American Idol - just the facts

American Idol - just the facts ( A article written in 2007 ) 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 UK reality program Pop Idol. The program seeks to discover the best young singer in the country, through a series of nationwide auditions. The outcomes of the latter stages of this competition is wholly determined by public voting. The format features three judges who critique the contestants' performances in order to facilitate the voting. These are: record producer & bass player Randy Jackson; former pop star Paula Abdul; & producer & manager Simon Cowell. Ryan Seacrest is the current lone host.

In an interview with Anderson Cooper on the CBS TV current affairs show 60 Minutes on March 17, 2007 (repeated in extended format on CNN's AC 360 program on March 27, 2007, judge Simon Cowell openly declared that the underlying primary purpose of the Idol franchise (including American Idol) was for 19 Entertainment (the parent corporation that produces the Idol TV shows) to discover new singing talent that can be signed to recording agreements that the corporation maintains with a major record company (Sony/BMG) & benefit from the record sales of contestants & winners who are exposed to the worldwide marketplace through the TV shows. Cowell indicated that revenue from recordings by performers associated with the Idol franchise has already exceeded US $100 million. 19 Entertainment also retains exclusive right of refusal for management & merchandising of any contestant. Exercising management rights is at the sole discretion of 19 Entertainment; in the alternative the contestant performer is free to pursue his or her own career.

American Idol is televised on the Fox Network in the United States & on Fox Network & CTV in Canada. The Idol series was first created by Simon Fuller (manager of the Spice Girls & S Club 7) & developed by Simon Jones of FremantleMedia. The directors are Bruce Gowers (director of Queen's original "Bohemian Rhapsody" video), Nigel Lythgoe (a judge on So You Think You Can Dance) & Ken Warwick (Gladiators & Grudge Match).

Damir Kovacevic is the lead director of the Fox television show American Idol. Contestants are not permitted to have any current record deals or talent management agreements (though they may have had one at some point in the past). Contestants must be U.S. citizens eligible to work full-time & , for the first three seasons, had to be 16 to 24 years of age on October 19 of the year of audition. Since the fourth season, the upper age limit was raised to 28 with an earlier cutoff date, August 4, to attract more mature & diverse contestants.

Auditioning contestants must bring with them to the audition a valid proof of age & citizenship, such as a birth certificate, driver's license or a passport, & minors under the age of 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. All auditioning contestants are required to sign on to the Web at www.americanidol.com & print out a copy of the release form to fill out & turn in at the audition in order to grant permission to be seen & heard by the producers' cameras. Contestants who were found out to have given false information are disqualified. It should be noted that after auditioning - regardless of the outcome (even if eliminated on the very first cut) - contestants are under contract with the show until three months after the final episode.

Others who are ineligible include: those have made it to a top 30 on Season 1, top 32 on Seasons 2 & 3, or top 24 on Seasons 4 & 5; affiliates of Fox, Fremantle, 19, (e.g., its sponsors, subsidiaries & parent companies); & non-US citizens. Even if a person is eligible, he or she may not have a chance to audition or be seen because the show can see only a limited number of people in each city. The show usually airs on Tuesday & Wednesday nights & has millions of viewers.

In the show, hopeful contestants are screened by preliminary panels to be selected for singing talent or humorous potential & human interest. The audition process is long & tedious, beginning with tens of thousands of candidates strategically interviewed & eliminated before being individually auditioned by show producers Ken Warwick & Nigel Lythgoe (often slide shows of horrendously terrible candidates are shown from this interview).

Contestants then audition before the three main judges - Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, & Randy Jackson - in selected cities across the United States. Sometimes a celebrity fourth judge may be added. These are generally held at large convention centers where thousands of people wait in line for auditions. Contestants are required to sing a short one-minute a cappella snatch. Those who impress the judges enough move on to the second-round auditions, which take place in Hollywood (typically only several dozen out of the thousands in each city move on).

Much like the original Pop Idol, one of the most popular segments of each season are initial episodes showcasing Idol hopefuls auditioning before the panel. These early episodes feature a mixture of the finer auditioning singers & many of the outright "rejects"; these included Season 1's portrayal of Lady Marmalade, Season 2's performance of Madonna's Like a Virgin by Keith Beukelaer & Season 3's rendition of Ricky Martin's She Bangs by William Hung.

Idol audition cities
Season Year City Venue Number of Hollywood Qualifiers
One Spring 2002 New York, New York
Los Angeles, California Rose Bowl
Chicago, Illinois 23
Dallas, Texas 11
Miami, Florida Fontainbleau Hilton Hotel
Atlanta, Georgia America's Mart
Seattle, Washington Hyatt Regency Hotel
Two Fall 2002 New York, New York Regent Wall Street Hotel
Los Angeles, California Rose Bowl 44
Miami, Florida Fontainbleau Hilton Hotel
Detroit, Michigan Athneum Suites Hotel
Atlanta, Georgia America's Mart 42
Nashville, Tennessee Gaylord Entertainment Center 29
Austin, Texas Doubletree Hotel 36
Three Fall 2003 New York, New York Jacob Javits Convention Center
Los Angeles, California Rose Bowl
San Francisco, California Pacbell Park
Houston, Texas Minute Maid Park
Atlanta, Georgia Georgia Dome
Honolulu, Hawaii Aloha Stadium
Four Fall 2004 San Francisco, California Cow Palace
Las Vegas, Nevada Orleans Arena
St. Louis, Missouri Edward Jones Dome
Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland Browns Stadium 16
New Orleans, Louisiana Louisiana Superdome
Orlando, Florida Orange County Convention Center
Washington, D.C. Washington Convention Center
Five Fall 2005 San Francisco, California Cow Palace
Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas Convention Center 11
Denver, Colorado Invesco Field At Mile High 37
Austin, Texas Frank Erwin Center 12
Chicago, Illinois Soldier Field
Greensboro, North Carolina Greensboro Coliseum
Boston, Massachusetts Gillette Stadium
Six Summer 2006 Los Angeles, California Rose Bowl 40
San Antonio, Texas Alamodome 24
New York, New York/East Rutherford, New Jersey Continental Airlines Arena 35
Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex 20
Memphis, Tennessee FedEx Forum 22
Minneapolis, Minnesota Target Center 17
Seattle, Washington Key Arena 14

Hollywood & semifinals
Once in Hollywood, the three judges narrow the initial field of a few hundred down to a group of 24 semi-finalists (30 in Season 1 & 32 in Seasons 2 & 3). Beginning with the fourth season, the semi-finalists were split into two groups separating the male contestants from the female contestants, promoting an equal number of each sex to the finals. The judges, from this point on, serve almost entirely in an advisory capacity, with no direct influence on the results.

Viewers have two hours following the broadcast of the show in their time zone to phone in votes for their favorite contestant by calling a toll-free number. Callers are allowed to vote as many times as they like for any number of contestants, as long as they vote within the voting window for the time zone assigned to their phone's area code.

The contestants sing a song of their choice based on a theme each week & the two with the least public votes exit from the competition.

Final twelve In the finals, which last eleven weeks, each finalist performs 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, & Billboard #1 hits. Some themes are based on music recorded by a particular artist, & the finalists have a chance to work with that artist in preparing their performances. Artists around whom themes have been based include Billy Joel, Neil Sedaka, The Bee Gees, Barry Manilow, Rod Stewart, Gloria Estefan, Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Queen & Elvis Presley. Once in the top 5, the contestants sing two songs each.

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, & one chosen by record executive Clive Davis. However, in Season 2, in the final three, one song was chosen randomly from a bowl, with one chosen by the performer & one by the judges.

In any case, each week on the following night's live "results" episode, the contestant with the fewest votes is sent home. Then in the finale, one remaining contestant is declared the winner. The stage is moved to the Kodak Theatre for the finale showdown, where the two remaining contestants perform for an audience of at least 3,400. The winner is announced at the end of the show. The winner receives a one million (US) dollar record deal with a major label, & 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 finalists) & received record deals with its major label partner.

Each season a compilation album with the top twelve finalists (top ten for Season One) is also released. Other compilations, such as a Christmas album, have also been released. Top ten finalists participate in a post-season American Idol promotional concert tour. Season synopses
Spoiler warning: Plot & /or ending details follow."Idols" Standing
Position Season 1 Season 2 Season 3 Season 4 Season 5 Season 6
Winner Kelly Clarkson Ruben Studdard Fantasia Barrino Carrie Underwood Taylor Hicks Results: Wednesday May 23, 2007 9/8c
Runner-Up Justin Guarini Clay Aiken Diana DeGarmo Bo Bice Katharine McPhee Results: Wednesday May 23, 2007 9/8c
No. 3 Nikki McKibbin Kimberley Locke Jasmine Trias Vonzell Solomon Elliott Yamin Results: Wednesday May 16, 2007 9/8c
No. 4 Tamyra Gray Joshua Gracin La Toya London Anthony Fedorov Chris Daughtry Results: Wednesday May 9, 2007 9/8c
No. 5 RJ Helton Trenyce George Huff Scott Savol Paris Bennett Phil Stacey
Chris Richardson
No. 6 Christina Christian Carmen Rasmusen John Stevens Constantine Maroulis Kellie Pickler N/A
No. 7 Ryan Starr Kimberly Caldwell Jennifer Hudson Anwar Robinson Ace Young Sanjaya Malakar
No. 8 AJ Gil Rickey Smith Jon Peter Lewis Nadia Turner Bucky Covington Haley Scarnato
No. 9 Jim Verraros Corey Clark
(disqualified) Camile Velasco Nikko Smith Mandisa Gina Glocksen
No. 10 Ejay Day Julia DeMato Amy Adams Jessica Sierra Lisa Tucker Chris Sligh
No. 11 N/A Charles Grigsby Matthew Rogers Mikalah Gordon Kevin Covais Stephanie Edwards
No. 12 N/A Vanessa Olivarez Leah LaBelle Lindsey Cardinale Melissa McGhee Brandon Rogers

American Idol (Season 1)
The first season of American Idol debuted without hype as a summer replacement show (with the full title American Idol: The Search For A Superstar) in June 2002 on the Fox Broadcasting Company after being rejected by numerous other networks. The show's co-hosts were Ryan Seacrest & Brian Dunkleman. Through word of mouth generated by the appeal of its contestants & the presence of acid-tongued British judge Simon Cowell, the show grew into a phenomenon. An estimated fifty million people watched the Season 1 finale in September 2002. Following such a success, the second season was moved to air the upcoming January. The number of episodes increased, as did the show's budget & the charge for commercial spots.

Winner Kelly Clarkson signed with RCA Records, the label in partnership with American Idol's 19 Management. Immediately post-finale, Clarkson released two singles, most notably the coronation song "A Moment Like This" which climbed to number 52, but marked the biggest jump in Billboard Hot 100 history when it shot to number one, breaking a record set by The Beatles. As part of the promotion planned for the show's first winner, the song had been pre-recorded ready to air on radio stations the day after the finale. Appearances on numerous entertainment/news shows followed, as did videos for the singles that began airing on MTV's TRL. Clarkson has subsequently had two successful albums, Thankful & Breakaway, & several hit singles mostly from her more successful second album Breakaway. While her first album failed to sell outside of North America, her second was a global success & garnered two Grammy Awards in 2006.

The show inspired a 2003 musical film, From Justin to Kelly, featuring Kelly Clarkson & runner-up Justin Guarini. The musical love story, produced by American Idol's Simon Fuller, was filmed in Miami, Florida over a period of six weeks shortly after the season ended. Released several months later in June 2003, the film failed to make back its budget during its short run in theatres & is often ranked among the worst movies ever made. A DVD with additional footage was released & the movie airs periodically in the U.S. & other countries.

Besides Clarkson & Guarini, also signed were Nikki McKibbin (3rd), Tamyra Gray (4th), RJ Helton (5th), & Christina Christian (6th). It is the only year the runner-up did not release a single following the show's finale. Runner-up Justin Guarini also signed with RCA Records. Contract restrictions required him to reject outside offers received & delay solo projects following the season finale, eventually debuting an album in 2003 after the conclusion of Season 2. RCA dropped him shortly after its debut. Guarini formed his own entertainment company & independently released a second album in 2005, with a third album & an independent movie scheduled for release in 2006. Nikki McKibbin signed with RCA, but quit because she refused to record a country album. She has since made appearances on various Reality TV shows & is working on her debut album. Tamyra Gray was signed to RCA but was dropped when she demanded to write the album. She then signed with Idol creator Simon Fuller's new label 19 Entertainment. Gray's self-written debut album was released in 2004. In 2005, she was dropped by the label. She had a supporting role in the 2005 movie The Gospel. RJ Helton released a Christian album, but sales were lackluster. Ryan Starr had trouble getting out of her contract with RCA Records but managed to independently release a single, My Religion, which sold 360,000 downloads via iTunes. She is expected to release her debut album in 2007. Jim Verraros, who came out of the closet after being voted in American Idol, starred in an indie film & released a dance-pop album, charting a dance hit on Billboard. Christina Christian, EJay Day (tenth), & AJ Gil (eighth) have had little success after the show.

Starting September 30, 2006, the first season of American Idol is being repackaged as "American Idol Rewind" & syndicated on select T.V.D. stations in the US.

American Idol Finalists (with dates of elimination)
Season 1 (2002)
Kelly Clarkson Winner
Justin Guarini September 4
Nikki McKibbin August 28
Tamyra Gray August 21
RJ Helton August 14
Christina Christian August 7
Ryan Starr July 31
A.J. Gil July 24
Jim Verraros July 17
EJay Day July 17
Season 2 (2003)
Ruben Studdard Winner
Clay Aiken May 28
Kimberley Locke May 14
Joshua Gracin May 7
Trenyce April 30
Carmen Rasmusen April 23
Kimberly Caldwell April 16
Rickey Smith April 9
Corey Clark Disqualified
April 2
Julia DeMato March 26
Charles Grigsby March 19
Vanessa Olivarez March 12
Season 3 (2004)
Fantasia Barrino Winner
Diana DeGarmo May 26
Jasmine Trias May 19
LaToya London May 12
George Huff May 5
John Stevens April 28
Jennifer Hudson April 21
Jon Peter Lewis April 15
Camile Velasco April 7
Amy Adams March 31
Matthew Rogers March 24
Leah LaBelle March 17
Season 4 (2005)
Carrie Underwood Winner
Bo Bice May 25
Vonzell Solomon May 18
Anthony Fedorov May 11
Scott Savol May 4
Constantine Maroulis April 27
Anwar Robinson April 20
Nadia Turner April 13
Nikko Smith April 6
Jessica Sierra March 30
Mikalah Gordon March 24
Lindsey Cardinale March 16
Season 5 (2006)
Taylor Hicks Winner
Katharine McPhee May 24
Elliott Yamin May 17
Chris Daughtry May 10
Paris Bennett May 3
Kellie Pickler April 26
Ace Young April 19
Bucky Covington April 12
Mandisa Hundley April 5
Lisa Tucker March 29
Kevin Covais March 22
Melissa McGhee March 15
Season 6 (2007)
Melinda Doolittle
Blake Lewis
Jordin Sparks
LaKisha Jones
Chris Richardson May 2
Phil Stacey May 2
Sanjaya Malakar April 18
Haley Scarnato April 11
Gina Glocksen April 4
Chris Sligh March 28
Stephanie Edwards March 21
Brandon Rogers March 14

In Season 2, Seacrest surfaced as the lone host. Dunkleman reportedly hated working on the show & the studio was dissatisfied with his performance. Kristin Holt was a special correspondent. This time, Ruben Studdard emerged as the winner with Clay Aiken as a very close runner-up. Out of 24 million votes recorded, Studdard finished just 130,000 votes ahead of Aiken. The accuracy of the reported results is still disputed. There was much discussion in the communication industry about the phone system being overloaded, & that more than 150 million votes were dropped, making the voting suspect. Since then, the voting methods have been modified to avoid this problem. In an interview prior to the start of the fifth season, executive producer Nigel Lythgoe revealed for the first time that Aiken had led the fan voting from the wild card week onward until the finale. Clay Aiken became the first American Idol non-winning contestant to have a U.S. Hot 100 number-one with "This Is the Night", written by British songwriter Chris Braide with Gary Burr & Aldo Nova. Studdard & Aiken both released albums in the fall of 2006. Kimberley Locke has also enjoyed radio success after American Idol with her debut album, One Love. Her next album is also rumored to be released early in 2007.

Fourth-place finisher & former Marine Josh Gracin has had huge success as a country artist. His first album spawned three hit singles, including the number-one U.S. country song, "Nothing to Lose". He is signed with Lyric Street Records. One contestant, Frenchie Davis, was disqualified & removed from the competition after topless photos of her surfaced on the Internet. She later appeared in the Broadway musical Rent. During the course of the contest Studdard became known for wearing 205 Flava jerseys representing his area code. Shortly after the end of the contest, Studdard sued 205 Flava, Inc. for $2 million for using his image for promotional purposes. Flava responded by alleging that Studdard had accepted over $10,000 in return for wearing 205 shirts, & produced 8 cashed checks to validate their claim. The allegations, if true, indicate a clear violation of the American Idol rules. The lawsuit was settled out of court. The rumor mills were buzzing once again in 2005 when Season 2 contestant Corey Clark, who the producers say was kicked off the show because of a police record he had not disclosed earlier, alleged that he had an affair with judge Paula Abdul during his time on the competition & that's the reason he was kicked off. Clark also alleged that Abdul gave him preferential treatment on the show because of their alleged romance. A subsequent investigation by an independent councel hired by Fox "could not corroborate the evidence or allegations provided by Mr. Clark or any witnesses".

The third season of American Idol premiered on January 19, 2004. The winner of this season of American Idol was Fantasia Barrino, later known professionally as simply "Fantasia," & the runner-up was Diana Degarmo. This was also the season that Golden Globe Award-winning & Academy Award-winning actress Jennifer Hudson was discovered. The early part of the season introduced William Hung, a UC Berkeley student, who received widespread attention following his off-key rendition of Ricky Martin's "She Bangs." His performance, as well as his positive attitude facing Simon's criticisms (a stark contrast to other contestants' confrontational, angry reactions), landed him a record deal with Koch Entertainment & made him over $500,000 in record sales. He also starred in a Cingular Wireless commercial with host Ryan Seacrest.

During the season, controversy over the legitimacy of the contest increased as rocker Jon Peter Lewis & young crooner John Stevens stayed afloat while others were unexpectedly eliminated. Jasmine Trias, despite negative comments from Simon Cowell over her later performances, survived elimination & took the third spot over Latoya London. Trias later released a CD & attracted fans in her home state of Hawaii, the Philippines, Singapore, Guam & other South East Asian countries. The third season was also shown in Australia on Network Ten about half a week after episodes were shown in the U.S.

After a nationwide vote of more than 65 million votes in total - more than the first two seasons combined - Fantasia Barrino won the American Idol title over runner-up Diana DeGarmo. She released her first single in June 2004 on the RCA record label. The single included "I Believe" – cowritten by former Idol contestant Tamyra Gray (who also sang backup) – which Fantasia performed on the finale of Idol, the Aretha Franklin hit "Chain of Fools" (released before on an American Idol compilation), & her signature version of "Summertime". The single entered the Billboard Hot 100 at #1 & stayed there one week (it topped the sales chart for 11 weeks in the US & 10 weeks in Canada). Fantasia's CD, I Believe, went on to become the top selling single of 2004 in the U.S & has since been certified double platinum by the CRIA & received 3 Billboard Awards. In 2006, she received 4 Grammy nominations for her double platinum debut album Free Yourself.

Sales of Diana DeGarmo's first CD, Blue Skies, suffered partly from a lack of promotion by RCA. DeGarmo eventually asked to be released from her RCA record contract. She received a role in the Broadway production of Hairspray, where she played the part of Penny Pingleton from February 7-May 21 to positive reviews. DeGarmo then starred with Melba Moore in the national tour of Brooklyn the Musical through mid-August. On September 8, she returned to the Broadway production of Hairspray to once again assume the role of Penny Pingleton for a six month period. DeGarmo is also working independently on a second album while performing in the musicals. Second Runner-up Jasmine Trias signed with an independent label. Although she has failed to achieve commercial success in the mainland USA, she has become a major celebrity in other countries, such as the Philippines & Japan, where she is signed with Universal Records.

Latoya London signed with Peak Records & released an R&B/soul album, "Love & Life," selling 55,000 copies. Her single, "Appreciate/Every Part of Me/All by Myself," charted at number 8 on the Billboard Singles Sales Chart, & her songs, "Appreciate," "Every Part of Me," & "State of My Heart," all received moderate success on urban & adult contemporary radio. She starred in the Los Angeles revival of the retro-musical, "Beehive," & also starred with Angie Stone & Kim Fields in the tour of the play, "Issues: We All Got 'Em." Latoya will begin playing the role of Nettie in the touring edition of the Broadway musical, The Color Purple, which will begin with an extended run in Chicago, Illinois in April, 2007. The musical also stars Michelle Williams of Destiny's Child. George Huff signed with Word Records to release a gospel album & has since had mild success in that genre. John Stevens landed a deal with Maverick Records but was dropped due to low album sales. Jennifer Hudson starred alongside Beyoncé Knowles & Jamie Foxx in the 2006 feature film Dreamgirls & won several honors & awards, including a Golden Globe for her performance & an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. The film, which also won the Golden Globe for Best Picture (Comedy or Musical), was released to preview audiences on December 15, 2006, in New York, San Francisco & Los Angeles, drawing sellout crowds. On its first day in wide release (Christmas Day 2006), Dreamgirls sold 8.8 million dollars worth of tickets to claim the top spot at the box office. It was the single highest daily gross for a musical in motion picture history. The soundtrack to Dreamgirls, featuring Hudson's acclaimed version of "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going," reached Number One on the Billboard Top 200 album chart on January 10, 2007, after five weeks in release. Hudson, who signed a recording contract with Clive Davis' Arista label in late 2006, is expected to release her debut album sometime in 2007. Camile Velasco returned to the Philippines in December 2004 after 17 years for a whirlwind tour of television appearances & a concert with Martin Nievera. In 2005, she signed to Motown Records, but left the label after a lack of promotion for her first single. Camile performed at several concerts in Hawaii, California & Illinois, maintaining her ambition to become an artist. In 2006, she appeared in a Black Eyed Peas video & performed in Hawaii, California, Nevada, New Jersey, New York & the Philippines. Camile is now writing & producing her own songs on UHype Records.

Eleventh place contestant Matthew Rogers is now a TV personality, starring alongside Mikalah Gordon on American Idol Extra, which went behind the scenes of American Idol's fifth season. In May 2005, Telescope announced that the third season had a total of approximately 360 million votes.

The fourth season of American Idol premiered on January 18, 2005. It was the first season in which the age limit was raised to 28, in order to increase variety. All Season 4 contestants had to be between the ages of 16 & 28 on August 4, 2004, born on or between August 5, 1975 & August 4, 1988.[8][9] Among those who benefited from this new rule were Constantine Maroulis (born September 17, 1975) & Bo Bice (born November 1, 1975), considered to be the eldest & somewhat most experienced of the season's Idol contestants. They were also constantly mentioned by Seacrest & in the media as "the two rockers", since their long hair & choice of rock songs made them stand out from conventional Idol standards. The presence of more rock-oriented contestants has continued with Chris Daughtry in Season 5, who was inspired to audition for the show by Bice. This season also implemented new rules for the final portion of the contest. Instead of competing in semi-final heats in which the top vote-getters are promoted to the final round, 24 semi-finalists were named; 12 men & 12 women, who competed separately, with 2 of each gender being voted off each week until 12 finalists were left.

Mario Vazquez, who was originally one of the top 12, dropped out of the competition on March 11, just days before the top 12's first performance, citing "personal issues", opening a spot in the final 12 for Nikko Smith (son of Baseball Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith), who had been voted off in the semi-finals the previous week.

The winner was Carrie Underwood, a country singer, the first winner since Kelly Clarkson to not only win but avoid being in the bottom three for the entire competition. Carrie Underwood's first single, "Inside Your Heaven", was released on June 14, 2005. The single debuted at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, with first-week sales of 170,000 copies, & briefly stopped Mariah Carey's run at #1 with "We Belong Together". One week later, runner-up Bo Bice released his version of the song, which debuted at #2. The B-side of Underwood's CD was "Independence Day", a cover of the Martina McBride hit. On November 15, 2005, Carrie released her debut album, Some Hearts, which peaked & debuted at #2 on Billboard. It has currently sold over 5 million copies, & has gone 5X platinum. Underwood's first single, Jesus, Take The Wheel was made available for radio airplay on October 18, 2005. It received so much airplay that it debuted at #39 on the Billboard Country Chart in its first week, setting a record. As it climbed, it finally reached #1 for 6 consecutive weeks, just two weeks shy of Connie Smith's record of an 8 week run back in 1964-1965. The single also debuted at #48 on the Billboard Hot 100 where it peaked at #20. Underwood's second single, "Don't Forget to Remember Me", peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot Country Charts, as well as, #49 on the Billboard Hot 100. Underwood's third single "Before He Cheats" not only hit #1 on the Billboard Hot Country charts, but also is curently at #11 on the Billboard Hot 100 becoming a crossover pop hit. Currently, Underwood has the most successful debut album sales out of the American Idol finalists. Some Hearts has sold over 5 million copies as of January 2007, beating the previous most sales 2nd place record held by Clay Aiken's Measure of a Man, which sold 2.7 million copies. Underwood's fourth single "Wasted" has become her 3rd #1 single on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.

Bo Bice's first single "The Real Thing" has appeared on American Top 40 radio. Although Bice's sales did not match that of Underwood, he stands as the third-most successful recording artist to not win the American Idol title with RIAA platinum status. Third-place contestant Vonzell Solomon landed a role in a film, Still Green & a single on a Christmas album. Fourth-place contestant Anthony Fedorov has appeared in television shows such as Fear Factor, where he competed with Season 2 contestant Carmen Rasmusen, winning second place, & has finished taping several episodes for a new MTV show to air in the fall. Federov will be performing in The Fantasticks on off-Broadway May through July of 2007. Sixth-place contestant Constantine Maroulis has redone his rendition of "Bohemian Rhapsody" for a Queen tribute album, & his first solo debut will come out in early 2007. Since August 2006, Maroulis has appeared in the Broadway musical The Wedding Singer & the now closed off-broadway play Jacques Brel is alive & well & living in Paris. Seventh-place contestant Anwar Robinson has released his self-titled EP on an independent label. Twelfth-place contestant Lindsey Cardinale's first single, "Nothing Like A Dream", was released in March 2006. In May 2005, Telescope announced that the fourth season had a total of approximately 500 million votes. On February 11, 2007, Carrie Underwood became the first winner of American Idol to sweep all three major music awards (American Music, Billboard, & Grammy Awards) in a single season (for 2006-07).

The fifth season of American Idol began on January 17, 2006; this was the first season of the series to be aired in high definition. Auditions were in Austin, Boston, Chicago, Denver & San Francisco, with Greensboro, North Carolina & Las Vegas, Nevada included after the cancellation of the Memphis auditions due to Hurricane Katrina. The season used the same rules as Season 4. Contestants had to be between the ages of 16 & 28 on 2005, being born on or between August 16, 1976 & , 1989. Chris Daughtry was discovered during this season after being voted off in one of the most surprising eliminations.

Finalist Bucky Covington also had prior troubles with the law. Coincidentally, Covington's crimes involved himself & his twin brother, Rocky. The two had allegedly switched spots in 1998 to confuse the police. However, this prior crime had no effect on Covington's time on American Idol, & he was voted off on April 12.

The winner of the season was Taylor Hicks, with Katharine McPhee finishing as his runner-up. Taylor Hicks joined Kelly Clarkson & Carrie Underwood as the only winners of American Idol to never be in the bottom three or two. Hicks was named American Idol on May 24, 2006. On May 30, 2006, Telescope announced that a total of 63.5 million votes were cast in the finale round. A total of 580 million votes were cast in the entire season.[12] Taylor Hicks is the second American Idol winner from the city of Birmingham, Alabama (the first being Ruben Studdard), & the fourth finalist with close ties to the city. The finale had surprise performances from stars such as Live, Mary J. Blige, & Toni Braxton singing duets with the members of the final 12. In the words of Ryan Seacrest, the much loved living song legend & diva Dionne Warwick added a touch of veteran glamour to the finale. Prince also performed.

American Idol Season 6 began on Tuesday, January 16, 2007. The premiere episode of the season drew a massive audience of 37.7 million viewers, peaking in the last half hour with more than 41 million viewers. The Top 24 Contestants were, females: Alaina Alexander, Amy Krebs, Antonella Barba, Gina Glocksen, Haley Scarnato, Jordin Sparks, LaKisha Jones, Leslie Hunt, Melinda Doolittle, Nicole Tranquillo, Sabrina Sloan, & Stephanie Edwards. males: AJ Tabaldo, Blake Lewis, Brandon Rogers, Chris Richardson, Chris Sligh, Jared Cotter, Nicholas Pedro, Paul Kim, Phil Stacey, Rudy Cardenas, Sanjaya Malakar, & Sundance Head.

On February 22, 2007, around 32 million votes were cast & 4 contestants were eliminated, those being: Amy Krebs, Nicole Tranquillo, Paul Kim, & Rudy Cárdenas. The following elimination week, A.J. Tabaldo, Nicholas Pedro, Alaina Alexander, & Leslie Hunt were voted off. The final week of eliminations before the Top 12 was announced ousted Antonella Barba, Sabrina Sloan, Jared Cotter & Sundance Head. As usual, the Top 12 will slowly dwindle down one by one each week before the next American Idol is crowned. The theme of the March 13, 2007 show was a tribute to Diana Ross. On March 14, 2007, Brandon Rogers was voted off. However, DialIdol, a prediction site, had Brandon listed in 5th place overall — with Stephanie Edwards in last place for the second week in a row. On March 19, 2007, all 11 remaining contestants performed to the theme of "The British Invasion." The next day, Stephanie Edwards was announced as being voted off. After that, Chris Sligh, then Haley Scarnato were voted off. The website Votefortheworst.com, which encourages people to vote for the least talented performer each week, endorsed Sanjaya Malakar. Satellite radio personality Howard Stern joined the push for Sanjaya, telling listeners that making the worst singer the American Idol would shake things up & make the program more interesting. However, on April 18, Sanjaya was voted off.

The Top 6 singers performed inspirational music as a part of the first ever "Idol Gives Back" telethon-inspired event which raised more than $60 million in corporate & viewer donations. None of the singers were eliminated, & the votes from that week will be added with the votes from the following week to eliminate two singers. Both weeks saw an extension of the regular two hour voting window, which was increased to four.

American Idol is often noted for advertising its sponsors during the show's runtime. Being the number one rated show in the United States, it costs around $705,000 for a 30-second commercia Coca-Cola is a major sponsor in the U.S., & all the judges, hosts, & contestants are seen consuming beverages out of cups bearing the Coca-Cola logo, while contestants & host Ryan Seacrest gathering for a Keeping it Real segment between songs in the Coca-Cola Red Room, the show's equivalent to the traditional green room. (During rebroadcast on ITV in the UK, the Coca-Cola logo is obscured in the shots.) In seasons 1 through 4, after every Wednesday results show, the remaining contestants & host meet in the Coca-Cola Red Room to discuss next week's theme; the footage of this meeting is shown at the start of the following Tuesday's performance show. Voting is made possible by Cingular Wireless. Kellogg & Pop-Tarts are also two major sponsors, especially of the cast tour that follows the end of every season. Products from the Ford Motor Company also receive prominent product placement; contestants appear in Ford commercials on the results shows, & the final two of Seasons 4 & 5 each won free Mustangs. Previous contestants Kelly Clarkson & Taylor Hicks have also been tapped to do commercials for Ford. Also, in the top 24's studio, in the red room there is a glass table with a Ford tire inside of it. The camera routinely captures the logo. Contestants will occasionally don Old Navy clothing during performances , & celebrity stylist Steven Cojocaru appeared in two previous seasons to assist contestants with picking out wardrobe pieces from Old Navy. Clairol hair care products also sponsors the show, with contestants usually getting Clairol-guided hair makeovers after the first two or three episodes during the round of 12 . The show's marketing reach is not limited to the hours of broadcast. Edy's Icecream is tapping into the buzz with a campaign to have people vote for their favorite 'Idol' inspired Ice Cream.

American Idol has come under fire for maintaining what some claim to be total control of the careers of the winners of the contest. Former co-host Brian Dunkleman referred to the show as "owning" the winning contestants, noting that winners sign contracts to only record with companies owned by the show's producers & to allow related agencies to manage their careers. Former contestant Corey Clark told reporters in April 2005 that he & Idol judge Paula Abdul had a "secret affair" prompting an investigation by external counsel hired by Fox, FremantleMedia & 19 Entertainment. The 600-hour investigation spanning three months cleared Abdul of all charges levied by Clark. During season three, controversy arose at the poor showing during the semi-finals of three highly praised African American contestants, Jennifer Hudson, LaToya London & Fantasia Barrino - collectively known during that season as the 'Three Divas'. After the surprise elimination of Hudson, Sir Elton John, who was a guest judge for that season criticized the vote as 'incredibly racist' in a press conference. The elimination of both Hudson & London relatively early in the competition has been pointed out as a classic demonstration of vote splitting in the American idol vote. Barrino would eventually go on to win the competition. Since the 2004 season, American Idol producers have battled online community services such as the weblogs DialIdol.com, Worldsentiment.com, & VotefortheWorst.com. DialIdol predicts the winner of each week's contest based on how often an automatic dialer encounters a busy signal for each contestant; Worldsentiment uses very large samplings & algorithms to predict the outcome of the vote-off; & VotefortheWorst exhorts viewers to vote for what the site deems to be the worst contestant, rather than the best. Some in the media have implied that Las Vegas odds makers exert behind-the-scenes influence in protecting the services. A series of provocative photos surfaced on the Internet of Season 6 Top 24 Contestant Antonella Barba.

The Lonympics Music Selection Loads of songs we would play on You Tube if we used it

The 10 most famous fictional Americans The 10 most famous aliens The 10 Most famous fictional Scottish_people

A map of where different US films & TV programmes blanket across the USA are

A Great index of Comedy & joke sites, 100s of jokes, are 1 click away,

The favourite foods of famous fictional characters

A site stating which animals would be best at football, it is comical, with 2 teams competing, for the prize of the best animal soccer side

A recipe site DELICOUS DISHES

A game where you have to play to win a US style presidential election, if you win you become the president & if you lose you lose, great fun.

A Multimedia Centre for World TV channels, you click on the TV & you get their website or U Tube style TV website

A game where you are the candidate for the leadership of the British Tory Party in 1990, I am not a Tory, but this election was the most exiting election in Britain in the past couple of decades so why not play it

Some great jokes, on many subjects Another page of more & more & The Joke encyclopedia & some more jokes

A site postulating that Neanderthals & animals like them survived to the modern era. I am not saying I believe this, though it is interesting.