American Idol

Only Nashville Star still remains as a returning series and is the most popular. 2004. This series has been imitated by many other shows, among them Cupid, Superstar USA and Nashville Star (hosted by LeAnn Rimes). 2003. One or two more cities may also be added later as there are usually late additions to the list. Sharapova studies via correspondence on the internet with the Keystone High School home schooling program and has a liking for sociology. As of now, the current list of cities (tentative) are Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Memphis and San Diego. By reaching her second Birmingham final in 2005, Sharapova has a 17-match winning streak on grass (dating back to June 2004).

The fifth season of American Idol will be held starting in January 2006 with auditions expected to be in the summer and early autumn of 2005. However, Sharapova, Bollettieri, and Kournikova all reject the comparison. The winner of the competition was Carrie Underwood. She is often compared to Anna Kournikova, also a Russian Bollettieri student and model. It featured appearances by former auditioners of questionable talent, and celebrity cameos by Kenny G, Rascal Flatts, David Hasselhoff, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, George Benson, Billy Preston, Babyface and Lynyrd Skynyrd. However, she says she does not want to overdo these activities, preferring to focus on her tennis. The fourth season finale featuring Bo Bice and Carrie Underwood aired May 24-May 25. She enjoys fashion and is known to read celebrity magazines.

Vonzell Solomon was the 10th contestant voted off the Top 12 on Wednesday May 18th. A 6 foot blonde, Sharapova is regarded by many as possessing a natural beauty and figure and has done some modeling, having signed a contract in November 2003 with IMG Models. For the third and final song of the night, one of the standard judges (Jackson, Abdul or Cowell) chose each contestant's selection. In the process she also became the first Russian ever to win that tournament. In an unprecented move, Bo Bice performed his choice completely a cappella. In 2004, Sharapova became the second youngest Wimbledon women's champion in the Open Era (after Martina Hingis) by defeating defending two-time champion Serena Williams in straight sets (6-1, 6-4). The second song the performers chose any song from any era. At age five or six, at a tennis clinic in Moscow, Sharapova was spotted by Martina Navratilova, who urged her parents to get her serious coaching in the United States.

He chose the first song each performer would sing, many of which he produced in his career. At the age of three, Sharapova moved with her family to the resort town of Sochi, beginning to play tennis at the age of four, using a racquet given to her by Yevgeny Kafelnikov's father.
For the May 18 final three show, a guest judge, legendary record producer Clive Davis was added. Sharapova was born in Nyagan, Siberia, the following year. The winner was Carrie Underwood, the first winner since Kelly Clarkson to not only win but avoid being in the bottom two or three for the entire competition. Her parents are originally from Gomel, Belarus, but moved to Russia in 1986 in the aftermath of the Chernobyl nuclear accident. 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, who had been voted off in the semi-finals the previous week. Maria Yuryevna Sharapova (Russian: Мари́я Ю́рьевна Шара́пова; born April 19, 1987) is a Russian professional tennis player.

Instead of competing in semifinal heats in which the top vote-getters are promoted to the final round, 24 semifinalists were named -- 12 men and 12 women, who competed separately, with 2 of each gender being voted off each week until 12 finalists were left. 2005: Miami (lost to Kim Clijsters). This season also implemented new rules for the final portion of the contest. 2004: Zurich (lost to Alicia Molik). He acquired mild fame by repeatedly yelling, "Can you dig it?" to the judges and for the inability of the judges to fully understand him. WTA Player Service. Also noted was Leroy Wells from Grand Bay, Alabama who auditioned in New Orleans singing Ol' Dirty Bastard's "Got Your Money". WTA Most Improved Player of the Year.

The most notable contestant in the early episodes was Mary Roach, who auditioned in Washington D.C. Her rendition of Carole King's "I Feel The Earth Move", as well as her comments to the judges that followed her audition, brought considerable negative attention (including false rumors of mental illness) and comparisons to William Hung. WTA Player of the Year. Among the music featured in the program: on January 19, 2005, "Look At Me" written by Sara Hickman and performed by her 8-year-old daughter Lily (from the album Big Kid). WTA Newcomer of the Year. The music celebrities featured were:. While in the past seasons celebrity guest judges have been invited to participate during the competition, this was the first season where guest judges were invited to participate in the auditions.

Auditions were held from August to October 2004. Louis, Missouri, New Orleans, Louisiana, Las Vegas, Nevada, Cleveland, Ohio, Orlando, Florida and San Francisco, California. Auditions were held in Washington, DC, St. The fourth season of American Idol premiered on January 18, 2005.

Paul Anka made an appearance in the Season Finale. The third season was also shown in Australia on Network Ten about half a week after episodes were shown in the US. During the season, controversy over the legitimacy of the contest increased as geeky rocker Jon Peter Lewis and young crooner John Stevens stayed afloat while others were unexpectedly eliminated. After a nationwide vote of more than 65 million votes in total, Fantasia Barrino won the "American Idol" title and Diana DeGarmo was runner up.

The third season of American Idol premiered on January 19, 2004. Paul Anka made an appearance during the Season finale. Clark also alleged that Abdul gave him preferential treatment on the show because of their alleged romance. The rumor mills were buzzing once again in 2005 when Season Two contestant Corey Clark, who was himself kicked off the show because of a police record he had not disclosed to the show, alleged that he had had an affair with judge Paul Abdul.

Controversy arose when semi-finalist Frenchie Davis was booted from the show, after topless pictures she had taken four years before the show aired surfaced. Despite Studdard's win, Aiken has enjoyed more widespread popularity. 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. In season two with Seacrest as the lone host, Ruben Studdard was the winner with Clay Aiken as runner up.

Guarini's self titled album was a flop, selling just 130,000 copies to date. Since then it has sold nearly 2 million copies, and includes such hits as "Since U Been Gone" (#2 on Billboard) and "Breakaway" (#6 on Billboard). Her first album Thankful debuted at #1, went double-platinum, and spawned the grammy-nominated hit "Miss Independent." Her sophomore album Breakaway debuted in November 2004 at #3 on the Billboard Charts. Since winning, Clarkson has gone on to a successful musical career.

Numerous television specials starring the ten finalists followed, as well as the box office bomb entitled From Justin to Kelly. Kelly Clarkson won, with Justin Guarini coming in second. In the first season the show was co-hosted by Seacrest and Brian Dunkleman. The number next to a contestant's name denotes the number of times he or she was in the "Bottom Three".

Kelly Clarkson came in second after Norway's Kurt Nilsen. In December 2003, winners of eleven different national Idol competitions were collected for a World Idol competition in London. A spin-off series called American Juniors premiered on June 3, 2003. This process is repeated each week until the one remaining contestant is declared the winner.

Over the course of the episode, two are revealed as being "safe" for the week, and the loser is sent home after performing one final song to end the episode. The bottom three vote-getters are separated from the remaining contestants. In any case, each week on the following night's live "results" episode, the contestant with the fewest votes is sent home. However in Season Two, in the final three, one song was chosen randomly from a bowl, with one chosen by the performer and one by the judges.

Instead, each contestant sings three songs: one of their own choice, one chosen by the judges, and one chosen by record executive Clive Davis. When there are three finalists remaining, themes are no longer used. Artists around whom themes have been based include Barry Manilow, Gloria Estefan, and Elton John. 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.

Themes have included Motown, disco, big band music, and Billboard #1 hits. In the finals, which last eleven weeks, each finalist performs a song live in primetime from a weekly theme (two songs in later rounds). They can however watch movies, since they have no known distracting effect on the contestants. The only time when a contestant can be free from this rule as if he or she gets voted out.

This is to keep the contestants safe from terrorists, epidemics, paparazzi, and to distance contestants from distractions that might be detrimental to their singing ability. This stops contestants from using cell phones (unless between family members or during an emergency), the Internet (especially chatting and message boards), leaving the Hollywood jurisdiction, leaving their apartments without consent, watching TV (especially News and Sports), listening to radio stations, and reading newspapers during their duration in the competition. Also contestants are contracted to be "conclaved" from the outside world. Contestants who failed the test have not been allowed to proceed in the competion.

Semifinalists are also subjected to drug tests, in order to avoid scandals involving drug usage. Several finalists have been disqualified for revelations that surfaced late in the competition. Semifinalists (and in some cases, other contestants as well) must submit to background checks and may be summarily disqualified for past behavior deemed undesirable, such as an arrest record. This was changed to the procedure (see above) in the 4th season due to the abundace of females (and no males left in the final 4) in the third season.

In season 1, 5 contestants were chosen, and judges chose one to advance to the finals. Each judge chose one semifinalist to advance to the final round, and a studio audience vote determined the final wildcard spot, rounding out the field of twelve finalists. When all the semifinal shows had been completed, there was a wildcard phase. Each week for four (three for season one) weeks, one group would perform with the top two (three for season one) vote-getters from each group advancing to the finals.

In the first season, they were 30 contestants, divided into three groups of ten. During the middle seasons, the semifinal round consisted of 32 semifinalists who were divided into four groups of eight. At the end of the semifinal rounds, the six men and six women who remain advance to the finals. On the following night's episode the results of the nationwide vote are announced, and the bottom two vote-getters are eliminated each week.

Callers are allowed to vote as many times as they like for any number of contestants. 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 (viewers may also send text messages to vote). Each contestant performs live (in the eastern and central time zones), in primetime, a song of his or her choice, and receives critiques from the judges, who, from this point on, serve almost entirely in an advisory capacity, with little direct influence on the results. On three consecutive weeks, the male semifinalists perform only against the other men, and the women only against the other women.

Once in Hollywood, the three judges narrow the initial field of several hundred down to a group of 24 semifinalists, divided equally between men and women, who are invited to perform in the live portions of the show. His case was not taken up by the EEOC. In early 2003, a 50-year-old college professor named Drew Cummings filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, charging the show with age discrimination because producers denied him an audition due to his age. For the fourth season, the upper age limit was raised to 28 to attract more mature and diverse contestants.

citizens and, for the first three seasons, had to be 16 to 24 years of age. Contestants must be U.S. 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. Typically the judges express disgust or dismay or suppressed laughter.

Poor singers often face intense and humbling criticism from the judges, and especially from Cowell, who can be harsh and blunt in his rejections. These "contestants" have been selected by the preliminary panels in a negative sense, a typical combination is lack of singing ability combined with vanity regarding their "talent." Others are selected for human interest potential, the 2005 auditions featured a "cannibal" who had sampled human flesh in an anthropology class and an aspiring female prize fighter. These early episodes focus mainly on the poorest performances from contestants who often appear oblivious to their lack of star talent. One of the most popular portions of each season are initial episodes showcasing American Idol hopefuls auditioning before the panel of judges.

The contestants selected despite lack of singing talent for appearance before the panel provide a major attraction to the viewing audience as they simultaneously proclaim their talent while turning out gut-wrenching performances which are ridiculed by the judges. Those who impress a majority of the judges 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). Contestants are required to sing a cappella. In order to be eligible, the contestants are not permitted to have any current recording or talent management agreements (but may have had one at some point in the past). Based on turnout and availability, producers select a certain number from the crowd to audition before the three judges (this may take several rounds).

These are generally held at large convention centers where thousands of people wait in line for auditions. In the show, hosted by Ryan Seacrest, hopeful contestants, after being screened by preliminary panels which select for singing talent or humorous potential and human interest, audition before three judges (Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, and Randy Jackson) in cities across the United States (sometimes a celebrity fourth judge is added). Each contestant gets a contract by one Bertelsmann's many music labels because Bertelsmann owns a 50/50 stake in Sony BMG. American Idol is produced by Fremantle North America which is owned by German Bertelsmann AG.

The show is a competition in which viewers can call in and vote on contestants to determine the best "undiscovered" young singer in the United States, with the winner receiving a major record deal, although some runners-up have achieved enough fame to ink record deals of their own. American Idol is a television show featured on the Fox Network in the United States, based on the popular British show Pop Idol. American Idol Season 4: The Showstoppers (2005). American Idol Season 3: Greatest Soul Classics (2004).

"What the World Needs Now" (single) (2003). "God Bless The U.S.A." (single) (2003). American Idol: The Great Holiday Classics (2003). American Idol Season 2: All Time Classic American Love Songs (2003).

American Idol Greatest Moments (2002). February 2, Brandy. February 1, LL Cool J. January 26, Kenny Loggins.

January 25, Gene Simmons of KISS. January 18, Mark McGrath of Sugar Ray.