equivalent to the traditional
Green Room . (During rebroadcast on
ITV in the U.K., the Coca-Cola logo is obscured in the shots.) After every Wednesday results show, the remaining contestants and host meet in the Coca-Cola Red Room to discuss next week's theme; the footage of this meeting is shown at the start of the following Tuesday's performance show. Voting is made possible by
Cingular Wireless , and viewers who cast votes on Cingular Wireless cellular telephones benefit from lower billing costs.
Kellogg and
Pop-Tarts are also two major sponsors, especially of the cast tour that follows the end of every season. Products from the
Ford Motor Company also receive prominent product placement; contestants appear in Ford commercials on the results shows, and the final 2 of season four won free Mustangs. In addition, the American Idol
Logo strongly resembles the Ford Motor Company logo (both are blue ovals featuring
Cursive script). Contestants will occasionally don
Old Navy clothing during performances, and celebrity stylist
Steven Cojocaru has appeared in 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.
Beginning with the second season of ''American Idol'', the show's website has hosted satirical news coverage by the "
Jaded Journalist ." The often sardonic Jaded Journalist has written recaps (summaries) of the show, run an email feedback column, and conducted video interviews of finalists in Hollywood as well as interviews of auditioners in other cities.
Some have proposed that the purpose of the Jaded Journalist is to bring edginess and humor to the otherwise saccharine image that ''American Idol'' tends to promote for itself.
The identity of the Jaded Journalist, whose face was obscured or hidden in videos, was kept relatively secret from the character's inception until 2004, when his identity was revealed to be
Michael Krogmann .
: ''Main Article:
American Idol Controversy ''
- Mandisa, contestant in Season 5, was voted out after country week, whereby her rendition of 'Any Man of Mine' was not well received as a good song choice. The reason behind her elimination was speculated to be due to her statement of ‘''This song goes out to everybody that wants to be free, your addiction, lifestyle and situation may be big, but God is bigger''’ before singing her rendition of 'Shackles (Praise You)' by Mary Mary . Many Americans speculated that the lifestyle stated was regarding the gay lifestyle, which Mandisa denied, clarifying that the lifestyle she was referring to was her lifestyle of addiction to food. Though Mandisa is a fervent follower of Beth Moore , she claims that she does not discriminate against gays, but will not advocate homosexuality either. This controversy was in some ways similar to the one whereby Jennifer Hudson was eliminated as both ladies were favoured by the judges as great singers but still voted out, yet there were major differences, since Hudson had made no controversial comment and had given what many considered to be amazing performances in her final weeks on the show, whereas Mandisa had given what many considered to be mediocre-to-poor performances in her final two weeks on the show.
- At the beginning of the 2006 season, ''American Idol'' garnered some controversy with regard to alleged homophobic comments made by talent judges. GLAAD has posted a statement on their website complaining about said statements. {Link without Title}
- ''American Idol'' has also come under fire for maintaining what some claim to be total control of the careers of the winners of the contest. Former cohost Brian Dunkleman referred to the show as "owning" the winning contestants, noting that winners sign contracts to only record with companies owned by the show's producers and to allow related agencies to manage their careers.
- Season 3 winner Fantasia Barrino included a controversial song on her first album about single motherhood that has received widespread criticism.
- The show is known for encouraging Favoritism within the contestants and having viewers vote for their "favorite" rather than singing ability.
- Since the 2004 season, American Idol producers have battled services like DialIdol.com and Worldsentiment.com. These sites use very large samplings and algorithms to predict the outcome of the vote-off long before the on air-announcement. Some in the media have implied that Las Vegas odds makers exert behind-the-scenes influence in protecting the services.
This series has been imitated by many other shows, among them '''' is a rock competition that premiered on CBS in the summer of 2005.
The WB aired a parody series entitled ''
Superstar USA '', in which the worst singers were picked to move on without knowing that it was a search for the worst rather than the best.
''American Idle''
{Link without Title} by
Dustball is an animated parody of the
Numa Numa Dance .
''
Super Girl '' hosted by HNTV of China also imitated it.
The Idol series, with Simon Cowell, referenced in ''
Shrek 2 ''; Cowell himself has appeared on ''
The Simpsons ''. Simon Cowell also appeared in "Scary Movie 3" at a rap off.
''American Idol'' was parodied on the children's television show ''
All That '' in the sketch
American Idiot .
Kyle Sullivan played an essentially useless host named Brian Peefest.
Giovonnie Samuels played the judge Mandy Snackson, whose frequent catch phrase was "You did your thing, dog," cuing a pack of dogs to enter the stage and attack the "idiot."
Jack DeSena played an overly cruel judge, Slimon Bowell.
Chelsea Brummet played an overly nice judge, Pauly Baboo.
On NBC-TV's '' as
Kelis ,
Jessica Simpson as
Britney Spears ,
Amy Poehler as
Madonna and
Nick Lachey as
Scott Stapp from
Creed ), and another with people with physical problems.
Simon Cowell was portrayed by
Chris Parnell . Justin Guarini and Taylor Hicks were briefly parodied (Guarini during the host's opening monologue, and Hicks during Weekend Update).
The
Spanish Language television network
Telefutura , owned by
Univision , also shows a Puerto Rican-American version of the show, called ''
Objetivo Fama ''
{Link without Title} ("Objective Fame").
Dutch independent martial arts filmmakers
Baaah Productions have parodied the Dutch version of the show, under the name
Kungfu Idol .
The film ''
American Dreamz '' satires the show, the American people (contestants and viewers), the George W. Bush Administration and
Mandy Moore stars as the Carrie Underwood character.
For the full list of Idol spin-offs see
Idol Series
- All of the contestants in season one through four are a part of the Generation Y demographic. The only Generation X ers include people like Bo Bice, Constantine Maroulis, and Scott Savol who were born on the Cusp between the generations and therefore considered a part of both.
- ''American Idol'' became the number one rated television show for 2004-2005, during season four.
- On an episode of '' The Simpsons '', Simon plays the head of an educational institution who believes that Maggie is a genius even smarter than Lisa. Later in the episode, Homer punches Simon in the face, whereupon Simon mocks him, ''American Idol''-style: ''"You call that a punch? I mean, I felt it, but it was like, so what?"''
- All four of the contest winners have originated from the is from Oklahoma ; North Carolina has produced Clay Aiken (runner-up in Season 2) and Fantasia Barrino (winner in Season 3) as well as three of the nine finalists in season 5. Diana DeGarmo home state was Georgia (season 3 runner-up). Alabama was home to season 2 winner Ruben Studdard and season 4 runner-up Bo Bice (and Diana DeGarmo was born there as well). Season 1 winner Kelly Clarkson hails from Texas . Justin Guarini (season 1 runner-up) was born in Georgia , but raised in Pennsylvania . Some fans consider the U.S South the '''Cradle of American Idols''. Five of the top 6 competitors of season 5 of American Idol are from the south, while Katharine McPhee is from California.
- Season Three third placer Jasmine Trias has become a big star in her home state of Hawaii, and in the Philippines.
- American Idol won Favorite TV Show in the 2005 Kids Choice Awards.
- 19 states have not had a semi-finalist. They are Alaska , Delaware , Iowa , Kansas , Kentucky , Maine , Michigan , Minnesota , Mississippi , Montana , Nebraska , New Hampshire , New Mexico , North Dakota , Rhode Island , South Dakota , Vermont , West Virginia and Wyoming . Only three of them Rank Higher Than 30th in population among states.
- ''American Idol'' has produced 4 singles that have gone #1 on the Billboard Hot 100:
- --- "A Moment Like This" - Kelly Clarkson (2 weeks in 2002)
- --- "This Is The Night" - Clay Aiken (2 weeks in 2003)
- --- "I Believe" - Fantasia Barrino (1 week in 2004)
- --- "Inside Your Heaven" - Carrie Underwood (1 week in 2005)
- Three #2 singles have also come from "American Idol" contestants:
- ---"Flying Without Wings" - Ruben Studdard (2003)
- ---"Since U Been Gone" - Kelly Clarkson (2005)
- --- "Inside Your Heaven" - Bo Bice (2005)
- ''American Idol'' has produced 2 singles have gone #1 on the Country Billboard:
- --- "Nothin' to Lose" - Joshua Gracin (2005)
- --- "Jesus Take the Wheel" - Carrie Underwood (six weeks in 2006)
(Season One runner-up Justin Guarini never released a single for sale.)
- A planned theme week featuring Prince scheduled for 2006 was cancelled because of scheduling problems.
- Two films with an identical name to a current contestant were released during the show's run. In 2005, '' Constantine '' was released while Constantine Maroulis was a semifinalist. In 2006, '' Nanny McPhee '' was released while Katharine McPhee was a semifinalist. In addition, although unrelated to the fact, Maroulis and McPhee both attended Boston Conservatory .
