American Idol

American Idol (American Idol: The Search for a Superstar in season 1) is an American singing competition airing on FOX. It debuted on June 11, 2002, and has since become one of the most popular shows on American television. Part of the Idol franchise, it is a spinoff from the reality program Pop Idol, which was created by British entertainment executive Simon Fuller and first aired in 2001 in the United Kingdom.

The program seeks to discover the best singer in the country through a series of nationwide auditions. The American public decides the outcomes of the later stages through phone voting. The judges give critiques of the contestants' performances: Grammy award-winning record producer and music manager Randy Jackson; Grammy award-winning pop singer and Emmy award-winning choreographer Paula Abdul; music executive and music manager Simon Cowell; and Grammy award-nominated singer-songwriter and record producer Kara DioGuardi. The format originally featured three judges, with Kara DioGuardi added in the eighth season.

The show is hosted by television personality Ryan Seacrest. Comedian Brian Dunkleman co-hosted with Seacrest during season 1. The American Idol band is led by Rickey Minor.

The show usually airs on Tuesday and Wednesday nights in the United States and Canada, Wednesday and Thursday nights in Australia & Asia, Thursday and Friday nights in the United Kingdom and Friday and Saturday nights in Israel.

Season 1

The first season of American Idol debuted without hype as a summer replacement show in June 2002 on the Fox network. It was co-hosted by Ryan Seacrest and Brian Dunkleman. The show ran for 13 weeks from June–September. An estimated 50 million people watched the finale in September 2002.

The winner, Kelly Clarkson, signed with RCA Records, the label in partnership with American Idol's 19 Management. Immediately post-finale, Clarkson released two singles, including the coronation song, "A Moment Like This". Clarkson has since released three successful albums—Thankful, Breakaway, and My December. Her fourth album All I Ever Wanted was released on March 10, 2009. Clarkson was the first contestant ever to win a Grammy and has gone on to receive several awards and sell over 20 million records worldwide.

Runner-up Justin Guarini also signed with RCA Records, eventually debuting an album in 2003 after the conclusion of season 2. RCA dropped him shortly after its debut. Guarini went on to form his own entertainment company and independently produced a jazz album in 2005, and is a host/commentator for the TV Guide Network.

In addition to Clarkson and Guarini, also signed were Nikki McKibbin (3rd), Tamyra Gray (4th), R. J. Helton (5th), and Christina Christian (6th). Tamyra Gray was signed, but was dropped before releasing an album. She then signed with Idol creator Simon Fuller's new label 19 Entertainment, released her debut album in 2004, and was dropped from that label in 2005.

The show inspired a 2003 musical film, From Justin to Kelly, featuring Kelly Clarkson and Justin Guarini. The musical love story, produced by 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[citation needed] during its short run in theaters, and is often ranked among the worst movies ever made.

Starting September 30, 2006, the first season of American Idol was repackaged as "American Idol Rewind" and syndicated directly to stations in the US.

   

Season 2

Following the success of season 1, the second season was moved up to air in January 2003. The number of episodes increased, as did the show's budget and the charge for commercial spots. Dunkleman left the show, and Seacrest surfaced as the lone host. Kristin Holt was originally announced to be added as a co-host, but upon airing, her role was reduced to special correspondent.

This time, Ruben Studdard emerged as the winner, with Clay Aiken as runner-up. Out of 24 million votes recorded, Studdard finished 130,000 votes ahead of Aiken. There was discussion in the communication industry about the phone system being overloaded, and 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 season 5, a statement by executive producer Nigel Lythgoe suggested that Aiken had led the fan voting from the wildcard week onward until the finale. Aiken became the first non-winning contestant to have a U.S. Hot 100 number-one with "This Is the Night".

In addition to Studdard and Aiken, Kimberley Locke (3rd), Josh Gracin (4th), and Carmen Rasmusen (6th) have signed with various record labels.

The show caused controversy when contestant Frenchie Davis was disqualified from the competition when topless photos of her surfaced on the Internet. Shortly afterwards, she landed a role in the Broadway musical Rent, and continues to work on Broadway.

Also, 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, and produced eight cashed checks to validate their claim. The case was settled out of court.

In 2005, contestant Corey Clark (whom producers disqualified because he had not disclosed a police record) alleged that he and judge Paula Abdul had an affair while he was on the show and that this contributed to his removal. Clark also alleged that Abdul gave him preferential treatment on the show due to this affair. A subsequent investigation by an independent counsel hired by Fox "could not corroborate the evidence or allegations provided by Mr. Clark or any witnesses".

American Idol Rewind started re-airing this season in the fall of 2007.

  

Season 3

The third season premiered on January 19, 2004. By the end of its third season, the network profited more than $260,000,000. The winner was Fantasia Barrino, later known simply as "Fantasia," and the runner-up was Diana DeGarmo. The third season was also shown in Australia on Network Ten about half a week after episodes were shown in the U.S. In May 2005, Telescope announced that the third season had a total of approximately 360 million votes.

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 Cowell's criticisms, landed him a record deal with Koch Entertainment and made him over $500,000 in record sales.

During the season, controversy over the legitimacy of the contest increased as rocker Jon Peter Lewis and young crooner John Stevens stayed afloat while others, such as Jennifer Hudson, were unexpectedly eliminated. Jasmine Trias, despite negative comments from Simon Cowell over her later performances, survived elimination and took the third spot over LaToya London.

Over 65 million votes were cast on the night of the finale, more than the first two seasons combined. Fantasia was crowned the winner over runner-up Diana DeGarmo and released her first single in June 2004 on the RCA record label. The single entered the Billboard Hot 100 at #1, making Fantasia the first artist in the history of Billboard to debut at number one with their first single, and remained there for one week. Fantasia's debut album I Believe has been certified double platinum by the CRIA and received 3 Billboard Music Awards.

DeGarmo was also signed to RCA. However, the sales of her debut album Blue Skies suffered partly from a lack of promotion and she eventually asked to be released from her contract. Since then, she has played different roles on Broadway. She also appeared as a contestant on the first season of CMT's reality show Gone Country.

In addition to Fantasia and DeGarmo, Jasmine Trias, LaToya London, George Huff, Jennifer Hudson, and Camile Velasco have released albums since the season ended. Hudson has also received praise for her acting in Dreamgirls (for which she won an Academy Award) and Sex and the City.

  

Season 4

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 and 28 on August 4, 2004, born on or between August 5, 1975 and August 4, 1988[9][10] Among those who benefited from this new rule were Constantine Maroulis (born September 17, 1975) and Bo Bice (born November 1, 1975), considered to be the eldest and somewhat most experienced of the season's Idol contestants. They were also constantly mentioned by Seacrest and in the media as "the two rockers", since their long hair and choice of rock songs made them stand out from conventional Idol standards. The presence of more rock-oriented contestants 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 and 12 women, who competed separately, with two of each gender being voted off each week until 12 finalists were left. This was in response to season 3 results, which produced a Top 12 of eight women and just four men.

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. 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, and 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 both debuted and peaked at #2 on Billboard. Underwood's first single, "Jesus, Take the Wheel" was made available for radio airplay on October 18, 2005. The single also debuted at #48 on the Billboard Hot 100 where it peaked at #20.

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 and 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, and 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 2007. Sixth-place contestant Constantine Maroulis has redone his rendition of "Bohemian Rhapsody" for a Queen tribute album, and released his first full-length solo album in 2007. Since August 2006, Maroulis has appeared in the Broadway musical The Wedding Singer and the now closed off-broadway play Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris and has appeared on CBS' The Bold & the Beautiful. 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, and Grammy Awards) in a single season (for 2006-2007),(2007-2008) & (2008-2009).

    

Season 5

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. It remains highest-rated season in the shows run so far. Auditions were in Austin, Boston, Chicago, Denver and San Francisco, with Greensboro, North Carolina and Las Vegas, Nevada included after the cancellation of the Memphis auditions due to Hurricane Katrina. The season used the same rules as season 4.

Taylor Hicks was named American Idol on May 24, 2006; he was the fourth contestant to never fall into any week's "bottom three". His first post-Idol single, "Do I Make You Proud", would debut at #1 and be certified gold.[14] Hicks' album, Taylor Hicks, has sold 702,000 copies to date. His follow-up album, "The Distance," was released March 10, 2009.

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. Taylor Hicks is the second American Idol winner from the city of Birmingham, Alabama (the first being Ruben Studdard), and the fourth finalist with close ties to the city.

The fifth-season contestant with the most commercial success is fourth-place finisher Chris Daughtry, now lead singer of the band Daughtry. Their eponymous debut album has sold over 5 million copies to date - surpassing former winners Studdard and Fantasia's respective two-album totals - and produced two top-ten singles. The album, which spent two weeks at #1 in the US, is also the fastest-selling debut rock album in Soundscan history.

As of November 2008: Runner-up Katharine McPhee's debut album has sold 374,000 copies; she has two Top 40 Billboard hits. Also notable: sixth-place finisher Kellie Pickler, whose Small Town Girl reached #1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and has sold over 795,000 copies. Third-place finisher Elliott Yamin's eponymous debut album was certified gold and produced a platinum-selling single. Eighth-place finisher Bucky Covington's self-titled debut album has sold 384,000 copies and generated a top 20 and two top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart. Ninth-place finisher Mandisa's True Beauty album earned a Grammy Award nomination for Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album in 2007.

   

Season 6

The sixth season 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.[17] Jordin Sparks was declared the winner on May 23, 2007, at 10:05 EST, with a new record of 74 million votes in the finale against runner-up Blake Lewis.

Teenager Sanjaya Malakar was the season's most polarizing and talked-about American Idol contestant, as he continued to survive elimination for several weeks. The weblog Vote for the Worst and satellite radio personality Howard Stern both encouraged fans to vote for Sanjaya. However, on April 18, after over 38 million votes, 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 and viewer donations.[20] None of the singers were eliminated, and the votes from that week were added to the votes from the following week to eliminate two singers. Both weeks saw a two-hour extension of the regular two-hour voting window, and in the end, the two-week combined voting totaled 135 million votes.

A little over a month earlier, the show had launched the American Idol Songwriter contest which enabled fans to select the "coronation song" to be performed by whichever two contestants made it to the finale. In the songwriting contest, amateur songwriters were able to submit original songs they had written and recorded. A selection committee headed by Idol creator Simon Fuller then narrowed thousands of submissions down to twenty finalists. With "one online vote per fan," fans were able to listen to snippets from each song and rate them. When the ratings were tallied, the winning song was the ballad "This is My Now" co-written by Scott Krippayne and Jeff Peabody.

In the finale, both Jordin and Blake started the night off strong. However, the final song of the night was "This is My Now," the winner of the American Idol Songwriter contest. At the end of the episode, Ryan confirmed both Randy's and Simon's predictions announcing Jordin Sparks the season 6 winner of American Idol, after approximately 74 million votes.

Jordin Sparks first non American Idol single was the top hit (peaking at #8) Tattoo, which received platinum certification. Blake Lewis's single was Break Anotha!, which failed to chart the Billboard Hot 100.

Jordin's second single is the Billboard Hot 100 #3 hit No Air with Chris Brown. The song went to #1 in several countries, and also topped Billboard's Pop Airplay chart. The song had been certified platinum in April but recently passed the 2.5 million copies mark. The song peaked at #2 on Billboard's Pop chart, and became the biggest #2 ever (in terms of bullet). Jordin recently released a third single off her album, One Step At A Time, which has peaked at #17. Making Jordin the only American Idol contestant ever to have their first 4 singles become a Top 20 Hit. One Step at a Time has so far sold 1 million copies and is certified platinum.

Blake's second single "How Many Words" also failed to chart the Billboard hot 100, peaking only at 25 in the Bubbling Under chart (hot 100 equivalent = 125). Shortly afterward, Blake confirmed that he had been dropped by Arista records. His album sales are just over 300,000. The drop also canceled Blake's apparent plans for a third single release.

Phil Stacey, tied for fifth place with Chris Richardson, is now signed to Lyric Street and has released his first single If You Didn't Love Me. Tenth place finalist Chris Sligh recently released a Christian album after signing with Brash Music.

This season of American Idol produced two Top 3 contestants that were never in bottom 2 or 3, Jordin Sparks (the season 6 winner) and Melinda Doolittle (third place). They are joined by Kelly Clarkson, Clay Aiken, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Hicks as Top 3 contestants never to have been in the bottom 2 or 3.

Jordin recently signed a deal for a clothing line with Wet Seal. Wet Seal has stated in an interview that Jordin is the perfect teenage role model that kids look up to. The clothing line was released on November 19, 2008 and has sold astonishingly over $5 million of merchandise.

   

Season 7

American Idol returned for its seventh season on January 15, 2008 for a two-day, four-hour premiere. David Cook was announced the winner of American Idol season 7 on May 21, 2008, with a record breaking 56% of the 97.5 million votes. Known for his rock-oriented cover versions, most of which he arranged himself, Cook was the first 'rocker' to win the show.

Prior to the start of season 7, Executive Producer Nigel Lythgoe admitted that season 6 had placed more focus on the guest mentors than the contestants. Changes were planned for season 7 designed to return attention to the contestants by providing more information on their backgrounds and families. In addition, starting with the Hollywood rounds, contestants were allowed to accompany themselves on musical instruments.

On March 11, 2008, American Idol debuted a new state-of-the-art set and stage, along with a new on-air look. The two-night season finale, as announced by Seacrest, was broadcasted live from the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles on May 20 and 21, 2008.

Idol Gives Back, which raised more than $75 million in 2007 for various charitable organizations, returned on April 9, 2008. It is said that the revenue earned from the April 9, 2008 event is comparable to the amount raised in 2007 and will be distributed by the Idol Gives Back Foundation.

The media noted that several of the season 7 semi-finalists had previously had record deals, including Kristy Lee Cook, Brooke White, Michael Johns, and Carly Smithson. (Eventual winner David Cook released an independent solo album and had finished recording a follow-up prior to his audition for the show, but he was never involved with a record label or contract.) Idol rules state that contestants may have had a record deal in the past, but are still eligible as long as they are no longer under contract when Idol begins. Former season 2 contestant Clay Aiken commented during an interview on The View in May 2008 about the general innocence of the contestants, that has increasingly been lost over the years. Aiken stated that the contestants are "increasingly more experienced than ever before".

The American Idol Songwriter contest, launched during season 6, was continued for this season. During the top two performance show, each contestant performed a song he had selected from the top ten vote getters, but neither of their selections was used as the “coronation song”. The winning song, "The Time of My Life", was recorded by David Cook and released on May 22, 2008. The song was certified platinum by the RIAA on December 12, 2008.

This season David Archuleta and David Cook joined Kelly Clarkson, Clay Aiken, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Hicks, Jordin Sparks, and Melinda Doolittle as the Top 3 contestants to never have been in the bottom 3 or 2. David Archuleta and Clay Aiken are the only runner-ups to have never been in the bottom 2 or 3. This season's finale was also the first time in the show's history where neither one of the Top 2 were ever in the bottom 3.

David Archuleta signed with Jive Records and his self-titled debut album was released on November 11, 2008. Archuleta's first single, "Crush", debuted at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the Hot Digital Songs chart, giving it the highest single debut of 2008. The song has sold 1.5 million copies as of January 2009, making it one of the most successful singles ever from an Idol contestant. A second single from the album, "A Little Too Not Over You" has been released.

David Cook's debut album was released on November 18, 2008, on 19 Recordings / RCA Records and was certified platinum by the RIAA on January 22, 2009. Cook teamed with Grammy winning producer Rob Cavallo (Green Day, Kid Rock) on the album. A single from the album, "Light On", was released in September 2008.

   

Season 8

The eighth season of American Idol began on January 13, 2009. Auditions began July 17. It has been revealed that this season will feature fewer drawn-out audition episodes and more half-hour result shows. Mike Darnell, the president of alternative programming for Fox, stated that this season the contestants will be more emotional and viewers will see more of their reality and emotional state. Also this season will have a fourth judge on the panel: record producer, singer and songwriter Kara DioGuardi.

After Fox and producers promised changes to the show, on August 4 showrunner and executive producer Nigel Lythgoe announced he was leaving "Idol" to focus on international versions of his other show So You Think You Can Dance. It was also announced that Idol Gives Back will not return this season due to the ongoing economic crisis and recession. In addition, the Hollywood round was moved to the Kodak Theatre for 2009 and was also extended to two weeks.

Pop Idol

Pop Idol was a British television series which debuted on ITV on October 5, 2001; the show was a talent contest to decide the best new young pop singer, or 'pop idol', in the United Kingdom, based on viewer voting and participation. A second series was broadcast in 2003.

The Idol series has become an international franchise, although a legal dispute with the makers of Popstars meant that the word "Pop" had to be excluded from the title. As such, spin-offs have included American Idol, Australian Idol, Latin American Idol, Idols (Denmark, Netherlands, Finland, South Africa, Serbia-Montenegro & Macedonia), Canadian Idol, Idols West Africa, Indian Idol, Indonesian Idol, New Zealand Idol, Hay Superstar (Armenia), Idol stjörnuleit (Iceland), Nouvelle Star (France), American Juniors, Pinoy Idol (Philippines), Idol (Norway), Idol (Poland), Deutschland sucht den Superstar (Germany), Singapore Idol, Malaysian Idol, Vietnam Idol, Music Idol (Bulgaria), Ídolos (Brazil and Portugal), Super Idol (Greece), Solo Idol (Solomon Islands), Super Star (Arab World), Megasztár (Hungary) and Looking For You (Bangladesh).

Unusually, the format was created not by TV producers but by music impresario Simon Fuller, in 1998. Having initially seen the project as web-based, the reality TV boom of the late '90s led him to take his format and inject elements of the variety talent shows of the 1970s and Popstars.

The first series was won by Will Young, with Gareth Gates coming second. Michelle McManus won the second series. All of the top three contestants from series 1 had number 1 singles in the UK. Will Young continues to be a credible recording artist. Darius Danesh had two hit albums and has appeared in the West End musicals Chicago, playing the role of Billy Flynn, and Gone With The Wind, originating the role of Rhett Butler. He also appeared in the touring version of Guys and Dolls as Sky Masterson. Gareth Gates initially had great success, which later dried up (though his third album, released in June 2007, charted at No. 23). Series 2 contestants enjoyed significantly less chart success, which many believe damaged the credibility of the show and helped hasten its demise in its home country.

It has been common to suggest that the UK is actually the nation where the alumni of such shows are least successful, as between Popstars, Pop Idol, The X Factor, and the BBC's Fame Academy, only Will Young, Gareth Gates, Fame Academy's Lemar, Popstars' Girls Aloud, and The X Factor's G4 and Leona Lewis have gone on to achieve notable success, whereas other nations' contests, most notably American Idol, produced singers who have generally gone on to much greater success than their UK counterparts.

Immediately after the second series of Pop Idol, the same set was used to host World Idol, in which winners of various Idol series around the world, including original Pop Idol winner Will Young, American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson and Australian Idol winner Guy Sebastian, competed in a one-off competition, complete with a large judging panel featuring one judge from each country (Simon Cowell officially representing American Idol, with Pete Waterman the "official" UK judge). The surprise winner was Norway's Kurt Nilsen, who proceeded to minor UK chart success. Cowell was strongly critical of World Idol, and it is highly unlikely to be staged again.

After the second series of Pop Idol in 2003, ITV put the show on indefinite hiatus. This was because judge and music executive Simon Cowell wished to produce his own show, The X Factor, which he and his record label (Syco) held the rights to. In addition, Pop Idol's second series winner, Michelle McManus, achieved little UK chart success, and ITV wanted a refreshed series (with more famous and experienced judges) of a similar format to take over – thus The X Factor was chosen as its replacement. The X Factor judging line-up was originally Simon Cowell, music manager Sharon Osbourne and Popstars: The Rivals judge and music manager Louis Walsh. This line-up was joined by pop singer Dannii Minogue in series 4. Osbourne departed The X Factor at the end of series 4, leaving Cowell, Walsh, Minogue and new judge Cheryl Cole (Osbourne's replacement), who is part of the successful girls group Girls Aloud, created by Popstars: The Rivals. The X Factor has gone on to be one of the most successful reality TV series in the UK, with international spin-offs in countries including Spain, Australia, Denmark and Italy. In 2005, Pop Idol creator Simon Fuller filed a lawsuit against The X Factor producers claiming that the format was copied from his own show. The case was eventually settled out of court.

ITV's licence to produce Pop Idol has since expired, meaning that other channels could theoretically acquire the series. Despite rumours (see below), no broadcaster has since acquired the rights to the format in the UK.

Despite running for only two series, Pop Idol's impact was immense and led 19 Entertainment and Fremantle Media to roll the format out globally; currently there are over 50 versions in 110 countries, including, notably, American Idol, again featuring Cowell as a judge.

Relaunch of Pop Idol

On 1 October 2006, ITV's licence to produce Pop Idol in the UK ran out and its creator Simon Fuller, with co-producers FremantleMedia and 19 Television, began talking to UK broadcasters about reviving the show in a revamped format on a different channel. While Sky1 and Five initially expressed interest in buying the show,[2] no revival has been announced.

Video games

Pop Idol was released as a video game, where the player creates his/her own singer, then they must sing their way through the auditions, theatre stages, heats, and then the finals. The game increases in difficulty as the player progresses through the competition. With each stage of the finals, one or two players with the least public vote tally are eliminated. The gameplay mainly consists of lining up a moving symbol with a fixed object in the centre of the screen and pressing the corresponding symbol on the game's controller. If the player presses it when the symbol is in the middle of the circle, their singer sings a good note. If he or she presses it when it is not in the circle, or mistimes their press, the singer sings a bad note.

Related programmes

Main article: Idol series

The Idol format has been launched in dozens of nations worldwide, and there have been many imitations of the programme.

A World Idol international television special was held in December 2003, featuring national first series Idol contest winners competing against each other; viewers worldwide voted Norwegian Idol's Kurt Nilsen "World Idol".

The similar Popstars format preceded Pop Idol, and was succeeded in Britain by one series of Popstars: The Rivals and five series so far of The X Factor. After Popstars producers threatened legal action, a deal was struck that, among other clauses, does not allow the use of the word "pop" in the title of Pop Idol editions outside of the UK.

Australian Idol

Australian Idol is a Logie Award-winning Australian singing competition, which began its first season on 27 July 2003. Part of the Idol franchise, it originated from the reality program Pop Idol created by British entertainment executive Simon Fuller. Australian Idol is televised on Channel 10, and the Austereo Radio Network.

The program seeks to discover the most commercial young singer in the country through a series of nationwide auditions. The outcomes of the later stages of this competition are determined by public voting by phone. The format features three judges who give critiques of the contestants' performances in order to facilitate the voting: former record executive Ian Dickson; singer Marcia Hines; and radio presenter Kyle Sandilands. The show is hosted by Andrew G, James Mathison and former contestant Ricki-Lee Coulter as a backstage presenter. The show airs on Sunday and Monday nights in Australia.

In its six seasons, the winners and runners-up have been:

Year	Winner	Runner-up
2003	Guy Sebastian	Shannon Noll
2004	Casey Donovan	Anthony Callea
2005	Kate DeAraugo	Emily Williams
2006	Damien Leith	Jessica Mauboy
2007	Natalie Gauci	Matt Corby
2008	Wes Carr	Luke Dickens

Season 1

When Network Ten paid $15 million for the first season of Australian Idol they anticipated it to be a critical and financial success like it had been in other countries such as the UK and the USA. When the show aired for the first time in the August of 2003 it was a ratings bonanza attracting diverse ranges of viewers, from people wanting the crazy auditions to people who wanted to hear great voices. The audition process went through several major cities in Australia including Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide and Darwin. Sooner or later Australian Idol became the most popular TV show in the country with more ratings than major events such as the AFL Grand Final. The Grand Final at the Sydney Opera House attracted more than 3 million viewers. It was listed as the ninth highest rating TV show in Australia in the past century in 2007.

The eventual winner of the competition was Guy Sebastian. He beat Shannon Noll who finished in 2nd place, Cosima De Vito who came in 3rd place, Paulini Curuenavuli who came in 4th place & Rob Mills who finished in 5th place. After Idol, it was these five, the Final 5, who were the most successful out of the Top 12.

Other Idol contestants from Season 1 to release music were Levi Kereama, Rebekah LaVauney, Peter Ryan and Courtney Act. All of these independent acts achieved limited success.

Season 2

As well as the five larger cities, the judges also visited Canberra, Hobart, Darwin and Tamworth this year. Of the twelve finalists, three were from Sydney, two were from Melbourne, and one each from Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Hobart, Perth, Canberra, Adelaide and Bega.

The winner was Casey Donovan. The runners up (in descending order) were Anthony Callea, Courtney Murphy , Hayley Jensen & Chanel Cole. The final two, as well as Ricki-Lee Coulter (7th), were the only contestants from the Top 12 to score hits, with Callea the highest seller of the three, now holding the record of the highest and fast selling single by an Australian artist ever with his first release of "The Prayer". Chanel Cole and Daniel Belle teamed up under the name Spook to release an album in October 2005; a bootleg album for Chanel was also released in November 2005. Top 30 contestants Ngaiire Joseph and Marty Worrall each released a single in late 2005, and Hayley Jensen an album in September 2007. Daniel O'Connor, another of the Top 12, gained a role on Neighbours.

The Grand finale of this series remains the highest rated show out of all broadcast over the five seasons.

On a darker note, Telstra, a major sponsor of the series, made an embarrassing error when they issued a series of half-page advertisements in major newspapers congratulating Donovan on her victory, with a reference to her website. However, the address was incorrect, leading to a website about gay porn star Casey Donovan, rather than the singer's. The company issued a prompt apology upon realising their mistake.[2]

After this season, judge Ian Dickson left the series, later to appear in the Seven Network reality TV shows My Restaurant Rules, Dancing with the Stars and most recently, Australian Celebrity Survivor. The 2004 season was also notable for an Asian contestant named "Flynn", who sang the Freestylers song "Push Up" after being found from a terrible audition, in the same vein as William Hung.

Season 3

For the first time in 'Australian Idol' history there were 13 finalists. This came about during the Wildcard Verdict show on 5 September 2005. The judges initially chose James Kannis and Emily Williams to go through to the final. This left one spot which was chosen by the Australian public. Out of the remaining contestants the two that received the highest votes were Daniel Spillane and Roxane Lebrasse. With only 1% between them, Dan was announced as the final member of the Top 12. This meant Roxane had missed out yet again. The judges decided however that Roxane was too good to be left out of the Top 12 so they made it a Top 13. The catch was that two contestants were eliminated in the first round of the finals.

On 21 November 2005 the winner was announced and it was Kate DeAraugo. Kate was an outside chance to win throughout the whole season and after the show had ended Kate released a #1 single, a platinum selling album and a further Top 10 hit single through Sony BMG. Kate is currently working with all girl group Young Divas which is madeup of past Idol contestants which include Paulini Curuenavuli, Jessica Mauboy and Emily Williams. Runner up Emily Williams lost by 1% in the closest percentage ever in an Idol finale. She was originally signed to Sony BMG as a solo artist, but the agreement fell through. She is also a member of Young Divas and has had much success with them. Lee Harding finished in third position and was signed to Sony BMG and released a # 1 single and a platinum selling album. His second single from his debut album proved to be less successful and in mid 2006 Harding was released from his contract with the label. He is currently touring and performing with Bedrock. Dan England came 4th and didn't score a recording contract with a major label but recorded several independent releases and has toured with Season 2 winner Casey Donovan and Season 1 Runner Up Shannon Noll. Anne Robertson who finished in sixth position was negotiating a deal with Sony BMG, but it was rumoured that Sony BMG was reluctant in signing her as they believed she was too similar to Season 1 contestant Paulini Curuenavuli who had been signed to the label for several years. Other Idol contestants from Season 3 have released numerous independent material and have toured and performed with several bands and music groups.

Although averaging around the 1.5 million viewer mark, ratings were down by up to 40% on average during the third season compared to the first two seasons, which regularly drew more than 2.5 million viewers during the latter half of the competition. This created a serious situation for Ten, which was airing three Australian Idol shows every week at the time, and forced them to give away free commercial airtime to program sponsors expecting higher ratings. Commentators has theorised over the reasons why this has occurred, ranging from the viewing public being tired of the format due to Sandilands replacing the popular Dickson. This caused a major Idol revamp for Season 4 which meant Season 4 being one of the highest rating seasons yet.

Season 4

Changes for the fourth season of Australian Idol included the cancellation of "Inside Idol"; a "streamlined" semi-finals (replaced with a variant of the 12 females, 12 males format popularized by American Idol); and the contestants will be able to bring instruments with them on stage for at least one of the final shows. Also, the fourth season's television promos promised a change in the viewer's role in the show, revealed to be an SMS service called 199-JUDGE which allows viewers to SMS their opinions on the judges' reactions.

Damien Leith was named the winner of Australian Idol 2006 on November 26, beating Jessica Mauboy for the title. Leith is the third most successful selling Australian Idol contestant with 385,000 units, closely behind Guy Sebastian and Shannon Noll. He has achieved two #1 selling albums, The Winner's Journey which sold 4x Platinum and Where We Land which made Platinum certification. His third studio album Catch the Wind: Songs of a Generation peaked at #2, reaching gold status. His first single, Night of My Life stayed at #1 for four consecutive weeks and was certified Platinum after one week of sales. It was the fastest selling debut single for 2006, and was the most added song to radio. Leith also won 5 Australian Recording Industry Association Awards including Highest Selling Album of 2007. He has also released a novel titled One More Time and hosted Network Ten's heart-warming television series "Saving Kids". Third place getter Dean Geyer later released his debut album 'Rush' and top ten single 'If You Don't Mean It' and currently stars on the Australian long-time running soap Neighbours. Jessica Mauboy went on to join ex-Idol girl group Young Divas, after member from season 2, Ricki-Lee Coulter, left the group. Mauboy has gained much success as a solo artist. Album Been Waiting has peaked at #11 and since achieved Gold status since its debut on the ARIA Albums Chart. Mauboy has also enjoyed great success with double-platinum debut single "Running Back" and platinum single "Burn".

Season 5

Ian "Dicko" Dickson rejoined the show as one of the judges, along with Mark Holden, Marcia Hines and Kyle Sandilands from 2006. The series is again hosted by Andrew G and James Mathison. The show continued with the format from Season 4 where contestants could use instruments throughout the show and for their audition they could perform original material rather than covering other artist's work. Natalie Gauci went on to win the series, beating Matt Corby for the title. Natalie released her debut platinum selling album "The Winner's Journey". After the winner's single "Here I Am" debuted at #2 on the ARIA Charts, and the album debuted at #11, Gauci suffered an unfortunate start to her career but plans to release a new album later in 2008. Carl Riseley, who finished third in the contest went on to release a swing-style album titled "The Rise", debuting at #5 on the ARIA Charts. Runner-up Matt Corby however, is yet to sign a deal with record company SonyBMG, but has "had talks" about his future with the company.

Season 6

Changes to the Australian Idol format for season 6 include judge Mark Holden leaving the show and temporary absence of host Andrew G, and auditions held for the first time in the United Kingdom[4]. This was also the first season where the Top 4 contestands were all male, and the second time with two male grand finalists, after Season 1 Finale with Guy Sebastian and Shannon Noll. On November 23, Wes Carr was announced as Australian Idol for 2008, beating Luke Dickens.

Season 7

On November 10, 2008, it was announced that a seventh season of Australian Idol will be produced and aired in late 2009.

Asian Idol

Asian Idol is a reality singing competition, which featured winners of Idol competitions from six Southeast and South Asian countries consisting of India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Vietnam. Part of the Idol franchise, it originated from the reality program Pop Idol created by British entertainment executive Simon Fuller, which was first aired in 2001 in the United Kingdom. The first season was won by Singapore Idol Hady Mirza, who was awarded an all-expense-paid trip around the world on business class, after almost two million votes were cast.

The first season was held on December 15 and 16, 2007 in Jakarta, Indonesia.RCTI (which also hosts Indonesian Idol), was the main broadcaster, with the program shown live among participating countries.

The second season will commence on 2009.

Season 1

The first season was hosted by Amelia "Ata" Natasha and Daniel Mananta, both from Indonesian Idol, and Malaysian Idol's Soo Kui Jien.

Each participating country had its own system of determining its representative.
As a kickoff to Asian Idol, all six contestants were introduced through a special presentation called Road to Asian Idol on December 8, 2007. Meanwhile, fans of each contestant will be able to choose the song they want their Idol to perform before the Asian Idol performance show. The Idols performed two songs each—one in English and another in their native language.

In addition to the coverage of Asian Idol, RCTI ran a series of features called Asian Idol Extra between late November to mid-December 2007.

Every competing country sent a judge to serve as the contestants' critics, but comments from only three judges on each performer were shown due to time constraints.

Special guests in the Results Show included American Idol winner Taylor Hicks, Australian Idol winner Guy Sebastian, Indian Idol judge Alisha Chinai, and Vietnam Idol judge Siu Black. It also featured performances by Rivermaya, Peterpan, and Agnes Monica.

The production of Asian Idol was put up with the help of the production crew from Australian Idol.

Hady Mirza's win came as a surprise, as at least three of the judges predicted that the winner would either be Marcelo, Mohede, or Victor.

There were claims that Hady may have gotten the crucial second vote outside of his home country, wherein it is claimed that votes for strong candidates were paired with weak ones like Hady and Sawant who were trailing in Asian Idol's online survey. This voting tactic was said to avoid viewers' home Idols be beaten by their closest rivals.

In Singapore, the victory stirred hopes of a revival of the country's golden age of music during the 1960s and 70's. Tuafik Batisah, first season winner of Singapore Idol, said that the win is something their country should be proud of and hopefully this would "open the eyes and ears" of listeners. However, there were viewers in Singapore who still doubt Hady's singing ability, claiming that his performance in Asian Idol was not as strong as other competitors and it was a matter of "luck over talent". Singapore Idol judge Ken Lim reiterated that "looks and voice" had won the title for Hady.

Meanwhile, Hady shrugged off speculations that he won because he was a "non-threat", but considered himself an underdog and that he did "pretty well" in terms of sincerity and connecting with the audience.

Filipino TV and movie critic Nestor U. Torre mentioned that he was not surprised about Hady's win, even lauding him for his "impressively cool yet dynamic" performances. He also appreciated Victor and Phuong Vy's performances. While Torre was also equally impressed by Marcelo and Mohede's voices, he also said that their girth worked to their disadvantage. On Sawant, Torre noted that his "balladeer" projection was "less dynamic" with his country's large voting population failing him. Despite the surprises and disappointments in the competition, Torre regarded Asian Idol a success as it produced relatively new talents in the Asian and international music scene.

Voting procedures

There are several differences in voting and tabulation between Asian Idol and other Idol shows. Unlike the latter wherein the viewers get to vote for one contestant, the voting procedure for Asian Idol requires viewers to send SMS votes for two favorite Idols, thus allowing contestants to receive votes aside from their respective countries.

As consideration on population size among the participating countries, tabulation of votes are done through an "Equal and Even Cumulative Method", wherein the total votes of each country are converted into percentages. The winner was said to be determined through 50% viewers' votes and 50% judges' scores, but this was not confirmed during the program.

Partial results

Daniel Hartono, project manager of Asian Idol, revealed during a press conference that Mohede received the highest amount of actual votes at approximately one million in total. However, because of the show's voting process where 50% of votes per country goes to the second option Idol, Mohede's votes were slashed by half and total percentages of votes from other participating countries were added. Hady, meanwhile, got the highest number of "second option votes". In total, Hady got 115% while Mohede is in second place with 111% and Victor got the lowest amount of votes. The rankings of other contestants were not revealed.

Controversies

Sandeep Acharya, the second-season winner of Indian Idol, was dismayed over Sawant's selection to compete in Asian Idol. He claimed that Sony TV India, the broadcaster of Indian Idol, was supposed to hold a competition among its three winners to determine India's representative and he felt he was bypassed.

Network representatives clarified that although they have the option to choose their representative, they were toying the idea of competing the three Indian Idol winners—including season 3 winner Prashant Tamang. However, it was cancelled due to scheduling conflicts.

There were reports of disrupted voting lines the Philippines, making SMS votes delayed by as much as eight hours until the morning of December 16, 2007. According to representatives of ABC, the Philippine broadcaster of Asian Idol, the glitch was caused by "a clog in the telephone companies".

Season 2

Fotini Paraskakis, FremantleMedia Asia's production director (which holds the Idol franchises in the Philippines, India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore, and Malaysia) reported that the second season will not take place in 2008, and is planning to launch on 2009 due to several reasons (Kazakhstan, Malaysian and Singapore franchises ended, relaunch of the Philippine franchise, delayed launch of India and Vietnam, cancellation of the Pakistan franchise). Thailand (which will have its franchise soon) is reported to participate in the event.

Indonesian Idol

Indonesian Idol is an annual Indonesian singing competition which began its first season in 2004. Part of the Idol franchise, it originated from the British reality program Pop Idol.



Aired on RCTI, one of Indonesia's largest commercial television networks, Indonesian Idol became one of the most highly publicized music competitions in Indonesia. After Indonesian Idol 's appearance on Indonesian television, many new similarly themed reality shows were aired.

The 2008 season of Indonesian Idol saw a decline. Soon after, on 18 November 2008, RCTI announced that the reality show had been cancelled.

Indonesian Idol won the 2005 and 2006 Panasonic Awards for the Best Music Variety Show. It also defeated its rival, Akademi Fantasi Indosiar or Indonesians usually say AFI, but in 2004, AFI won the awards in Panasonic Awards 2004 as the Best Reality Show. Singapore Tourism Board also rewarded Indonesian Idol Season 1 by inviting the Top 11 contestants of Indonesian Idol Season 1 to the American Idol World Tour there. Joy, the winner of season 1, was the opening singer of the concert.

Season 1

The first season was conducted in 2004 where the auditions were held at five cities: Medan, Yogyakarta, Bandung, Surabaya and Jakarta. There were 32.000 people who auditioned for Season 1. The show became a big phenomenon after the grandfinale was watched by about 4 millions people in September 2004. There were several people who sang off-keys on the audition who competed on 'Coba Lagi Awards' (Try Again Awards). The winner of this award became a guest star on The Top 11 Spectacular Show's Result Show.

The number of the finalists on the first Spectacular Show was originally planned to be 10. However, the judges then made a surprising move by picking Lucky Octavian to also get the wild-card ticket (the first wild card ticket was taken by Karen Pooroe) making the number of contestants became 11. Guy Sebastian who was in Indonesia for his album promo tour, came as a guest star at the Top 7 Spectacular Show.

Indonesian Idol released its first compilation album, Indonesian Idol: Indonesian All Time Hits. The album made a huge success and had a Gold status. In the album, the Top 11 sang their first hit, Ekspresi.

Two finalists who battled at the Grand Finale were Joy Destiny Tobing and Delon Thamrin. There were 7,000 people who watched the show live at Istora Senayan, Jakarta. The soon to be Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono also watched the grandfinal. Eventually, the winner of the first season was Joy Destiny Tobing from Jakarta.

She signed a contract deal with BMG Indonesia, the partner of Indonesian Idol's 19 Management. Not so long after her victory, Joy released her first album, Terima Kasih (Thank You) including her new single, most notable as her coronation song, Karena Cinta.

Season 2

The second season started on 25 March 2005. Auditions were held from 15 February-17 March at five cities: Makassar, Yogyakarta, Bandung, Surabaya and Jakarta. The audition in Medan was canceled due to the tsunami on 2004 that destroyed most part of Aceh and North Sumatra. Then, as a replacement, the adution was also held in Makassar. There were 38,000 people who auditioned for the second season.

There were some changes on the second season, named there was no Wildcard round, and the number of the finalists on the spectacular show became 12. There were 9 male contestants who made it to the top 12 and only 3 female contestants. Because the age limit was decreased from 18 to 16, there were some teenagers who made it to the Top 12, named Monita and Vira.

Indonesian Idol Season 2 Compilation Album was released 3 weeks after the Spectacular Show began. The title of the album was Seri Cinta or Love Songs. The album single hits was Cintaku, sang by the Season 2's Top 12.

Two finalists that who in the Finale were Mike and Judika. The Grand Final was held at the Pleanary Hall of Jakarta Convention Center. The winner for season 2 is Mike. In the Result Show, some stars became guest starss, one of them was Christian Bautista a famous male singer from the Philippines. Ruth Sahanaya, Indonesia's Pop Diva made a surprise appearance for Mike and Judika when they sang her song, Tak Kuduga. Season 1 finalists came to the Result Show and sang together with season 2's finalists. Mike won a car from RCTI and FremantleMedia and signed a contract with SonyBMG for his album.

The votes margin between Judika and Mike on the finale was only 0.6%. Before the Final Result Show, Judika led the vote. But, finally Mike passed him and won. Not long after the finale, he released his self-titled album with his new single, Semua Untuk Cinta (All For Love). Mike's album made a huge success at the market. Many great Indonesian Composers made some songs for Mike's first album, including, Cinta Tak Bertuan composed by Indonesia's Most Favorite Male Singer, Glenn Fredly. Runner up Judika has also released his solo album. His album was released on August 2006. The top 12 contestants had a tour to Surabaya. The tour was originally planned to also go to Bandung, Yogyakarta], and Makassar. However, Fremantle canceled it without any published reason. Wisnu is working for RCTI as an anchor.

Season 3

The third season of Indonesian Idol was launched on April 21, 2006. The auditions were held at some Indonesia's major cities such as Jakarta, Bandung, Yogyakarta, Surabaya and Medan. This season, Indonesian Idols also conducted small auditions at some other cities such as Manado and Ambon. The contestants who passed the initial round in both Manado and Ambon were eventually brought into an elimination round in Surabaya. After an additional elimination round, the final group of contestants were finally brought to Jakarta to determine the final twelve contestants who made it onto the Indonesian Idols Spectacular Show.

As with previous Indonesian Idol seasons, the spectacular show was held in Balai Sarbini (Sarbini Building) located in South of Jakarta. The Third Season's finalists were considered better than the previous seasons by the judges. However, there were some surprising eliminations going on at the Spectacular Show. Depe, who was a huge favorite to be at the Grand Final, was unfortunately landed on the bottom three along with Gea and Nobo after the first Spectacular Show. She was eventually the first Idol to be eliminated by fans votes. Indra Lesmana said that Depe was way too early to be eliminated. After this elimination, Gea and Nobo were always safe until they were eventually voted out. The other unexpected elimination was Sisi's, who was a huge favorite amongst judges to be the Season 3 winner. She got eliminated on the fifth Spectacular Show. The Final Three consisted of Gea, Dirly, and Ihsan. There were unconfirmed rumors arose saying that the Top 3 contestants made it to the top because of their looks.

The third season also released a compilation album called, Tribute to Tonny Koeswoyo. Tonny, one of the founding members of Koes Plus, a legendary Indonesian Rock Band, died in 1987. Before his death, he and his brothers produced more than a few catch tunes that people still remember until today. The Top 12 Finalists sang Nusantara (Nusantara is the other name for Indonesia) as well as Koes Plus' other famous hit songs such as Diana and Kembali ke Jakarta (Return to Jakarta).

Gea the Top 3 finalist was a favorite to be the winner of the season because of her energetic and "cutesy" performance. However, her fans votes were not enough to safe her from elimination from the Top 3. This left Dirly and Ihsan to battle at the Grand Finale for the Indonesian Idol Season 3 title. As with the previous Indonesian Idols seasons, the Grand Finale was held at the Istora Senayan (Senayan Athletic Complex) in Central Jakarta. The live audience who attended the Grand Finale was approximately 7,000 persons. The winner's single for the 3rd Season is Kemenangan Hati. It was written by Indonesia's top composer, Yovie Widyanto, who also served as guest judge at the Indonesian Idols season two auditions. When the dust was settled, Ihsan was announced by Ata, the host, as the winner of Indonesian Idols Season 3. Ihsan then performed an encore performance to close the season.

Season 4

On Wednesday, January 10, 2007, Fremantle Media Asia officially launched the fourth edition of award winning Indonesian Idols. The show was initially announced at the 2006 Panasonic Awards when the Indonesian Idols judges were on hand to received the award for the Best Music and Variety Show. The 4th season commercial also has been airing in RCTI prior to the official launch date. In the official Indonesian Idols website, it was stated that starting from Season 4, future Idols participants can register online and print the audition form rather than using the current registration process which might take up to a whole day to complete. The organizers have added more pre-audition cities compared to last season which received additional host towns such as Banjarmasin, Makassar, Manado, Palembang, Manokwari, Denpasar & Semarang. So far, more than 120,000 people have taken advantage of the new registration process and registered online.Ata and Daniel are back as fourth season's colorful hosts. On the workshop round plus the first two spectacular ahow, Daniel hosted the show alone due to Ata's pregnancy. Ata started joining Daniel back hosting the show on the third spectacular show. Nirina Zubir and Indra Bekti was also announced as the Idol Banget (Extreme Idols) hosts.

However, changes were made to the judging team this season. While Titi DJ and Indra Lesmana are back as the judges, due to scheduling difficulties of their career, Indy Barends and Dimas Djayadiningrat have resigned from judging fourth season Indonesian Idols. Their colorful judging and commentary will be missed. They both are going to be replaced by Anang and Jamie Aditya. Anang, who is the husband of Indonesia's most famous Pop Diva, Krisdayanti, is also known as an established musician as well as a music producer. He was very well known for writing, singing and co-producing Multi-Platinum albums alongside his wife in the duo "Anang dan Krisdayanti". Jamie Aditya, was a Video Jockey during MTV Asia early years. Jamie, a talented musician in his own right, is rumored to launch an LP in 2007 which he hopes to be as successful as Indonesian singer Anggun

The fourth season premiered on 30 March 2007.

The fourth season's theme this year is a compilation album called, "Masterpiece". This album was released on the top 6 night (Friday, 22 June 2007). It s published that all top 12 contestants sing the song "Bendera" (originally sung by Cokelat) and they already made the video clip. The short clip of it was shown on the top 7 Result Show. On the top 6 Result Show, all top 6 contestants sang the song "Bendera" from their album and the background on the main screen was the video clip of the song.

On the top 6 Result Show, it was announced the bottom two rather than the usual bottom three. Dimas finally got voted off after 5 times consecutively was placed in the bottom three or bottom two. Dimas is the only contestant of all spectacular show contestants from all 4 seasons who had the most record to be in the bottom three of two (5 times) consecutively before getting voted off.

On the top 5 Result Show, 4 alumna of Indonesian Idol (Delon (runner-up of season 1), Lucky (6th place on season 1), Mike (winner of season 2), and Judika (runner-up of season 2)) performed as guests. They were all named 'Idol Divo' which is likely adopted from Il Divo who were found by Simon Cowell one judges of American Idol and Pop Idol. Fandy was voted off at this point leaving the formation of 1 male and 3 females on the top 4. This is exactly the same formation as in season 1.

Withover 10,000 viewers at Istora Senayan during the Grand Final, it doubled the projection of the producer. Claimed as the largest, most glorious and the best Grand Final of all Idol shows, it beat American Idol in terms of stage size, design, lighting, and sound system. For the first time in history, Rini, one of the Grand Finalist (later become the winner), had the chance to sing with Indonesia's music divas, Titi DJ and Krisdayanti.

Rini along with the other top 12 also performed at the closing ceremony of the Asian Cup at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium.

Season 5

The commercial of season 5 was firstly aired during the Asian Idol's commercial break. Online registration was open on the Indonesian Idol's official website. Audition started on February 3, starting in Medan. Daniel returns as the show's host, along with two new hosts, Dewi Sandra and Marissa Nasution. Ata is no longer the host because she moved to Australia with her husband. There were 15 cities which were visited for auditions. Eight cities which were opened for auditions are Medan, Manado, Ambon, Bali,Surabaya, Bandung, Palembang, Jakarta. Seven other cities, Yogyakarta, Malang,Madiun, Salatiga, Cilacap, Tegal, and Cirebon, were visited by an Audition Bus that would tour around. A Dream Box was placed in The Wave Mall in Bali for auditions. The judges for the fifth season are Indra Lesmana, Titi DJ, and Anang Hermansyah. The fifth season of Indonesian Idol started to be aired on April 4, 2008.

The fifth season (2008) is just finished airing on RCTI. This season the age limit was changed from 16-29 to 17-29.

The fifth season of Idol in Indonesia saw contestants able to perform with an instrument at any stage of the competition whereas other adaptations of Idol that have introduced live instrumentation only allow the concept at certain times during the show.