American Idol

American Idol has become a juggernaut of television almost since its inception in 2002. American Idol only came to the Fox Network after being turned down by several others. It is based on the United Kingdom series "Pop Idol," a singing contest seeking undiscovered talent. The winner will receive a recording contract. The show featured co-hosts Ryan Seacrest and Brian Dunkleman in its first season. Three people involved in the music industry judge the aspiring superstars:

• Randy Jackson - Randy, an electric bassist, who has played with notable acts such as Blue Oyster Cult, Journey, Carlos Santana, Billy Joel, and The Charlie Daniels Band. He has also produced such people as Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, and Mariah Carey (whom he has known since she was a teen).
• Paula Abdul - Paula began her career as an LA Lakers cheerleader, but her choreography helped quickly led to a career in music, which included several pop hits in the late 80s/early 90s.
• Simon Cowell - Simon was a judge on Britain's "Pop Idol" during the first season and created American Idol. It has been Simon's judging style that has been, at least in part, responsible for American Idol's success. Simon, who was a consultant for BMG and owner of two record companies, tells contestants exactly what he think of their singing ability, even to the point of being dubbed nasty. This gained a lot of media attention for the show and it seems that whether fans love him or hate him, they continue to tune in to see what he will say next.

Continue to read more about American Idol. You can click on the season to see the results of the competition. I also have some of my favorite american idol sites that I have found here.

American Idol Seasons - 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

The latest to be eliminated on American Idol Season 7 was Jason Castro.

Season 7 American Idol

Latest American Idol News

American Idol: Jason Goes Home
Posted: 7 May 2008
Well, Simon told Jason to pack his bags last night after flubbing Dylan lines and tonight on “American Idol,” it became official. Jason and Syesha were the bottom vote getters and for a minute, I was afraid maybe Syesha’s fan base (if the poor thing has one – I think she’s been on the [...]

American Idol: Top Four Perform
Posted: 6 May 2008
Tonight, the songbooks of the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame was opened to the remaining four singers. Each would sing two songs, with Ryan making it very clear that the judges would critique the singers after each song. Didn’t want to have another “Paula moment.” First up with David Cook. He sang [...]

American Idol: Brooke Goes Home
Posted: 30 Apr 2008
How odd it is that Brooke, the most folksy singer of the five remaining, goes home from American Idol on Neil Diamond week? Of course, as usual, there was a lot of fluff on tonight’s show. Natasha Bettingfield sang, as did Neil himself. We saw the Carrie Underwood stamp and a preview [...]

American Idol: Carly Goes Home
Posted: 23 Apr 2008
I don’t know what it has been – I like Carly’s voice, but there is just something missing. She doesn’t have the wow factor as Randy would put it. At least not for me. I don’t know if it is her look, her lack of a look, her voice, her personality (she seems [...]

Season 6 American Idol

Season 6 of American Idol promised to be better than ever when it began airing on January 16, 2007. Almost 40 million viewers tuned in to watch the first episode, which were the auditions held in Minneapolis. The following shows covered the subsequent audition sites: January 17th (Seattle), January 23rd (Memphis), January 24th (East Rutherford), January 31st (Los Angeles), and February 6th (San Antonio). The February 7th show was titled "The Best of the Rest" covering those not shown during the normal audition episodes.

February 13th and 14th were the Hollywood rounds. On the last day of the Hollywood episodes, the top 24 contestants were announced. The top twelve females were Amy Krebs, Nicole Tranquillo, Alaina Alexander, Leslie Hunt, Antonella Barba, Sabrina Sloan, Stephanie Edwards, Gina Glocksen, Haley Scarnato, Lakisha Jones, Melinda Doolittle and Jordin Sparks. The top twelve guys were Paul Kim, Rudy Cardenas, Nicholas Pedro, AJ Tabaldo, Jared Cotter, Sundance Head, Brandon Rogers, Chris Sligh, Sanjaya Malakar, Phil Stacey, Chris Richardson, and Blake Lewis.

The American public began voting on February 20th. This season included songs by artists such as Diana Ross, No Doubt/Gwen Stefani, Bon Jovi, and Barry Gibb. It also featured American Classics (led by Tony Bennett), songs from the British Invasion (led by Peter Noone and Lulu), Latin music (led by Jennifer Lopez), and Inspirational songs (led by Bono).

Paul Kim was the first eliminated, followed by Amy Krebs, Nicole Tranquillo, and Rudy Cadenas. The next four eliminated were Nicholas Pedro, Alaina Alexander, A.J. Tabaldo, and Leslie Hunt. Just missing the top ten were Jared Cotter, Antonella Barba, Sabrina Sloan, and an early favorite, Sundance Head.

One of the most beloved contestants this year was also one of the most hated. 18-year-old Sanjaya Malakar showed promise in his audition, winning a spot in the final 24 over his sister. But his performances were inconsistent at best. This led him to being one of the most talked about American Idol contestants ever. The young girls loved him, but many thought he didn't deserve to make it into the top 12. He was finally eliminated on April 18th in 7th place as 38 million tuned in.

There was also controversy when erotic photos of contestant Antonella Barba surfaced on the Internet. Many felt that she only moved on based on her looks rather than her singing. She was eventually eliminated in 15th place.

Of the final 12, Brandon Rogers was eliminated first, followed by Stephanie Edwards, Chris Sligh, and rocker Gina Glockson. Haley Scarnato was eliminated in 8th place, Sanjaya was eliminated in 7th place, and Phil Stacey was eliminated in 6th place. The same week Phil Stacey was eliminated in 6th place, Chris Richardson was also eliminated in 5th place. Of the top four, LaKisha Jones and Melinda Doolittle seemed to be forerunners, but they were eliminated in 4th and 3rd place respectively.

That made the final between 17-year-old Jordin Sparks and beat boxer Blake Lewis. On May 23rd, Jordin was named the winner with a record 74 million home viewers watching.

This year, American Idol did something new with the "Idol Gives Back" charity event. This raised more than $60 million from viewers and corporate sponsors for people suffering from poverty in both the United States (particularly those devastated by Hurricane Katrina) and Africa. In addition to the American Idol contestants appearing in the special show, many other celebrities and acts were featured including Kirstie Alley, Kevin Bacon, Antonio Banderas, the Blue Man Group, Goldie Hawn, Chris Daughtry, Earth Wind and Fire, Kelly Clarkson, Rascal Flatts, and Celine Dion performing a duet with Elvis Presley through the use of rotoscoping.

It has just been announced that season 7 auditions will begin on July 30th in San Diego, California.

Season 5 American Idol

The winner of season five was someone that Simon said would never win - Taylor Hicks. Taylor seemed an unlikely American Idol with his salt and pepper hair, spastic dancing, and harmonica playing. But he won the heart of America with his singing and beat out finalist Katharine McPhee. Hicks is currently on the American Idol tour along with the other finalist. He appears in a Ford commercial and will be writing his memoirs, which will be released next year. Third place finalist Elliott Yamin is expected to release an album sometime after the tour finishes and fourth place finisher Chris Daughtry has signed with RCA.

Despite some controversy, it seems that with each season American Idol grows stronger and stronger. American Idol now shows in Australia, Canada, Indonesia, the Phillipines, the United Kingdom, and Latin America, making it not only an American success, but a worldwide success.

Blogged during Season 5

Season 4 American Idol

In season four, the rules were changed so that only singers between the ages of 16 and 28 compete. This allowed singers with more experienced to audition.

Country singer Carrie Underwood won the fourth season of American Idol with Bo Bice coming in second place. Carrie's first single debuted at #1 and her debut album, "Some Hearts", debuted at #2. It has since gone triple platinum.

Bo is the second most successful American Idol runner-up (after Clay Aitken), but season four also saw additional success for other singers. Vonzell Solomon, who finished third, appeared in a movie and had a single on a Christmas album. Constantine Maroulis, who finished in sixth place, had a single on a Queen tribute album, got a role in an ABC sitcom and independent film, and is releasing an album in late 2006. Even twelfth place finisher Lindsey Cardinale released a single on an independent label.

Season 3 American Idol

Season three auditions made a pseudo-star out of UC Berkeley student William Hung, due to his dreadful rendition of "She Bangs." He eventually received a record deal with Koch Entertainment Records, despite the fact that he couldn't sing.

With more votes than the first two seasons combined (65 million), Fantasia Barrino was crowned the American Idol with Diana DeGarmo finishing second. Fantasia has not only found success through album sales, but she also authored a book about her life struggles (Life Is Not A Fairy Tale). A Lifetime movie was made based on her life story.

Runner-up DeGarmo's CD "Blue Skies" was not a huge success and she asked to be dropped from her RCA contract. Since then she has appeared in the Broadway production Hairspray and is currently touring with Melba Moore in Brooklyn the Musical.

Season 2 American Idol

Because of its success, a second season of American Idol was scheduled for the following January with a bigger budget and increased number of episodes. Brian Dunkleman left, leaving Ryan Seacrest as the lone host. For the finale between Ruben Studdard and Clay Aiken, there were 24 million votes recorded. But the final two were only separated by 130,000 votes. Many believed the phone system was overloaded and votes were accidentally dropped. Because of these rumors, the voting methods were modified to prevent such a problem in the future.

Ruben, dubbed the "Velvet Teddy Bear," released two albums since American Idol and has a new one, "The Return," that will be released in September 2006. His first album reached #1 in the US and was certified platinum. His second reached #20 in the US and was certified gold.

Despite being the winner, Ruben was often overshadowed by the success of runner-up Clay Aiken. Aitken had been cut from the show once, only making it into the final 12 as a wild card. His first post-Idol single "Bridge Over Troubled Waters" was released in June 2003, debuted at #1, and was certified platinum. His album also debuted at #1 and was certified at double platinum. He won the 2003 American Music Award in the Fan's Choice category.

Season 1 American Idol

By the end of the first season, there were approximately 50 million viewers watching the finale between Kelly Clarkson and Justin Guarini. Kelly won and was signed by RCA Records. Her single, "A Moment Like This," debuted at #52 on the Billboard charts, but quickly shot to #1 - breaking a record set by The Beatles for biggest jump on the charts. Since then, Clarkson has had continued success, releasing two successful albums, "Thankful" and "Breakaway." She won two Grammy awards in 2006.

Justin also signed with RCA. His debut album didn't hit the stores until the end of the second season of American Idol and was not very successful. He was dropped from his contract shortly thereafter.

Additional American Idol Resources