American Idol

American Idol is a television show featured on the Fox Network in the United States, based on the popular British show Pop Idol. The show is a competition in which viewers can call in and vote on contestants to determine the best "undiscovered" young singer in the United States, with the winner receiving a major record deal, although some runners-up have achieved enough fame to ink record deals of their own.

Season synopses

The number next to a contestant's name denotes the number of times he or she was in the "Bottom Three".

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Season one

In the first season the show was co-hosted by Seacrest and Brian Dunkleman. Kelly Clarkson won, with Justin Guarini coming in second. Numerous television specials starring the ten finalists followed, as well as the box office bomb entitled From Justin to Kelly. Since winning, Clarkson has gone on to a very successful recording career, including multiple-platinum albums and a number of Top 10 hit singles.

Related Topics:
Brian Dunkleman - Kelly Clarkson - Justin Guarini - Box office bomb - From Justin to Kelly

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Season two

In season two with Seacrest as the lone host, Ruben Studdard was the winner with Clay Aiken as runner up. Out of 24 million votes cast, Studdard finished just 130,000 votes ahead of Aiken, although there remains controversy over the validity of the reported results. Despite Studdard's win, Aiken has enjoyed more widespread popularity. Controversy arose when semi-finalist Frenchie Davis was booted from the show, after topless pictures she had taken four years before the show aired surfaced. 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. http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/Music/08/12/abdul.idol.reut/index.html

Related Topics:
Ruben Studdard - Clay Aiken - Frenchie Davis - Corey Clark

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Paul Anka made an appearance during the Season finale.

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Season three

The third season of American Idol premiered on January 19, 2004. After a nationwide vote of more than 65 million votes in total, Fantasia Barrino won the "American Idol" title and Diana DeGarmo was runner up. During the season, controversy over the legitimacy of the contest increased as geeky rocker Jon Peter Lewis and young crooner John Stevens stayed afloat while others were unexpectedly eliminated. The third season was also shown in Australia on Network Ten about half a week after episodes were shown in the US.

Related Topics:
January 19 - 2004 - Fantasia Barrino - Diana DeGarmo - Jon Peter Lewis - John Stevens - Australia - Network Ten

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Paul Anka made an appearance in the Season Finale.

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Season four

The fourth season of American Idol premiered on January 18 2005. Auditions were held in Washington, DC, St. Louis, Missouri, New Orleans, Louisiana, Las Vegas, Nevada, Cleveland, Ohio, Orlando, Florida and San Francisco, California. Auditions were held from August to October 2004. While in the past seasons celebrity guest judges have been invited to participate during the competition, this was the first season where guest judges were invited to participate in the auditions. The music celebrities featured were:

Related Topics:
January 18 - 2005 - Washington, DC - St. Louis, Missouri - New Orleans, Louisiana - Las Vegas, Nevada - Cleveland, Ohio - Orlando, Florida - San Francisco, California - August - October - 2004

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• January 18, Mark McGrath of Sugar Ray
• January 25, Gene Simmons of KISS
• January 26, Kenny Loggins
• February 1, LL Cool J
• February 2, Brandy

It is also 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 was Constantine Maroulis and Bo Bice, considered to be the eldest (and most experienced) of 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 songs made them stand out from conventional Idol standards.

Related Topics:
Constantine Maroulis - Bo Bice

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Among the music featured in the program: on January 19 2005, "Look At Me" written by Sara Hickman and performed by her 8-year-old daughter Lily (from the album Big Kid).

Related Topics:
January 19 - 2005 - Sara Hickman - Big Kid

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The most notable contestant in the early episodes was Mary Roach, who auditioned in Washington D.C. Her rendition of Carole King's "I Feel The Earth Move", as well as her comments to the judges that followed her audition, brought considerable negative attention (including false rumors of mental illness) and comparisons to William Hung.

Related Topics:
Mary Roach - Washington D.C. - Carole King - William Hung

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Also noted was Leroy Wells from Grand Bay, Alabama who auditioned in New Orleans singing Ol' Dirty Bastard's "Got Your Money". He acquired mild fame by repeatedly yelling, "Can you dig it?" to the judges and for the inability of the judges (except Randy) to fully understand him.

Related Topics:
Leroy Wells - Grand Bay, Alabama - New Orleans - Ol' Dirty Bastard - Randy

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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.

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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.

Related Topics:
Mario Vazquez - March 11 - Nikko Smith

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The winner was Carrie Underwood, the first winner since Kelly Clarkson to not only win but avoid being in the bottom two or three for the entire competition.

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For the May 18 final three show, a guest judge, legendary record producer Clive Davis was added. He chose the first song each performer would sing, many of which he produced in his career. The second song the performers chose any song from any era. In an unprecedented move, Bo Bice performed his choice completely a cappella. For the third and final song of the night, one of the standard judges (Jackson, Abdul or Cowell) chose each contestant's selection. Vonzell Solomon was the 10th contestant voted off the Top 12 on Wednesday May 18th.

Related Topics:
May 18 - Clive Davis - A cappella - Vonzell Solomon

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The fourth season finale featuring Bo Bice and Carrie Underwood aired May 24-May 25. It featured appearances by former auditioners of questionable talent, and celebrity cameos by Kenny G, Rascal Flatts, David Hasselhoff, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, George Benson, Billy Preston, Babyface and Lynyrd Skynyrd. The winner of the competition was Carrie Underwood.

Related Topics:
Bo Bice - Carrie Underwood - May 24 - May 25 - Kenny G - Rascal Flatts - David Hasselhoff - Kenny Wayne Shepherd - George Benson - Billy Preston - Babyface - Lynyrd Skynyrd

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Season five

The fifth season of American Idol will be held starting in January 2006 with auditions expected to be in the summer and early autumn of 2005.

Related Topics:
January - 2006 - Summer - Autumn - 2005

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As of now, the current list of cities (tentative) are 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.

Related Topics:
Austin - Boston - Chicago - Denver - San Francisco - Greensboro, North Carolina - Las Vegas, Nevada - Memphis - Hurricane Katrina

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