American Idol (season 1)
The first season of American Idol premiered on June 11, 2002 and continued until September 4, 2002. It was won by Kelly Clarkson. The first season was co-hosted by Ryan Seacrest and Brian Dunkleman, the latter of whom left the show after the season ended.
The winner, Kelly Clarkson, signed with RCA Records, the label in partnership with American Idol's 19 Recordings. Immediately post-finale, Clarkson released two singles, including the coronation song, "A Moment Like This". "A Moment Like This" went on to break a thirty-eight-year-old record held by The Beatles for a song's biggest leap to number one on the Billboard Hot 100. It jumped up from number fifty-two to number one in just one week. She held that record for five years but she reclaimed that record back in 2009 with her hit single "My Life Would Suck Without You" when it jumped up from number ninety-seven to number one. Clarkson has enjoyed a successful recording career since winning, with multiple-platinum albums, a number of Top 10 hit singles and three Grammy Awards. 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. In addition to Clarkson and Guarini, also signed were Nikki McKibbin, Tamyra Gray, R. J. Helton, and Christina Christian.
After the finale, a special show in Las Vegas was also shown on September 23, 2002, where all 30 of the contestants who made the judges' initial cut performed in a two-hour concert.
The show inspired a 2003 musical film, From Justin to Kelly, featuring Kelly Clarkson and Justin Guarini.
Regional auditions
Auditions were held in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Miami, Atlanta, and Seattle in the spring of 2002, and around 10,000 attended the auditions.One of the more prominent auditioners was Tamika Bush who objected to the judges' critiques and their pronunciation of her name. She was later invited back to critique the contestants' semifinal performance. Kristin Holt, who auditioned in Dallas, was put through to the Hollywood rounds, but in her rush to embrace the judges, fell and slipped under the judges' table.
Kelly Clarkson was notable for being largely absent in the audition episode, and she remains the only winner whose audition was not aired in the original broadcast. The other top 10 finalists in Season 1 whose auditions were not shown were Nikki McKibbin and EJ Day.
Structure of auditions
There are usually three stages in the audition process in every season, the first stage being the open call audition advertised. In this stage those auditioning each sings briefly in groups of five in front of selectors, though some may be asked to sing further. Most of those who attended are eliminated at this stage with only a limited number of auditioners selected to proceed further. In the second round they sing in front the executive producers and more are eliminated. In some later years a further round may be added before this round of audition. In the last round those who survive the first two-stage sing in front of the judges and this is the audition shown on television. Those who gain at least two "yes" votes from the three judges then receive a golden ticket to Hollywood.In the first season, the second and third stage of the audition may take place within a single day, but in the following seasons each stage of the audition may take place on separate days. The initial audition venue need not necessarily be the final audition venue in front of the judges, and in later seasons, up to three separate venues may be used for the auditions in each city. The venues and dates of the second audition in front of the producers are not specifically listed in these pages. In the early seasons, the entire audition process in each city took place within a relatively short span of time, three days in the case of Season 1, but became progressively extended in later seasons until the callback date may be many weeks after the initial auditions.
Hollywood week
The Hollywood week rounds were held in Pasadena Civic Center where 121 contestants competed for a place in the finals. The contestants first emerged on stage in groups of nine or ten but performed solo unaccompanied, and those who did not impress the judges were cut after the group finished their individual performances. 65 were selected to proceed on to the next round. The singers were expected to learn their songs that night and perform the next day in groups of three. The girls and boys were separated and given crash course to learn their song, which was Dionne Warwick's "I Say a Little Prayer" for the girls and "For Once in My Life" for the boys. Many however frequently forgot the lyrics. Again those who failed to impress were cut immediately after their performance. 45 made it to the next round, and the 20 cut were given their last chance to voice their opinion to the judges before leaving.In the final round, the remaining 45 were given new songs to learn and each performed solo and a cappella. 30 contestants were chosen after this round. The Top 15 were first announced, the judges then selected 15 more out of the remaining 30. The 30 were split into two groups and the judges then went to each group to announce the chosen group.
Delano Cagnolatti was initially amongst those announced as the Top 30, but he was later disqualified for falsifying his age, and became the first person to be disqualified on American Idol. He was replaced by EJay Day.
Semi-finals
The 30 contestants who reached this stage in this season were referred to in the show as the finalists.Before their performance, the contestants took part in intensive music workshop where they were given vocal coaching by Debra Byrd and advice by stylists. The contestants were held in the Red Room before they each emerged to perform solo with piano accompaniment. There was no studio audience at this stage and the performance was pre-taped. The audience voted after each round of performance, and the results of the vote were announced the next day live. A total of 3.3 million votes were cast in the first week of voting.
Below are the three semi-final groups with contestants listed in their performance order. In each group, three people advanced to the next round, based on votes by the viewers.
Color key:
Group 1
Group 2
Group 3
Wild Card Round
Following those nine singers advancing, five of the remaining 21 semi-finalists were selected by the judges to compete in the Wild Card round. Following another performance by each Wild Card contender, the judges selected one contestant to advance to the final group of 10.| Order | Contestant | Song | Result |
| 1 | Kelli Glover | "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You" | Eliminated |
| 2 | Christopher Aaron | "On Bended Knee" | Eliminated |
| 3 | Alexis Lopez | "Saving All My Love for You" | Eliminated |
| 4 | R. J. Helton | "Lately" | Advanced |
| 5 | Angela Peel | "As We Lay" | Eliminated |
Top 10 Finalists
- Kelly Clarkson is from Burleson, Texas and auditioned in Dallas, Texas with Etta James' "At Last" and Madonna's "Express Yourself." She performed Aretha Franklin's version of "Respect" and Vanessa Williams' "Save The Best For Last" in the Hollywood rounds.
- Justin Guarini is from Doylestown, Pennsylvania and auditioned in New York City with The Jackson 5's version of "Who's Lovin' You." He performed Oleta Adams' version of "Get Here" in the Hollywood rounds.
- Nikki McKibbin auditioned in Dallas with her married name Nikki Ozment. She had previously been on ' and auditioned with Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" and Whitney Houston's "One Moment in Time." She performed The Righteous Brothers' version of "Unchained Melody" in the Hollywood rounds.
- Tamyra Gray is from Atlanta, Georgia and auditioned there with Mariah Carey's "Vision Of Love." She had appeared on TV commercials and worked with other artists before auditioning for Idol, and was crowned Miss Atlanta in 1998. She performed Oleta Adams' version of "Get Here" in Hollywood.
- R. J. Helton is from Cumming, Georgia, and auditioned in Atlanta with The Jackson 5's "Never Can Say Goodbye." He had made demo CDs before appearing on American Idol.
- Christina Christian and auditioned in Miami, Florida with Stevie Wonder's "Isn't She Lovely?" She performed Diana Ross' version of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" in Hollywood
- Ryan Starr auditioned in Los Angeles using her birth name Tiffany Montgomery. Her audition song was Bill Withers' "Lean On Me." She performed Bill Withers' "Ain't No Sunshine" in the Hollywood rounds.
- AJ Gil is from Tacoma, Washington and auditioned in Seattle, Washington with "The Star-Spangled Banner".
- Jim Verraros is from Crystal Lake, Illinois, and auditioned in Chicago with Nat King Cole's version of "When I Fall In Love." He grew up with Deaf parents and is fluent in ASL. He performed Diana Ross' "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" in Hollywood.
- EJay Day''' did not originally qualify for the semifinals, but was later chosen to replace disqualified contestant Delano Cagnolatti. He auditioned in Atlanta with Oleta Adams' "Get Here."
Finals
The results of public vote were revealed in the night following the performance night in the results show. The three or two contestants in the later rounds who received the lowest number of votes were typically called the Bottom Three or Two. From the bottom three, one contestant was sent to safety so that two contestants remained and finally the contestant who received the fewest votes was eliminated from the competition. A farewell video with montage of the eliminated contestant is shown.
This season largely set the pattern for later seasons, such as group performance by the contestants during the result shows, hometown visits for the top 3, and performing the songs for the top 2 that would be released immediately after the finale. In this season, there were no guest mentors apart from the Burt Bacharach week where the composer helped the contestants prepare their songs.
The finale was between Kelly Clarkson and Justin Guarini, and Kelly Clarkson was declared the winner with 58% out of 15.5 million votes cast. Over 110 million votes were cast over the entire season.
A television special from Las Vegas starring the top thirty-two finalists aired later, a thirty date tour with the top ten followed, as did the box office bomb movie titled From Justin to Kelly.
Color key:
Week 1: Top 10 – Motown (July 17)
The first round featured double elimination, and the two contestants| Order | Contestant | Song | Result |
| 1 | Ryan Starr | "If You Really Love Me" | Safe |
| 2 | R. J. Helton | "I Can't Help Myself " | Safe |
| 3 | Nikki McKibbin | "Ben" | Bottom Three |
| 4 | EJay Day | "My Girl" | Eliminated |
| 5 | Tamyra Gray | "Touch Me in the Morning" | Safe |
| 6 | Justin Guarini | "For Once in My Life" | Safe |
| 7 | Jim Verraros | "Easy" | Eliminated |
| 8 | Kelly Clarkson | "You're All I Need to Get By" | Safe |
| 9 | AJ Gil | "My Cherie Amour" | Safe |
| 10 | Christina Christian | "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" | Safe |
Week 2: Top 8 – 1960s (July 24)
| Order | Performers | Song |
| 2.1 | Top 8 | "California Dreamin'" |
Week 3: Top 7 – 1970s (July 31)
| Order | Performers | Song |
| 3.1 | Top 7 | "Joy to the World" |
Week 4: Top 6 – Big Band (August 7)
| Order | Performers | Song |
| 4.1 | Top 6 | "Bandstand Boogie" |
Week 5: Top 5 – Burt Bacharach ''Love Songs'' (August 14)
- Mentor – Burt Bacharach
| Order | Contestant | Song | Result |
| 1 | Kelly Clarkson | "Walk On By" | Safe |
| 2 | R. J. Helton | "Arthur's Theme " | Eliminated |
| 3 | Tamyra Gray | "A House is Not a Home" | Safe |
| 4 | Justin Guarini | "The Look of Love" | Safe |
| 5 | Nikki McKibbin | " Always Something There to Remind Me" | Bottom Two |
| Order | Performers | Song |
| 5.1 | Top 5 | That's What Friends Are For" |
| 5.2 | Top 5 | Burt Bacharach Medley |
Week 6: Top 4 – 1980/1990s (August 21)
Each contestant sang two songs.| Contestant | Order | First Song | Order | Second Song | Result |
| Tamyra Gray | 1 | "New Attitude" | 5 | "Feel the Fire" | Eliminated |
| Nikki McKibbin | 2 | "Mary Jane" | 6 | "I'm the Only One" | Bottom Two |
| Kelly Clarkson | 3 | "It's Raining Men" | 7 | "I Surrender" | Safe |
| Justin Guarini | 4 | "Get Here" | 8 | "P.Y.T. " | Safe |
| Order | Performers | Song |
| 6.1 | Top 4 | Paula Abdul Medley |
Week 7: Semi-finals – Contestant's choice & Judges' choice (August 28)
Each contestant sang two songs, one chosen by the contestant itself and a second song by the judges.| Contestant | Order | Contestant's choice | Order | Judge's choice | Result |
| Nikki McKibbin | 1 | "Edge of Seventeen" | 4 | "Black Velvet" | Third Place |
| Justin Guarini | 2 | "Let's Stay Together" | 5 | "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" | Safe |
| Kelly Clarkson | 3 | "Think Twice" | 6 | "Without You" | Safe |
| Order | Performers | Song |
| 6.1 | Top 3 | "Love Will Keep Us Together" |
| 6.2 | Nikki McKibbin | "Black Velvet" |
| 6.3 | Justin Guarini | "Let's Stay Together" |
| 6.4 | Kelly Clarkson | "Without You" |
Week 8: Finale (September 4)
The Top two performed their winner’s song, a reprise of their favorite performance of the season and another original song.| Contestant | Order | First Song | Order | Second Song | Order | Third Song | Result |
| Justin Guarini | 1 | "Before Your Love" | 3 | "Get Here" | 5 | "A Moment Like This" | Runner-up |
| Kelly Clarkson | 2 | "A Moment Like This" | 4 | "Respect" | 6 | "Before Your Love" | Winner |
Elimination chart
Color key:Controversy
It was revealed during the season that around 100 phone-phreak hackers with power-dialing hardware and software were able to place as many as 10,000 votes a night from a single phone line with the touch of a button. However, FremantleMedia, which produces the show, contended that the hackers have had 'statistically insignificant' effect on the vote. Simon Cowell also insisted that Tamyra Gray's unexpected ouster from the show only strengthened the producers' contention that the voting was fair. Nevertheless, concerns were raised about possible unfairness in the situation of a tight vote. Ken Warwick later said in Season 5 that equipment was put in place afterwards to address this issue but it allegedly has never detected such a problem since.Idol contestants were reported to having to sign a 'phone book-thick' contract that gives producers 'sole discretion' to pick the winners and change the rules.
Controversy erupted when the winner of Season 1, Kelly Clarkson, was invited to sing "The Star-Spangled Banner" in a deal arranged by her then management company, 19 Entertainment, at a special commemoration for the first anniversary of September 11 attacks at Washington's Lincoln Memorial. Some critics suggested that Clarkson's appearance would turn a somber occasion of national mourning into a "giant promotional opportunity". Kelly Clarkson herself considered withdrawing from the commemoration, saying "I think it is a bad idea... If anybody thinks I'm trying to market anything, well, that's awful." and added "I am not going to do it." She was however unable to withdraw from the event.
Contestants who appeared on other shows
- Semi finalist Kelli Glover appeared on the fourth season of America's Got Talent in 2009 and was eliminated during Judgement Week; she would return to that show for its ninth season in 2014 and made it to the live shows.
- Ryan Starr and Nikki McKibbin competed on Battle of the Network Reality Stars. Starr was a member of Team Miz, who lost in the Final Challenge. McKibbin started as a member of Team Chip, but was voted out in Episode 4. She would return as a member of The Underdogs, who would go on to win the show.
- Ryan Starr appeared on the third season of The Surreal Life.
- Nikki McKibbin would later appear as a patient on the second season of Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew.
- Justin Guarini later appeared on the third season of Gone Country.
US Nielsen ratings
''American Idol Rewind''
Re-edited episodes of American Idol season 1 were being shown in syndication as American Idol Rewind. The new episodes featured commentary from some of the first season's top 30, including Justin Guarini, Jim Verraros, Christina Christian, Nikki McKibbin, Angela Peel, and Kelli Glover. Rewind also showcased footage that was not seen in the initial run of season 1, including Kelly Clarkson'sfull audition.
Releases
Minor or independent releases
- Unsaid and Understood
- Real Life
- "Even If"
- "My Devotion"
- "My Religion"
- Human Again
- Rollercoaster
- Stranger Things Have Happened
- "To Be with You"
- "The Lie"
- Voyces United for UNHCR
- "You Make it Better"
- Unleashed
- "Revolve"
- "Here to There"
- "Electric Love"
- "Touch
- "Do Not Disturb"
- "Inconsolable"
- "Celebrity High"
- Do Not Disturb
- Psychotrip