American Idol Wiki

Beautiful Day is a song by the Irish rock band U2 as well as the coronation song & debut single for season 9 American Idol winner Lee DeWyze. This song was a commercial success when it was first released in 2000, helping U2's album All That You Can't Leave Behind achieve mulit-platnium status & becoming one of that band's biggest hits to date. In 2001, the song earned U2 three Grammys including Record of the Year & Song of the Year.

Lee DeWyze released his version of the song after he had won season 9 of American Idol on May 27, 2010.

U2 version[]

Beautiful Day

Beautiful Day was released as the first single off of U2's tenth studio album, 2000's All That You Can't Leave Behind. The album represented a more conventional sound for the band after they had experimented with dance & alternative music in the 1990s, and the song harkens back to the band's past sound of the 1980s.

The song received positive reviews & peaked at number 21 in the United States as well as becoming their fourth number-one hit in the UK & their first number-one in the Netherlands.

Beautiful Day earned U2 three Grammys in 2001.

Lee DeWyze version[]

Because of complaints by fans about Idol coronation songs being cheesy and corny especially after the Kara DioGuardi-penned ballad No Boundaries, season 9 finalists Lee DeWyze & Crystal Bowersox chose to do cover songs instead when they reached that season's finale. DeWyze chose Beautiful Day as his potential first single because, as he said at the time of his Idol victory, "I like the song a lot(...)Is it something that is necessarily in my genre? No. There were songs on the table, and I went with the one I thought would represent the moment the best."

The song was released as DeWyze's first single after he won Idol on May 27, 2010, peaking at number 24 on the Billboard Hot 100.

American Idol
Seasons
(FOX) ยท1 ยท2 ยท3 ยท4 ยท5 ยท6 ยท7 ยท8 ยท9 ยท10 ยท11 ยท12 ยท13 ยท14 ยท15 โ€” (ABC) ยท16 ยท17 ยท18 ยท19 ยท20 ยท21 ยท22 ยท23 ยท24
Judges
 ยทSimon Cowell (Seasons 1-9) ยทPaula Abdul (Seasons 1-8) ยทRandy Jackson (Seasons 1-12)
 ยทKara DioGuardi (Seasons 8-9) ยทEllen DeGeneres (Season 9) ยทJennifer Lopez (Seasons 10-11|13-15)
 ยทSteven Tyler (Seasons 10-11) ยทNicki Minaj (Season 12) ยทMariah Carey (Season 12) ยทKeith Urban (Seasons 12-15)
 ยทHarry Connick, Jr. (Seasons 13-15) ยทKaty Perry (Seasons 16-22) ยทLionel Richie (Seasons 16+) ยทLuke Bryan (Seasons 16+) ยทCarrie Underwood (S4; Seasons 23+)
Personnel
 ยทRyan Seacrest (Seasons 1+) ยทBrian Dunkleman (Season 1) ยทSimon Fuller (Seasons 1-15) ยทNigel Lythgoe (Seasons 1-7/10-12) ยทMegan Wolflick (Seasons 14+) ยทJimmy Iovine (Seasons 10-12) ยทScott Borchetta (Seasons 14-15) ยทBobby Bones (Seasons 16-19) ยทRickey Minor (Seasons 4-9/13-15) ยทRay Chew (Seasons 10-12) ยทKristopher Pooley (Seasons 16+) ยทMichael Orland (Seasons 1-17) ยทDebra Byrd (Seasons 1-10)(โ€ ) ยทPeggi Blu (Seasons 10-11) ยทPeisha McPhee (Seasons 10-13) ยทAdriana McPhee (Seasons 17+) ยทDevin Velez (S12; Seasons 22+) ยทAllison Iraheta (S8; Seasons 13-15) ยทFelicia Barton (S8; Seasons 16+) ยทSharon Wilbur (S8; Seasons 16+)
Winners
 ยทKelly Clarkson ยทRuben Studdard ยทFantasia Barrino ยทCarrie Underwood ยทTaylor Hicks ยทJordin Sparks ยทDavid Cook
 ยทKris Allen ยทLee DeWyze ยทScotty McCreery ยทPhillip Phillips ยทCandice Glover ยทCaleb Johnson ยทNick Fradiani
 ยทTrent Harmon ยทMaddie Poppe ยทLaine Hardy ยทJust Sam ยทChayce Beckham ยทNoah Thompson ยทIam Tongi ยทAbi Carter ยทJamal Roberts
Runners-Up
 ยทJustin Guarini ยทClay Aiken ยทDiana DeGarmo ยทBo Bice ยทKatharine McPhee ยทBlake Lewis ยทDavid Archuleta ยทAdam Lambert ยทCrystal Bowersox ยทLauren Alaina ยทJessica Sanchez ยทKree Harrison ยทJena Irene ยทClark Beckham ยทLa'Porsha Renae ยทCaleb Lee Hutchinson ยทAlejandro Aranda ยทArthur Gunn ยทWillie Spence (โ€ ) ยทHunterGirl ยทMegan Danielle ยทWill Moseley ยทJohn Foster
Notable Alumni
 ยทAce Young ยทAlex Lambert ยทAlex Preston ยทAllegra Miles ยทAngie Miller ยทAva Maybee ยทBeane ยทBenson Boone ยทBreanna Nix ยทBriston Maroney ยทBrooke White ยทBucky Covington ยทCameron Whitcomb ยทCarly Smithson ยทCasey Abrams ยทCatie Turner ยทChris Daughtry ยทColin Stough ยทColton Dixon ยทDaniel Seavey ยทDanny Gokey ยทDavid Brown ยทElliott Yamin ยทFrancisco Martin ยทGabby Barrett ยทGrace Kinstler ยทHaley Reinhart ยทHunter Metts ยทJack Blocker ยทJacob Lusk ยทJames Durbin ยทJAX ยทJen Hirsh ยทJennifer Hudson ยทJeremiah Lloyd Harmon ยทJimmie Allen ยทJohnny Keyser ยทJosh Gracin ยทJoshua Ledet ยทJuliana Chahayed ยทKaeyra ยทKayla Mickelsen ยทKellie Pickler ยทKimberley Locke ยทLaci Kaye Booth ยทLaToya London ยทLauren Daigle ยทLauren Spencer-Smith ยทLeah Marlene ยทLiahona Olayan ยทMara Justine ยทMargie Mays ยทMary Jo Young ยทMatt Giraud ยทMelinda Ademi ยทMelinda Doolittle ยทMichael J. Woodard ยทMycale Guyton ยทNadia Turner ยทNikko Smith ยทParis Bennett ยทPaul McDonald ยทPhil Stacey ยทRayvon Owen ยทRobbie Rosen ยทSanjaya Malakar ยทSkylar Laine ยทSophia Wackerman ยทTamyra Gray ยทTasha Layton ยทTim Halperin ยทTodrick Hall ยทTori Kelly ยทVonzell Solomon ยทWรฉ Ani ยทZachariah Smith
Coronation Songs
 ยท"A Moment Like This" ยท"Flying Without Wings" ยท"I Believe" ยท"Inside Your Heaven" ยท"Do I Make You Proud?"
 ยท"This Is My Now" ยท"The Time of My Life" ยท"No Boundaries" ยท"Beautiful Day" ยท"I Love You This Big" ยท"Home"
 ยท"I Am Beautiful" ยท"As Long as You Love Me" ยท"Beautiful Life" ยท"Falling" ยท"Going, Going, Gone"
 ยท"Flame" ยท"Rise Up" ยท"23" ยท"One Day Tonight" ยท"I'll Be Seeing You" ยท"This Isn't Over" ยท"Heal"
R.โ€ .P.
 ยทNikki McKibbin ยทRickey Smith ยทLeah LaBelle ยทMarque Lynche ยทMandisa ยทMichael Johns ยทJoanne Borgella ยทC.J. Harris
โ€” ยทAlexis Cohen ยทAustin Sisneros ยทDoug Kiker ยทHaley Smith ยทJairon Jackson ยทMarlon Lindsey ยทMary Iaconelli ยทPaula Goodspeed