American Idol

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. 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. As of January 2011 it is the most-watched TV series in the Nielsen ratings and is the only program to have been number one for six consecutive seasons, surpassing All in the Family and The Cosby Show, which were both number one for five consecutive seasons.
The program aims to discover the best singer in the country where the winner is determined by the viewers. Through telephone and SMS text voting, viewers have chosen as 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 series employs a panel of judges who critique the contestants' performances. The original three judges were Grammy Award-winning record producer and music manager Randy Jackson, Grammy Award-winning pop singer and Emmy Award-winning choreographer Paula Abdul and award-winning music executive and music manager Simon Cowell. As of January 2011 the judging panel currently consists of Jackson, singer/actress Jennifer Lopez and Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler.For all seasons, the show is hosted by radio disc jockey Ryan Seacrest.
The show was described by rival TV executives as "the most impactful show in the history of television."It has also become a recognized springboard for launching the career of many artists as bona fide stars. As Entertainment Weekly puts it, "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.

History

Former logo of American Idol from 2002 to 2008.

American Idol was created based on the British show Pop Idol, which was in turn inspired by Popstars, a show TV producer Nigel Lythgoe saw in Australia and brought over to Britain.Using the idea from Popstars of employing a panel of judges to select singers in audition, and adding other elements such as telephone voting by the viewing public, which at the time was already in use in shows such as the Eurovision Song Contest, Simon Fuller then created the show Pop Idol. The show debuted in 2001 in Britain with Nigel Lythgoe as the producer and Simon Cowell as one of the judges, and was a big success with the viewing public.
Simon Fuller and Simon Cowell attempted to sell the Pop Idol format to the U.S in 2001, but the idea was met with poor response from U.S. TV networks. However, Rupert Murdoch, head of Fox's parent company, was persuaded to buy the show by his daughter Elisabeth who was a fan of the British show.The show was renamed American Idol: The Search for a Superstar, debuted in the summer of 2002, and became one of the summer hit shows that year.The show, with the personal engagement of the viewers with the contestants through voting, and the presence of the caustic-tongue judge Simon Cowell, grew into a phenomenon. By 2005 it had become the biggest show on U.S. TV, a position it then held on for six straight years. The show is currently scheduled to remain on air until 2011.