Usher, a mentor on the show, bemoaning the loss of the “true art form of music”, thought that shows like American Idol made it seem “so easy that everyone can do it, and that it can happen overnight”, and that “television is a lie”. The decision to send the first season winner to sing the national anthem at the Lincoln Memorial on the first anniversary of the September 11 attacks in 2002 was also poorly received by many. The season viewers averaged at 13.3 million, a drop of 24% from the previous season. Nevertheless, in the 2010–11 television season, Fox maintained its lead on over other networks with its seventh consecutive season of victory overall in the 18–49 demographic ratings in the United States.
Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts was the sponsor for the first seven seasons, and Guitar Hero was added for the seventh season tour. In the twelfth season tour a semi-finalist who won a sing-off was also added to the tour. The top ten (eleven in the tenth season, five in the fourteenth season, and seven in the sixteenth season) toured at the end of every season except for the fifteenth and seventeenth seasons. American Idol prominent display of its sponsors’ logo and products had been noted since the early seasons.
The performance of “Summertime” by Barrino, later known simply as “Fantasia”, at Top 8 was widely praised, and Simon Cowell considered it as his favorite Idol moment in the nine seasons he was on the show. In an interview prior to the fifth season, executive producer Nigel Lythgoe indicated that Aiken had led the fan voting from the wildcard week onward until the finale. The season finale drew more than 38 million viewers, marking Idol’s biggest audience ever for a single episode.
In the eighth to tenth and fourteenth seasons, a double elimination then took place in the week following the activation of the save, but in the eleventh and thirteenth seasons, a regular single elimination took place. However, in the sixth season, during the series’ first ever Idol Gives Back episode, no contestant was eliminated, but on the following week, two were sent home. Initially the contestants sang one song each week, but this was increased to two songs from top four or five onwards, then three songs for the top two or three. The finals lasted seven weeks in the fifteenth season, and six weeks in the sixteenth season. The tenth and eleventh seasons lasted for twelve weeks, while the twelfth season lasted for ten weeks. The finals are broadcast in primetime from Los Angeles, in front of a live studio audience (except the eighteenth season, due to the COVID-19 pandemic).
On May 18, the season concluded, with Jamal Roberts crowned as the winner, with John Foster finishing as the runner-up and Breanna Nix placing third. On May 10, 2024, ABC renewed the series for a twenty-third season; it was also announced the network was in-talks with “high-profile stars” to replace the outgoing Perry. On May 19, the season concluded, with Abi Carter crowned as the winner, with Will Moseley finishing as the runner-up and Jack Blocker placing third. On May 16, 2023, ABC renewed the series for a twenty-second season and it premiered on February 18, 2024. On May 21, the season concluded, with Iam Tongi crowned as the winner, with Megan Danielle finishing as the runner-up and Colin Stough placing third.
- One more finalist would join the Top 24 making it the Top 25, which was later revealed to be Jermaine Jones.
- No contestant was eliminated that week, but two (Phil Stacey and Chris Richardson) were eliminated the next.
- Glover released “I Am Beautiful” as a single while Harrison released “All Cried Out” immediately after the show.
- In the second and third seasons, there were four groups of eight, and the top two of each selected.
- During the original run of American Idol on Fox, the finale week consisted of a one-hour long final performance night and a two-hour last episode of the season that culminates in revealing the winner, both of which are broadcast live in the U.S.
Kelly Clarkson Reveals Her Top Four Singers Ever & Fans Quickly Weigh In
It was also the first time that the judges’ “save” was not used, the top four contestants were therefore given an extra week to perform again with their votes carried over with no elimination in the first week. In the May 23 season finale, Jordin Sparks was declared the winner with the runner-up being Blake Lewis. This was the first full season of the series to be aired in high definition; the finale of the third season was also aired in high definition. Fantasia released as her coronation single “I Believe”, a song co-written by the first season finalist Tamyra Gray, and DeGarmo released “Dreams”.
The show reached its peak in the fifth season with numbers averaging 30.6 million per episode, and this season remains the highest-rated of the series. The finale night when Ruben Studdard won over Clay Aiken was also the highest-rated ever American Idol episode at 38.1 million for the final hour. The season attracted an average of 21.7 million viewers, and was placed second overall amongst the 18–49 age group. The audience steadily grew, and by finale night, the audience had averaged 23 million, with more than 40 million watching some part of that show. Three months later, it was announced the season would premiere in January 2026, with Bryan, Richie, and Underwood returning as judges; Seacrest will return as host. On May 9, 2025, it was announced the series had been renewed for a twenty-fourth season.
Judges and hosts
Despite being eliminated earlier in the season, Chris Daughtry (as lead of the band Daughtry) became the most successful recording artist from this season. “Do I Make You Proud” was released as Hicks’ first single and McPhee’s was “My Destiny”. Chris Daughtry’s performance of Fuel’s “Hemorrhage (In My Hands)” on the show was widely praised and led to an invitation to join the band as Fuel’s new lead singer, an invitation he declined. Two of the more prominent contestants during the Hollywood round were the Brittenum twins who were later disqualified for identity theft. In May 2005, Underwood was announced the winner, with Bice the runner-up. The top 12 finalists originally included Mario Vazquez, but he dropped out citing ‘personal reasons’ and was replaced by Nikko Smith.
- The final showdown was between Justin Guarini, one of the early favorites, and Kelly Clarkson.
- Season 4 winner Carrie Underwood, who has mentored twice in Seasons 16 and 20, premiered as a judge for Season 23, replacing Katy Perry.
- In the twelfth season the Las Vegas round became a Sudden Death round, where the judges had to choose five guys and five girls each night (four nights) to make the top twenty.
- In the twentieth season, the show repeated the process from the previous season, but they used a top 20 instead of a top 16, and there were no all star duets.
Who are the American Idol Season 24 judges?
While it’s going to take time before we know who will compete on American Idol, aspiring singers can audition for the upcoming season 24. American Idol wrapped up season 23 in May 2025, but we’re still celebrating the show’s latest winner, Jamal Roberts! In Singapore, The show was broadcast on Mediacorp Channel 5 for the ninth and tenth seasons. Its final season (2016) aired on Fox8 hours after the original U.S. broadcast. Between 2008 and 2012 it aired on Fox8 and the thirteenth and fourteenth seasons (2014–15) it aired on digital channel, Eleven, a sister channel to Network Ten.
Simon Cowell Digs Into What He’s Like Off-Camera
For the finale, the show no longer features separate performance and result shows. The season was again shortened compared to the previous season to twelve weeks, with multiple elimination in the final rounds. ABC acquired the rights to the series, and American Idol returned for the 2017–18 television season. During the finale episode, President Barack Obama praised the millions of young people that voted for contestants and pitched that they vote in the upcoming election. Changes this season include only airing one episode a week during the final ten. Ryan Seacrest returned as host, and Jennifer Lopez, Keith Urban and Harry Connick, Jr. returned for their respective fourth, third and second seasons as judges.
In the twenty-second season, the show repeated the process from the twentieth season. In the twenty-first season, the same process was repeated, but they started with a top 26 instead of a top 24. In the twentieth season, the show repeated the process from the previous season, but they used a top 20 instead of a top 16, and there were no all star duets. The following week, the same order went for the top 16, with four males eliminated, followed by four females based on the vote. Starting in tenth season, the girls and boys perform on separate nights.
Simon Cowell’s Personal Loss Almost Made Him Walk Away from a Big Netflix Deal
Jax, the third place finalist, also released a single called “Forcefield”. The winner of the season also received a recording contract with Big Machine Records. Caleb Johnson was named the winner of the season, with Jena Irene as the runner-up. Towards the end of the season, Randy Jackson, the last remaining of the original judges, announced he would no longer serve as a judge to pursue other business ventures. Glover sold poorly with her debut album, and this is also the first season that the runner-up was not signed by a music label. For the first time in the show’s history, the top 5 contestants were all female.
Season 4 winner Carrie Underwood, who has mentored twice in Seasons 16 and 20, premiered as a judge for Season 23, replacing Katy Perry. After an exciting season full of talent, fans and voters have chosen Jamal Roberts as the newest Idol! In the instances where the airing is delayed, the shows may sometimes be combined into one episode to summarize the results. In Indonesia, it was aired on RCTI in the 2002 to 2003 season with the Indonesian subtitles, before Indonesian Idol was held in the 2004, aired after each episode ended, and in the 2011 to 2013 season it was broadcast by B-Channel (now RTV). In 2017, it was announced the show would return to CTV Two for its sixteenth season. CTV dropped Idol after its thirteenth season and in August 2014, Yes TV announced that it had picked up Canadian rights to American Idol beginning in its 2015 season.
Moreover, from the eighth to the fourteenth seasons, and the seventeenth season onward, the judges may overturn viewers’ decision with a “Judges’ Save” if they unanimously agreed to. A montage of the eliminated contestant’s time on the show was played and they gave their final performance (from the fourteenth season onward, the montage and the final performance were dropped). From the second to ninth and fourteenth seasons, the finals lasted eleven weeks.
The fourteenth-season finale was the lowest-rated finale ever, with an average of only 8.03 million viewers watching the finale. The finale had 7.2 million fewer viewers than the previous season, and saw a drop of 44% in the 18–49 demo. Later episodes, however, retained viewers better, and the season ended on a high with a significant increase in viewership for the finale – up 12% for the adults 18–49 demographic and a 21% increase in total viewers from the ninth-season finale. The declining trend however continued into the eighth season, as total viewers numbers fell by 5–10% for early episodes compared to the seventh season, and by 9% for the finale.
The average viewership for the season fell below 20 million viewers the first time since 2003, a drop of 23% in total viewers and 30% in the 18/49 demo. The ratings for the first two episodes of the eleventh season fell 16–21% in overall viewer numbers and 24–27% in the 18/49 demo, while the season finale fell 27% in total viewer number and 30% in the 18–49 demo. Nevertheless, American Idol overall finished its ninth season as the most watched TV series for the sixth year running, breaking the previous record of five consecutive seasons achieved by CBS’ All in the Family and NBC’s The Cosby Show.
Finals
Glover released “I Am Beautiful” as a single while Harrison released “All Cried Out” immediately after the show. 23-year-old Candice Glover won the season with Kree Harrison taking the runner-up spot. This season’s judging panel consisted of Randy Jackson, along with Mariah Carey, Keith Urban and Nicki Minaj. Randy Jackson was the only judge from the eleventh season to return for the twelfth. Phillips’ “Home” has since become pin up casino app the best selling of all coronation songs, with over 5 million copies sold. He underwent surgery to remove the stones and reconstruct his kidney soon after the season had finished.
Season 23 (
Crystal Bowersox, who has Type-I diabetes, fell ill due to diabetic ketoacidosis on the morning of the girls performance night for the top 20 week and was hospitalized. This is the first season in which the winner failed to achieve gold album status. Both Allen and Lambert released the coronation song, “No Boundaries” which was co-written by DioGuardi. There were 13 finalists this season, but two were eliminated in the first result show of the finals.
The eighteenth-season finale was conducted virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The second-season finale took place at the Gibson Amphitheatre, which had an audience capacity of over 6,000. During the finals, viewers were given a five-minute window to vote for the contestants in danger of elimination by using their Twitter account to decide which contestant will move on to the next show, starting with the Top 8.
This is an earlier start to the season than other recent years, which began at the end of February or early March. Most recently, the show aired its 23rd overall season in spring 2025. Since American Idol moved over to ABC from Fox in 2018, we’ve been consistently getting one new season a year. “All I can say is I think we have some momentum from this season that will hopefully lead us to this next chapter.”
