American Idols Live! Information

American Idol Live is a concert tour that sprouted from the popular television show. American Idol is a television show on the Fox Network, fashioned after the popular British show Pop Idol. The show is a contest to determine the best young singer in the United States. The show is hosted by Ryan Seacrest and the judges in the show are Simon Cowell, singer & Choreographer Paula Abdul and producer Randy Jackson.

In American Idol people first audition before the three judges in cities across the United States. One of the most popular portions of each season are initial episodes showcasing auditions of American Idol hopefuls auditioning before the panel of judges. Poor singers often face intense and humbling criticism from the judges, and especially from Cowell, who can be harsh and blunt in his criticism. Some poor performances have attained notoriety on their own; these have included 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. The three judges narrow down the contestants to thirty-two semi-finalists who are invited to Hollywood to perform on the show.

At the semifinal phase, the thirty two semifinalists are divided into four groups. Each contestant performs live (in the eastern and central time zones), in primetime, a song of their choice, and receives critiques from the judges, who, from this point on, serve only in an advisory capacity, with no direct influence on the results. On the following night's episode the results of the nationwide vote are announced, and the top two vote-getters advance to the finals. Viewers have two hours following the broadcast of the show in their time zone to phone in their votes for their favorite contestant. Callers are allowed to vote as many times as they like for any number of contestants.

When all the semifinal shows have been completed, there is a wildcard phase. Each judge chooses one semifinalist to advance to the final round, and a studio audience vote determines the final wildcard spot, rounding out the field of twelve finalists. In the finals, which lasts eleven weeks, each finalist performs live in primetime a song from a weekly theme (two songs in later rounds).

Themes have included 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 Barry Manilow, Gloria Estefan, and Elton John. 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. On the following night's episode (live again), the contestant with the fewest votes is sent home. This process is repeated until the one remaining contestant is declared the winner.

In the first season (2002), 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 a movie entitled From Justin to Kelly. In the second season (2003), 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. Season three (2004), saw Fantasia Barrino take the top spot from Diana Degarmo. Carrie Underwood won the 2005 competition. Carrie Underwood went on to enjoy tremendous success on the country charts. The soul patrol Taylor hicks took the 2006 American Idol title beating out Catherine McPhee. For more information on American Idol visit http://idolonfox.com.

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