American Idol

***American Idol*** is an American reality-singing competition series created by Simon Fuller, produced by 19 Entertainment, and distributed by FremantleMedia North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002 to April 7, 2016, as an addition to the Idols format based on the British series Pop Idol and has since become one of the most successful shows in the history of American television. On March 11, 2018, the 16th season aired on ABC.

Eventually the American people are allowed to vote by calling or texting, and the person with the fewest votes is off the show.

The TV show consists of multiple rounds of elimination. The singers can be anyone between the age of 15 and 29 years.

## Host and judges

_American Idol_ often has three or four judges, who give comments on performances.

The three judges are:
|Year|colspan="4"|Judges|||||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|2002|rowspan="13"|Randy Jackson|rowspan="8"|Paula Abdul|rowspan="9"|Simon Cowell|rowspan="7"|N/A|
|2003|||||||||
|2004|||||||||
|2005|||||||||
|2006|||||||||
|2007|||||||||
|2008|||||||||
|2009|rowspan="2"|Kara DioGuardi|||||||
|2010|Ellen DeGeneres||||||||
|2011|rowspan="2"|Jennifer Lopez|rowspan="2"|Steven Tyler|rowspan="2"|N/A|||
|2012|||||||||
|2013|Nicki Minaj|rowspan="4"|Keith Urban|Mariah Carey|||||
|2014|rowspan="3"|Jennifer Lopez|rowspan="10"|N/A|||||
|2015|rowspan="2"|Harry Connick|||||||
|2016|||||||||
|2018|rowspan="7"|Luke Bryan|rowspan="7"|Katy Perry|rowspan="7"|Lionel Richie|||
|2019|||||||||
|2020|||||||||
|2021|||||||||
|2022|||||||||
|2023|||||||||
|2024|||||||||

### Host

- Ryan Seacrest
- Brian Dunkleman (Season 1)

## Winners

- Season 1 (2002): Kelly Clarkson
- Season 2 (2003): Ruben Studdard
- Season 3 (2004): Fantasia Barrino
- Season 4 (2005): Carrie Underwood
- Season 5 (2006): Taylor Hicks
- Season 6 (2007): Jordin Sparks
- Season 7 (2008): David Cook
- Season 8 (2009): Kris Allen
- Season 9 (2010): Lee DeWyze
- Season 9b (2010): William Dempster
- Season 10 (2011): Scotty McCreery
- Season 11 (2012): Phillip Phillips
- Season 12 (2013): Candice Glover
- Season 13 (2014): Caleb Johnson
- Season 14 (2015): Nick Fradiani
- Season 15 (2016): Trent Harmon
- Season 16 (2018): Maddie Poppe
- Season 17 (2019): Laine Hardy
- Season 18 (2020): Just Sam
- Season 19 (2021): Chayce Beckham
- Season 20 (2022): Noah Thompson
- Season 21 (2023): Iam Tongi
- Season 22 (2024): Abi Carter
- Season 23 (2025): Jamal Roberts

## Runners-up

- Season 1 (2002): Justin Guarini
- Season 2 (2003): Clay Aiken
- Season 3 (2004): Diana DeGarmo
- Season 4 (2005): Bo Bice
- Season 5 (2006): Katharine McPhee
- Season 6 (2007): Blake Lewis
- Season 7 (2008): David Archuleta
- Season 8 (2009): Adam Lambert
- Season 9 (2010): Crystal Bowersox
- Season 10 (2011): Lauren Alaina
- Season 11 (2012): Jessica Sanchez
- Season 12 (2013): Kree Harrison
- Season 13 (2014): Jena Irene
- Season 14 (2015): Clark Beckham
- Season 15 (2016): La'Porsha Renae
- Season 16 (2018): Caleb Lee Hutchinson
- Season 17 (2019): Alejandro Aranda
- Season 18 (2020): Arthur Gunn
- Season 19 (2021): Willie Spence
- Season 20 (2022): HunterGirl
- Season 21 (2023): Megan Danielle
- Season 22 (2024): Will Moseley
- Season 23 (2025): John Foster

## Other contestants

- Chris Daughtry
- Melinda Doolittle
- Jennifer Hudson
- Sanjaya Malakar
- Lauren Spencer-Smith
- Breanna Nix
- Mattie Pruitt

## Other websites

- _American Idol_ Official website

## Infobox (television)

- **image**: American_Idol_logo.svg
- **runtime**: 22-104 minutes
- **creator**: Simon Fuller
- **genre**: Reality television
- **executive producer**: Simon Fuller (2002–)

Cecile Frot-Coutaz (2002–)

Simon Jones (2002–03)

Nigel Lythgoe (2002-08, 2011-13, 2016)

Ken Warwick (2002-13)

Brian Gadinsky (2002)

Charles Boyd (2009-16)

Trish Kinane (2013–)

Jesse Ignjatovic (2014)

Evan Prager (2014)

Per Blankens (2015)

David Hill (2015-16)

Megan Wolflick (2015–)

Jessica Castro (2016)

Jenniffer Mullin (2018–)

Phil McIntyre (2018–)
- **director**: Andrew Scheer (2002)
Bruce Gowers (2003–06, 2008)
Gregg Gelfand (2007, 2011-12)
Ken Warwick (2007, 2011-12)
Bill DeRonde (2009, 2014–15)
John Pritchett (2006–2008, 2010)
Gregg Gelfand (2010, 2013)
Louis J. Horvitz (2014)
Phil Heyes (2015–16, 2018-)
Ben Thursby (2018)
- **presenter**: Ryan Seacrest
Brian Dunkleman (2002)
- **starring**: Simon Cowell (2002-2010)
Paula Abdul (2002–2009)
Randy Jackson (2002-2013)
Kara DioGuardi (2009–2010)
Ellen DeGeneres (2010)
Jennifer Lopez (2011-12, 2014-16)
Steven Tyler (2011-12)
Mariah Carey (2013)
Nicki Minaj (2013)
Keith Urban (2013-16)
Harry Connick, Jr. (2014-16)
Katy Perry (2018-2024)
Luke Bryan (2018-)
Lionel Richie (2018-)
- **country**: United States
- **network**: Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox
- **network2**: American Broadcasting Company, ABC
- **last aired2**: present
- **num seasons**: 23
- **num episodes**: 718