American Idol is an American reality singing competition television series created by British entertainment executive Simon Fuller which seeks to discover the best young singer in America through a series of nationwide auditions.
Part of the Idol franchise, it originated from the reality program Pop Idol, which was first aired in 2001 in the United Kingdom.
American Idol is part of the Idol series, originated as the UK show Pop Idol, a singing talent contest to determine the best "undiscovered" young singer in the country.
The show, hosted by Ryan Seacrest, sees thousands of hopefuls screened by a preliminary judging panel. They then audition before the American Idol judges.
Contestants are required to sing a cappella. From round 2 of the competition, the list of hopeful contestants is slowly cropped until 12 contestants remain.
These 12 battle it out for the title of American Idol.
American Idol is created and executive-produced by Simon Fuller, founder of 19 Entertainment. The series is executive-produced by Cecile Frot-Coutaz, CEO, FremantleMedia North America, Inc.; and Ken Warwick, Executive Producer, FremantleMedia North America, Inc.
Winners
Season 01: Kelly Clarkson
Season 02: Ruben Studdard
Season 03: Fantasia Barrino
Season 04: Carrie Underwood
Season 05: Taylor Hicks
Season 06: Jordin Sparks
Season 07: David Cook
Season 08: Kris Allen
Season 09: Lee DeWyze
Season 10: Scotty McCreery
Season 11: Phillip Phillips
Season 12: Candice Glover
Season 13: Caleb Johnson
Season 14: Nick Fradiani
Season 15: Trent Harmon