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American Idol

American singing competition

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It started as an addition to the Idol format that was based on Pop Idol from British television, and it became one of the most successful shows in the history of American television. The concept of the series involves discovering recording stars from unsigned singing talents, with the winner determined by American viewers using phones, Internet platforms, and SMS text voting. The winners of the first twenty-four seasons, as chosen by viewers, are Kelly Clarkson, Ruben Studdard, Fantasia Barrino, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Hicks, Jordin Sparks, David Cook, Kris Allen, Lee DeWyze, Scotty McCreery, Phillip Phillips, Candice Glover, Caleb Johnson, Nick Fradiani, Trent Harmon, Maddie Poppe, Laine Hardy, Just Sam, Chayce Beckham, Noah Thompson, Iam Tongi, Abi Carter, Jamal Roberts, and Hannah Harper.

American Idol employs a select panel of judges who critique the contestants' performances. The original judges, for seasons one through eight, were record producer and music manager Randy Jackson, singer and choreographer Paula Abdul, and music executive and manager Simon Cowell. The judging panel for the last three seasons on Fox consisted of singers Keith Urban, Jennifer Lopez, and Harry Connick Jr. Season sixteen brought three new judges: singers Luke Bryan, Katy Perry, and Lionel Richie. Beginning in the twenty-third season, Underwood replaced Perry, alongside returning judges Bryan and Richie. The show has been hosted by television presenter Ryan Seacrest throughout its run, apart from the show's inaugural season when comedian Brian Dunkleman joined Seacrest as co-host.

The success of American Idol has been described as "unparalleled in broadcasting history". A rival TV executive said the series was "the most impactful show in the history of television". It became a recognized springboard for launching the career of many artists as bona fide stars. According to Billboard magazine, in its first ten years, "Idol has spawned 345 Billboard chart-toppers and a platoon of pop idols, including Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Chris Daughtry, Fantasia, Ruben Studdard, Jennifer Hudson, Clay Aiken, Adam Lambert, and Jordin Sparks while remaining a TV ratings juggernaut." For an unprecedented eight consecutive years, from the 2003–04 television season through the 2010–11 season, either its performance show or result show was ranked number one in U.S. television ratings.

History

American Idol was based on the British show Pop Idol created by Simon Fuller, which was in turn inspired by the New Zealand television singing competition Popstars. Television producer Nigel Lythgoe saw a version in Australia and helped bring it over to Britain. Fuller was inspired by the idea from Popstars of employing a panel of judges to select singers in audition. He then added other elements, including telephone voting by the viewing public (which at the time was already in use in shows, such as the Eurovision Song Contest), the drama of backstories, and real-life soap opera unfolding in real time. Pop Idol debuted in Britain in 2001 with Lythgoe as showrunner‍—‌the executive producer and production leader‍—‌and Simon Cowell as one of the judges, and was successful with the viewing public.

In 2001, Fuller, Cowell, and TV producer Simon Jones attempted to sell the Pop Idol format to the United States, but the idea was initially met with poor responses from all the television networks including UPN and Fox. However, Rupert Murdoch, head of Fox's parent company, was later persuaded to buy the series by his daughter, Elisabeth, who had seen the British show. Although Fox's executives wanted to change the format, Murdoch insisted that it should remain the same as the British one. One change was nevertheless made due to the presence of multiple time zones in the United States that made it impractical for the country to vote in the same time period, an additional half-hour results show was therefore added the day following the performance show. The show was renamed American Idol: The Search for a Superstar and debuted in the summer of 2002. Cowell was initially offered the job of showrunner but turned down the offer; Lythgoe then took over that position. Much to the surprise of Cowell and Fox, it became one of the biggest shows of the summer. With its successful launch in the summer, the show was then moved to January and expanded. The show grew into a phenomenon largely due to its personal engagement with the contestants by prompting the viewers to vote, and the presence of the acid-tongued Cowell as a judge. By 2004, it had become the most-watched show on American television, a position it then held for seven consecutive seasons until 2011.

However, after a few years of sharp declining ratings starting in 2012, with rating falls of over 20% each season, the fifteenth season would be its last on Fox, ending its run in April 2016. In May 2017, ABC acquired the rights to the series and the program returned for the 2017–18 television season. The first season of the revived series, or the sixteenth season overall, started airing in March 2018. Eight seasons have been aired on ABC as of May 2025.

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