Series Description:

The American Idol TV show is a 60 minute singing talent competition reality series on the FOX Network where singers compete to become the newest "American Idol". After each contestant performs, the judges give their opinions which are sometimes very complimentary and sometimes extremely critical. After each episode ends, the viewing audience votes on whose performance they most liked. The one with the fewest votes is eliminated and the performances and voting continues weekly until the ultimate winner is chosen. That individual wins a million dollars and a recording contract. The losers also often do quite well in their careers due to the exposure they got on the show.

American Idol Cast Members:

Host: Ryan Seacrest

Judges:

Simon Cowell
Paula Abdul
Randy Jackson
Kara DioGuardia
Ellen DeGeneres

Contestants:

Name ........................ Elimination Date

Season 1 (2002):

Kelly Clarkson .............. Winner
Justin Guarini .............. September 4
Nikki McKibbin .............. August 28
Tamyra Gray ................. August 21
RJ Helton ................... August 14
Christina Christian ......... August 7
Ryan Starr .................. July 31
A.J. Gil .................... July 24
Jim Verraros ................ July 17
EJay Day .................... July 17

Season 2 (2003):

Ruben Studdard .............. Winner
Clay Aiken .................. May 21
Kimberley Locke ............. May 14
Joshua Gracin ............... May 7
Trenyce ..................... April 30
Carmen Rasmusen ............. April 23
Kimberly Caldwell ........... April 16
Rickey Smith ................ April 9
Corey Clark ................. Disqualified April 2
Julia DeMato ................ March 26
Charles Grigsby ............. March 19
Vanessa Olivarez ............ March 12

Season 3 (2004):

Fantasia Barrino ............ Winner
Diana DeGarmo ............... May 26
Jasmine Trias ............... May 19
LaToya London ............... May 12
George Huff ................. May 5
John Stevens ................ April 28
Jennifer Hudson ............. April 21
Jon Peter Lewis ............. April 14
Camile Velasco .............. April 7
Amy Adams ................... March 31
Matthew Rogers .............. March 24
Leah LaBelle ................ March 17

Season 4 (2005):

Carrie Underwood ............ Winner
Bo Bice ..................... May 25
Vonzell Solomon ............. May 18
Anthony Fedorov ............. May 11
Scott Savol ................. May 4
Constantine Maroulis ........ April 27
Anwar Robinson .............. April 20
Nadia Turner ................ April 13
Nikko Smith ................. April 6
Jessica Sierra .............. March 30
Mikalah Gordon .............. March 24
Lindsey Cardinale ........... March 16

Season 5 (2006):

Taylor Hicks ................ Winner
Katharine McPhee ............ May 24
Elliott Yamin ............... May 17
Chris Daughtry .............. May 10
Paris Bennett ............... May 3
Kellie Pickler .............. April 26
Ace Young ................... April 19
Bucky Covington ............. April 12
Mandisa ..................... April 5
Lisa Tucker ................. March 29
Kevin Covais ................ March 22
Melissa McGhee .............. March 15

Season 6 (2007):

Jordin Sparks ............... Winner
Blake Lewis ................. May 23
Melinda Doolittle ........... May 16
LaKisha Jones ............... May 9
Chris Richardson ............ May 2
Phil Stacey ................. May 2
Sanjaya Malakar ............. April 18
Haley Scarnato .............. April 11
Gina Glocksen ............... April 4
Chris Sligh ................. March 28
Stephanie Edwards ........... March 21
Brandon Rogers .............. March 14

Season 7 (2008):

David Cook .................. Winner
David Archuleta ............. May 21
Syesha Mercado .............. May 14
Jason Castro ................ May 7
Brooke White ................ April 30
Carly Smithson .............. April 23
Kristy Lee Cook ............. April 16
Michael Johns ............... April 10
Ramiele Malubay ............. April 2
Chikezie .................... March 26
Amanda Overmyer ............. March 19
David Hernandez ............. March 12

Season 8 (2009):

Kris Allen .................. Winner
Adam Lambert ................ May 20
Danny Gokey ................. May 13
Allison Iraheta ............. May 6
Matt Giraud ................. April 29
Anoop Desai ................. April 22
Lil Rounds .................. April 22
Scott MacIntyre ............. April 8
Megan Joy ................... April 1
Michael Sarver .............. March 26
Alexis Grace ................ March 18
Jorge Núñez ................. March 11
Jasmine Murray .............. March 11

Season 9 (2010):

Lee DeWyze .................. Winner
Crystal Bowersox ............ May 26
Casey James ................. May 19
Michael Lynche .............. May 12
Aaron Kelly ................. May 5
Siobhan Magnus .............. April 28
Time Urban .................. April 21
Andrew Garcia ............... April 14
Katie Stevens ............... April 14
Didi Benami ................. March 31
Paige Miles ................. March 24
Lacey Brown ................. March 17

American Idol Trivia:

American Idol is a "spinoff series" of a British TV show that aired from 2001 to 2003 titled, "Pop Idol".

While everyone refers to the show as simply "American Idol" today, its original title was "American Idol: The Search For a Superstar".

As of this writing (August 2010), American Idol has been the top ranked TV show on television for six consecutive seasons! It is the only series to have ever done that! There have only been two other series that even made it for five consecutive seasons. They were first, "All in the Family" and then "The Cosby Show". When you consider that American Idol is a 60 minute series that airs two or three times per week compared to those other shows that were broadcast for 30 minutes once each week, the feat of becoming number one becomes almost unbelievdable!

Kris Allen and Kelly Clarkson are the only American Idol winners that didn't have their whole audition aired on TV. There was a short clip of a portion of Kris' audition shown but nothing at all was shown of Kelly's audition.

Executives at other networks commonly refer to American Idol as "The Death Star"! They figure that the quickest way to kill a series is to schedule it in American Idol's time slot! FOX takes advantage of the huge draw with a widely demographic audience to promote their other series, yet again reaking havoc on the other networks' shows!

There have been some celebrities invited to participate as judges for a few episodes. They included Avril Lavigne, Katy Perry, Shania Twain, Victoria Beckham, Neil Patrick Harris ("How I Met Your Mother"), Kristin Chenoweth ("Pushing Daisies"), and Neil Sedaka among others.

No trophy was given to the American Idol winners until the eighth season.

During the seventh season auditions in Dallas, Texas a very pregnant Idol contestant Antoria Gillon auditioned while she was in labor. Even though she was considerably disadvantaged, she did qualify for the finals in Hollywood but didn't make it on the show.

American Idol Games are available at Amazon.com for Playstation 2 and 3, Xbox, WII, Computer, and Game Boy Advance.

If you would like to share your thoughts about American Idol with other fans or just see what others are saying, you're welcome to join in at our American Idol Forum.

TV Documentary Movie:

From Justin To Kelly: The Rise of Two American Idols (6/20/2003)

Series Description:

American Idol Cast Members:

American Idol Trivia:

TV Documentary Movie:

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