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American Idol is an American singing competition series created by Simon Fuller. It is the American version of Pop Idol, and started airing on the FOX network June 11, 2002 to April 7, 2016 and began its second run on ABC on March 11, 2018. The premise of the show is to find undiscovered singers without signed contracts, with the winner being determined by a live vote across America.

The show was hosted in every season by Ryan Seacrest and co-hosted by Brian Dunkleman in Season 1. The judges for the series included Randy Jackson for the first twelve seasons, Paula Abdul for the first eight, Simon Cowell for the first nine, Kara DioGuardi for Seasons Eight and Nine, Ellen DeGeneres for Season Nine, Steven Tyler for Seasons Ten and Eleven, Jennifer Lopez from Season Ten to Eleven and then again from Season Thirteen to Fifteen, Nicki Minaj for Season Twelve, Mariah Carey for Season Twelve, Keith Urban from Season Twelve to Fifteen and Harry Connick Jr. from season Thirteen to Fifteen. Katy Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie are the judges from Season 16 onwards.

Season 1[]

The first season of American Idol debuted June 11, 2002, and ended September 4, 2002.

Place Contestant Age Hometown Number
1st Kelly Clarkson 20 Burleston, Texas 2311
2nd Justin Guarini 23 Doyleston, Pennsylvania
3rd Nikki McKibbin 23 Grand Prairie, Texas
4th Tamyra Gray 22 Norcross, Georgia 9061
5th R.J. Helton 20 Cumming, Georgia 9000
6th Christina Christian 20 Miami, Florida 10010
7th Ryan Starr 19 Sunland, California 1031
8th A.J. Gil 17 Tacoma, Washington 3148
9th-10th Jim Verraros 19 Crystal Lake, Illinois 5379
9th-10th EJay Day 20 Lawrenceville, Georgia

Season 2[]

The second season of American Idol debuted January 21, 2003, and ended May 21, 2003.

Place Contestant Age Hometown Number
1st Ruben Studdard 24 Birmingham, Alabama 8336
2nd Clay Aiken 24 Raleigh, North Carolina 5230
3rd Kimberley Locke 24 Nashville, Tennessee 8758
4th Joshua Gracin 22 Oceanside, California 13635
5th Trenyce 22 Bartlett, Tennessee 7684
6th Carmen Rasmusen 17 Bountiful, Utah
7th Kimberly Caldwell 20 Katy, Texas
8th Rickey Smith 22 Keene, Texas 7823
9th Corey Clark 22 Rialto, California
10th Julia DeMato 23 Broomfield, Connecticut
11th Charles Grigsby 24 Oberlin, Ohio 1853
12th Vanessa Olivarez 21 Atlanta, Georgia 5254

Season 3[]

The third season of American Idol debuted January 19, 2004, and ended May 26, 2004.

Place Contestant Age Hometown Number
1st Fantasia Barrino 19 High Point, North Carolina 34572
2nd Diana DeGarmo 16 Snellville, Georgia 49094
3rd Jasmine Trias 17 Mililani, Hawaii
4th LaToya London 24 Oakland, California 1234
5th George Huff 22 Norman, Oklahoma 16676
6th John Stevens 16 East Amherst, New York
7th Jennifer Hudson 21 Chicago, Illinois 34403
8th Jon Peter Lewis 23 Rexburg, Idaho 49285
9th Camile Velasco 18 Haiku, Hawaii 59260
10th Amy Adams 24 Bakersfield, California 40755
11th Matthew Rogers 24 Rancho Cucamonga, California 2609
12th Leah LaBelle 16 Seattle, Washington 45154

Season 4[]

The fourth season of American Idol debuted January 18, 2005, and ended May 25, 2005.

Place Contestant Age Hometown Number
1st Carrie Underwood 21 Checotah, Oklahoma 14887
2nd Bo Bice 28 Helena, Alabama 40513
3rd Vonzell Solomon 20 Fort Myers, Florida 37828
4th Anthony Fedorov 19 Trevose, Pennsylvania 3674
5th Scott Savol 28 Shaker Heights, Ohio 502
6th Constantine Maroulis 28 New York, New York 25483
7th Anwar Robinson 25 Newark, New Jersey 29163
8th Nadia Turner 27 Miami, Florida
9th Nikko Smith 25 Evanston, Illinois 18147
10th Jessica Sierra 19 Tampa, Florida 41385
11th Mikalah Gordon 16 Las Vegas, Nevada 68116
12th Lindsey Cardinale 19 Ponchatoula, Louisiana 52808

Season 5[]

The fifth season of American Idol debuted January 17, 2006, and ended May 24, 2006.

Place Contestant Age Hometown Number
1st Taylor Hicks 29 Birmingham, Alabama 74094
2nd Katharine McPhee 21 Sherman Oaks, California 32342
3rd Elliott Yamin 27 Richmond, Virginia 19991
4th Chris Daughtry 25 McLeansville, North Carolina 36483
5th Paris Bennett 17 Fayetteville, Georgia 60377
6th Kellie Pickler 19 Albemarle, North Carolina 61615
7th Ace Young 24 Los Angeles, California 36456
8th Bucky Covington 28 Rockingham, North Carolina
9th Mandisa 28 Antioch, Tennessee 6369
10th Lisa Tucker 16 Anaheim, California 36047
11th Kevin Covais 16 Levittown, New York 10182
12th Melissa McGhee 21 Tampa, Florida 35673

Season 6[]

The sixth season of American Idol debuted January 16, 2007, and ended May 23, 2007.

Place Contestant Age Hometown Number
1st Jordin Sparks 16 Glendale, Arizona 80066
2nd Blake Lewis 25 Bothell, Washington 77804
3rd Melinda Doolittle 28 Brentwood, Tennessee 57073
4th LaKisha Jones 26 Fort Meade, Maryland 8292
5th-6th Chris Richardson 22 Chesapeake, Virginia 8963
5th-6th Phil Stacey 28 Jacksonville, Florida 51815
7th Sanjaya Malakar 17 Federal Way, Washington 80203
8th Haley Scarnato 24 San Antonio, Texas 50411
9th Gina Glocksen 22 Naperville, Illinois 53750
10th Chris Sligh 28 Greenville, South Carolina 24994
11th Stephanie Edwards 19 Savannah, Georgia 52357
12th Brandon Rogers 28 North Hollywood, California 74191

Season 7[]

The seventh season of American Idol debuted January 15, 2008, and ended May 21, 2008.

Place Contestant Age Hometown Number
1st David Cook 25 Blue Springs, Missouri 36214
2nd David Archuleta 16 Murray, Utah 11394
3rd Syesha Mercado 20 Miami, Florida 62735
4th Jason Castro 20 Rockwall, Texas
5th Brooke White 24 Mesa, Arizona 86122
6th Carly Smithson 23 San Diego, California 175
7th Kristy Lee Cook 23 Selma, Oregon 77610
8th Michael Johns 29 Buckhead, Georgia 474
9th Ramiele Malubay 19 Miramar, Florida 74854
10th Chikezie 22 Inglewood, California 663
11th Amanda Overmyer 23 Mulberry, Indiana 39933
12th David Hernandez 24 Glendale, Arizona 4713

Season 8[]

The eighth season of American Idol debuted January 13, 2009, and ended May 20, 2009.

Place Contestant Age Hometown Number
1st Kris Allen 23 Conway, Arkansas 25439
2nd Adam Lambert 26 Hollywood, California 1877
3rd Danny Gokey 28 Milwaukee, Wisconsin 70891
4th Allison Iraheta 16 Los Angeles, California
5th Matt Giraud 23 Kalamazoo, Michigan 13758
6th Anoop Desai 21 Chapel Hill, North Carolina 74002
7th Lil Rounds 23 Memphis, Tennessee 70315
8th Scott MacIntyre 27 Scottsdale, Arizona 38136
9th Megan Joy 23 Sandy, Utah 43768
10th Michael Sarver 27 Jasper, Texas 36762
11th Alexis Grace 20 Memphis, Tennessee 20075
12th Jorge Nunez 20 Carolina, Puerto Rico 63695
13th Jasmine Murray 16 Starkville, Mississippi 84112

Season 9[]

The ninth season of American Idol debuted January 12, 2010, and ended May 26, 2010.

Place Contestant Age Hometown Number
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th
10th
11th
12th

Season 10[]

The tenth season of American Idol debuted January 19, 2011, and ended May 25, 2011.

Place Contestant Age Hometown Number
1st Scotty McCreery 17
2nd Lauren Alania 16
3rd Haley Reinhart 20
4th James Durbin 22
5th Jacob Luask 23
6th Casey Abrams 20
7th Stefano Langone 22
8th Paul McDonald 26
9th Pia Toscano 22
10th Naima Adedadpo 26
11th Thia Megia 16
12th Karen Rodriguez 22
13th Ashton Jones 24

Season 11[]

The eleventh season of American Idol debuted January 18, 2012, and ended May 23, 2012.

Place Contestant Age Hometown Number
1st Phillip Phillips 31 Leesburg, Georgia
2nd Jessica Sanchez 26 San Diego, California
3rd Joshua Ledet 30 Westlake, Louisisana
4th Hollie Cavanagh 28 Liverpool, Merseyside
5th Skylar Laine 28 Brandon, Mississippi
6th Elise Testone 38 Mount Pleasant, South Carolina
7th Colton Dixon 30 Murfreesboro, Tennessee
8th DeAndre Brackensick 27 San Jose, California
9th Heejun Han 33 Flushing, New York
10th Erika Van Pelt 36 South Kingston, Rhoade Island
11th Shannon Magrane 26 Tampa, Florida
12th Jermaine Jones 35 Pine Hill, New Jersey
13th Jeremy Rosado 30 Valrico, Florida

Season 12[]

The twelfth season of American Idol debuted January 16, 2013, and ended May 16, 2013.

Place Contestant Age Hometown Number
1st Candice Glover 22 St. Helena Island, South Carolina 26382
2nd Kree Harrison 22 Woodville, Texas
3rd Angie Miller 17 Beverly, Massassuchetts 48809
4th Amber Holcomb 18 Houston, Texas 56689
5th Janelle Arthur 22 Oliver Springs, Tennessee 29827
6th Lazaro Arbos 21 Naples, Florida 18383
7th Burnell Taylor 19 New Orleans, Louisiana 58681
8th Devin Velez 18 Chicago, Illinois
9th Paul Jolley 22 Orlando, Florida 112142
10th Curtis Finch, Jr. 24 St. Louis, Missouri 22405

Season 13[]

The thirteenth season of American Idol debuted January 15, 2014, and ended May 21, 2014.

Place Contestant Age Hometown Number
1st Caleb Johnson 22 Ashville, North Carolina 81614
2nd Jena Irene 17 Farmington Hills, Michigan
3rd Alex Preston 20 Mont Vernon, New Hampshire
4th Jessica Meuse 23 Slapout, Alabama 89046
5th Sam Woolf 17 Bradenton, Florida 52479
6th C.J. Harris 23 Jasper, Alabama 112504
7th Dexter Roberts 22 Fayette, Alabama 112536
8th Malaya Watson 16 Southfield, Michigan 43437
9th Majesty Rose 21 Goldsboro, North Carolina 89477
10th MK Nobilette 20 San Francisco, California 7420
11th Ben Briley 24 Gallatin, Tennessee 85691
12th Emily Piriz 18 Orlando, Florida 81655
13th Kristen O'Connor 24 Sebastian, Florida 83511

Season 14[]

The fourteenth season of American Idol debuted January 7, 2015, and ended May 13, 2015.

Place Contestant Age Hometown Number
1st Nick Fradiani 36 Guilford, Connecticut
2nd Clark Beckham 30 White House, Tennessee
3rd Jax 26 East Brunswick, New Jersey
4th Rayvon Owen 30 Richmond, Virginia
5th Tyanna Jones 23 Jacksonville, Florida
6th Queation Alexander 28-29 New Orleans, Louisiana
7th Joey Cook 31 Woodbridge, Virginia
8th Qaasim Middleton 27 Brooklyn, New York
9th Daniel Seavey 23 Vancouver, Washington
10th Adanna Duru 25 Diamond Bar, California
11th Maddie Walker 24 Ankeny, Iowa
12th Sarina -Joi Crowe 26 Columbia, Tennessee

Season 15[]

The fifteenth season of American Idol debuted January 6, 2016, and ended April 7, 2016.

Place Contestant Age Hometown Number
1st Trent Harmon 31 Amory, Mississippi
2nd La'Porsha Renae 28 McComb,Mississippi
3rd Dalton Rapattoni 26 Sunnyvale, Texas
4th MacKenzie Bourg 29 Lafayette, Louisiana
5th Sonika Vaid 26 Weston, Masschusetts
6th Tristan Mclntosh 22 Nashville, Tennessee
7th Lee Jean 22 Bluffton, South Carolina
8th Avalon Young 27 San Diego, California
9th Gianna Isabella 22 Jackson New Jersey
10th Olivia Rox 22 Agoura Hills, California N/A

Season 16[]

The sixteenth season of American Idol debuted March 11, 2018, and ended May 21, 2018.

Place Contestant Age Hometown Number
1st Maddie Poppe 19 Clarksville, Iowa 60092
2nd Caleb Lee Hutchinson 18 Dallas, Georgia 30037
3rd Gabby Barrett 17 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 40011
4th-5th Cade Foehner 21 Shelbyville, Texas
4th-5th Michael J. Woodard 20 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 20068
6th-7th Jurnee 18 Denver, Colorado 30047
6th-7th Catie Turner 17 Langhorne, Pennsylvania 60084
8th-10th Dennis Lorenzo 26 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 20086
8th-10th Michelle Sussett 22 Miami, Florida 20053
8th-10th Ada Vox 24 San Antonio, Texas 30003
11th-14th Jonny Brenns 18 St. Augustine, Florida 60044
11th-14th Marcio Donaldson 28 Compton, California 20058
11th-14th Garrett Jacobs 17 Bossier City, Louisiana 50039
11th-14th Mara Justine 16 Galloway, New Jersey 60079

Season 17[]

The seventeenth season of American Idol debuted March 3, 2019, and ended May 19, 2019.

Place Contestant Age Hometown Number
1st Laine Hardy 18 Livingston, Louisiana 31072
2nd Alejandro Aranda 24 Pomona, California 61137
3rd Madison VanDenburg 16 Cohoes, New York 51033
4th-5th Laci Kaye Booth 23 Livingston, Texas 21028
4th-5th Wade Cota 27 Phoenix, Arizona 61120
6th Jeremiah Lloyd Harmon 25 Catonsville, Maryland 51032
7th-8th Walker Burroughs 20 Birmingham, Alabama 41150
7th-8th Alyssa Raghu 16 Orlando, Florida 61087
9th-10th Dimitrius Graham 27 Baltimore, Maryland
9th-10th Uché 24 Sugarland, Texas 31076
11th-14th Evelyn Cormier 19 Claremont, New Hampshire 51080
11th-14th Ashley Hess 27 Fremont, California 51015
11th-14th Eddie Island 25 Nashville, Tennessee 31044
11th-14th Riley Thompson 16 Mabank, Texas 61146

Season 18[]

The eighteenth season of American Idol debuted February 16, 2020, and ended May 17, 2020.

Place Contestant Age Hometown Number
1st Just Sam 20 Harlem, New York 41038
2nd Arthur Gunn 21 Wichita, Kansas 21042
3rd-5th Dillon James 26 Bakersfield, California 31051
3rd-5th Francisco Martin 18 San Francisco, Califfornia 51065
3rd-5th Jonny West 23 Murrieta, California 51021
6th-7th Julia Gargano 21 Staten Island, New York 41016
6th-7th Louis Knight 19 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 41032
8th-11th Sophia James 20 Long Beach, California 41103
8th-11th Grace Leer 27 Nashville, Tennessee 21024
8th-11th Makayla Phillips 17 Temecula, California
8th-11th Jovin Webb 29 Gonzales, Louisiana

Season 19[]

The nineteenth season of American Idol debuted February 14, 2021, and May 23, 2021.

Place Contestant Age Hometown
1st Chayce Beckham 24 Apple Valley, California
2nd Willie Spence 21 Douglas, Georgia
3rd Grace Kinstler 20 Chicago, Illinois
4th Casey Bishop 16 Estero, Florida
5th Caleb Kennedy 16 Roebuck, South Carolina
6th-7th Arthur Gunn 23 Wichita, Kansas
6th-7th Hunter Metts 22 Franklin, Tennessee
8th-10th Cassandra Coleman 24 Columbia, Tennessee
8th-10th Deshawn Goncalves 19 Cleveland, Ohio
8th-10th Alyssa Wray 18 Perryville, Kentucky
11th-13th Ava August 15 Laguna Niguel, California
11th-13th Beane 23 Boston, Massachusetts
11th-13th Madison Watkins 25 Fayetteville, Arkansas

Season 20[]

The twentieth season of American Idol debuted February 27, 2022, and May 22, 2022.

Place Contestant Age Hometown
1st Noah Thompson 19 Louisa, Kentucky
2nd Huntergirl 23 Winchester, Tennessee
3rd Leah Marlene 20 Normal, Illinois
4th-5th Fritz Hager 21 Tyler, Texas
4th-5th Nicolina 18 Toronto, Ontario, Canada
6th-7th Christian Guardino 21 Patchogue, New York
6th-7th Jay 23 Salisbury, Maryland
8th-10th Emyrson Flora 16 Cleveland, Ohio
8th-10th Lady K 25 Tuskegee, Alabama
8th-10th Mike Parker 27 Warrenton, Virginia
11th Tristen Gressett 17 Pell City, Alabama
12th-14th Dan Marshall 24 Chesapeake, Virginia
12th-14th Ava Maybee 20 Los Angeles, California
12th-14th Allegra Miles 19 St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands

Season 21[]

The twenty-first season of American Idol debuted February 19, 2023, and May 21, 2023.

Place Contestant Age Hometown
1st Iam Tongi 18 Kahuku, Hawaii
2nd Megan Danielle 20 Douglasville, Georgia
3rd Colin Stough 18 Amory, Mississippi
4th-5th Wé Ani 23 Harlem, New York
4th-5th Zachariah Smith 19 Amory, Mississippi
6th-8th Haven Madison 16 Clarksville, Tennessee
6th-8th Warren Peay 23 Bamberg, South Carolina
6th-8th Oliver Steele 25 Mount Juliet, Tennessee
9th-10th Marybeth Byrd 21 Amorel, Arkansas
9th-10th Tyson Venegas 17 Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
11th-12th Lucy Love 28 Holly Grove, Arkansas
11th-12th Nutsa 25 Tbilisi, Georgia

Season 22[]

The twenty-second season of American Idol debuted February 18, 2024, and May 19, 2024.

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