American Idol Season 6
The winner of American Idol Season 6 was Jordin Sparks.
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.
| Season 6 Top 12 | ||
| Contestant | Age | Voted Off |
|---|---|---|
| Blake Lewis | 25 | 05/23/07 |
| Brandon Rogers | 28 | 3/14/07 |
| Chris Richardson | 22 | 5/02/07 |
| Chris Sligh | 28 | 3/28/07 |
| Gina Glocksen | 22 | 4/04/07 |
| Haley Scarnato | 24 | 4/11/07 |
| Jordin Sparks | 17 | Winner |
| LaKisha Jones | 27 | 5/09/07 |
| Melinda Doolittle | 29 | 5/16/07 |
| Phil Stacey | 29 | 5/02/07 |
| Paris Bennett | 17 | 5/3/06 |
| Stephanie Edwards | 19 | 3/21/07 |
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