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American Idol is a reality television competition to find new solo singing talent. Part of the Idol franchise, it was created by Simon Fuller as a spin-off

from the British show Pop Idol, of which two series were broadcast between 2001 and 2003. Debuting on June 11, 2002, as American Idol: The Search for a Superstar on the Fox network, the show has since become one of the most popular in the history of American television. It is currently the #1 program in the Nielsen ratings and is one of only three that have been #1 for five consecutive seasons, along with All in the Family and The Cosby Show.

The program aims to discover the best singer in the country through a series of nationwide auditions in which viewer voting determines the winner. Through telephone and SMS text voting, viewers chose past winners Kelly Clarkson, Ruben Studdard, Fantasia Barrino, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Hicks, Jordin Sparks, David Cook, Kris Allen, and Lee DeWyze (listed in chronological order). The eligible age-range for contestants is currently 16–28 years old. The upper age limit was 24 in the first three seasons.

The series employs a panel of judges who critique the contestants' performances: Grammy award-winning record producer and music manager Randy Jackson and award-winning music executive and music manager Simon Cowell have been judges for the entire series. Grammy award-winning pop singer and Emmy award-winning choreographerPaula Abdul was a judge for the show's first eight seasons.^[1] The format originally featured three judges, with Latin Grammy Award-nominated singer–songwriter and record producer Kara DioGuardi added as a fourth judge for the eighth season. On September 9, 2009, Emmy Award-winning talk show host Ellen DeGeneres was confirmed to be Abdul's replacement for the ninth season.^[2] The show has been renewed for three more seasons.^[3] On January 11, 2010 Simon Cowell announced that he was leaving the show to pursue introducing his show The X Factor to the USA for 2011.^[4]

Ryan Seacrest has hosted the show for its entire run. During the first season, he was joined by comedian Brian Dunkleman. The American Idol band is currently led by Rickey Minor. Dorian Holley of Los Angeles Music Academy is Music Director and vocal coach;^[5] he has been with the show since 2006.

The show usually airs on Tuesday and Wednesday nights in the United States and Canada, Wednesday and Thursday nights in Australia, parts of Asia, and the United Kingdom, Friday nights in Ireland, Friday and Saturday nights in Israel, and Saturday and Sunday nights in Latin America.

Entertainment Weekly put it on its end-of-the-decade, "best-of" list, saying, "It's given us Kelly, Carrie, Daughtry, and J. Hud. Idol rules the reality roost because the winners of Fox's ratings juggernaut actually do go on to greatness. And Taylor Hicks? He's the exception that proves the rule." Unless the idol winners are expected to just be happy with the win, each winner should be expected to have commercial success with albums, videos, and radio. A general rule of thumb should be if it will not play on radio, then he/she should not win. Perhaps radio execs or deejays should join the show as an advisory panel. Reviewing the past seasons and the commercial success of each winner the two biggest winners have been Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood. Judging the success of these two ladies against the others suggests that America prefers attractive ladies to win this show. Perhaps the judges should remember this when selecting the contestants. No male winner has had solid commercial success, and no African American has had commercial success the two winners being Ruben and Fantasia. Yet for season nine its another male winner Lee Dewize. Will he follow the path of previous winners to a dead end or actually find commercial success? The history of the show suggests that Crystal Bowersox will have more success as the season 9 runner up then Lee as the winner

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