American Idol

American Idol is an annual American televised singing competition, which began its first season on June 11, 2002. Part of the Idol franchise, it originated from the reality program Pop Idol created by British entertainment executive Simon Fuller, which was first aired in 2001 in the United Kingdom. Due to its consistently-dominant ratings, American Idol has become perhaps the single most-important program on US television.

The program seeks to discover the best young singer in the country, through a series of nationwide auditions. The outcomes of the later stages of this competition are determined by public voting by phone. The format features three judges who critique the contestants' performances in order to facilitate the voting: record producer and bass player Randy Jackson; former pop star and choreographer Paula Abdul; and music executive Simon Cowell.

The show is hosted by former children's game show emcee and television personality Ryan Seacrest; comedian Brian Dunkleman cohosted with Seacrest in season one. The American Idol band is led by Rickey Minor. The show usually airs on Tuesday and Wednesday nights in the US and Thursday and Friday nights in the UK (two days after the US airing). In its six seasons, its six winners have been, in order of their season, Kelly Clarkson, Ruben Studdard, Fantasia Barrino, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Hicks, and Jordin Sparks. The first five American Idols are from the Southern United States of America (U.S) and the sixth, Jordin Sparks, is from the Southwest. Hicks was the oldest winner at 29, Sparks the youngest at just 17.

American Idol is televised on Fox in the United States, ITV2 in the UK, FOX8 in Australia, CTV in Canada, on TV3 in Ireland and on Q11 for the 7th season, in the Philippines. The Idol series was first created by Simon Fuller (manager of the Spice Girls and S Club 7. The director is Bruce Gowers (director of Queen's original "Bohemian Rhapsody" video) and executive producers are Nigel Lythgoe (a judge on So You Think You Can Dance) and Ken Warwick (Gladiators and Grudge Match).

Hollywood

Once in Hollywood, the contestants perform on different days, with mass eliminations by the judges on each day. The first day typically has each hopeful sing a song that they had selected from a list. The next round, the contestants split themselves into small groups and perform a song together. In the final round, the contestants perform a song of their choice a cappella.

Starting in the 2008 season, the structure of the Hollywood round was revamped. There were no longer musical group rounds; rather, the contestants would sing on the first day and if the judges felt the performance was adequate, the contestant moved onto the final Hollywood round. If the performance was not up to par, the contestant would have one more chance to impress the judges before the third day. For the first time, contestants were able to perform with a musical instrument if they had the ability; however, with the exception of only a few contestants, the judges criticized the use of the instruments.

Semifinals

In the first three seasons, the semifinalists were randomly split into different groups. Each contestant would then sing in their respective group's night and the two who received the most votes from America in each group would advance to the finals. In season one, there were three separate groups and the top three contestants made it to the finals. In seasons two and three, there were four groups of eight and the top two contestants would move onto the finals.

The first three seasons each featured a Wildcard show in that contestants who failed to make it to the finals would be allowed to perform once more for a chance at a spot. In season one, only one Wilcard contestant would be chosen by the judges. However, in seasons two and three, each judge would champion one contestant and the public would advance the fourth Wildcard contestant into the finals. In the second season, a few hopefuls who had failed to make the semifinals were selected by the judges to compete in the Wildcard round. In the third season, the judges eliminated four contestants from the Wildcard round before they had the opportunity to sing.

From season four and on, the semifinals were cut down to twenty-four contestants who were divided by sex. The men and women would sing on sequential nights and the bottom two would be eliminated from each group on the results show until the top twelve finalists were left.

Finals

In the finals, which last eleven weeks, each finalist out of all of the contestants that tried to perform a song live in prime time from a weekly theme (two songs in later rounds) at CBS Television City in Los Angeles, California in front of a live studio audience. Themes have included Motown, 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 The Beatles, Billy Joel, Neil Sedaka, The Bee Gees, Barry Manilow, Rod Stewart, Gloria Estefan, Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Queen and Elvis Presley. Once in the top five and four, the contestants sing two songs each; once in the top three and finale, the contestants sing three songs each.

Following each performance episode, a results show airs that reveals the breakdown of the voting public's decision. The most popular contestants are not typically revealed, but the bottom three vote-getters are typically called to the center of the stage. From the bottom three, the bottom two are revealed, until finally the contestant who received the lowest amount of votes is eliminated from the competition. A montage of the contestant's experience is played and they give their final performance.

In the finale, one remaining contestant is declared the winner. Until the 2008 season, the stage was moved to the Kodak Theatre for the finale showdown, where the two remaining contestants perform for an audience of at least 3,400. In 2008, the venue was shifted to the Nokia Theatre. The winner is announced at the following results show. The winner receives a one million (US) dollar record deal with a major label, and is managed by American Idol-related 19 Management. In some cases, non-winners have also been signed by the show's management company (who has first option to sign contestants) and received record deals with its major label partner.