When "American Idol" premiered in 2002, nobody had any idea it would become the juggernaut it is today.With the show's 12th season debuting tonight with Mariah Carey, Nicki Minaj, Keith Urban and Randy Jackson, we thought we'd take a look back at the contestants from when it all began ... and see what they've all* been up to since.Over the past 11 years, contestants like Kelly Clarkson, Justin Guarini, Nikki McKibbin and Tamyra Gray have given us some amazing music, train wreck reality TV moments and even a movie called "Eating Out" ... seriously.While Kelly has gone on to become the most successful "Idol" alum of all time, what happened to everyone else?Check out the gallery above to see what they look like now ... and what they've been doing since 2002.*All except Christina Christian. We have no clue where she went ... and can't find any recent photos of her anywhere!
- 1/16/2013
- by tooFab Staff
- TooFab
There’s this weird part of the week — from Friday morning till Monday evening — when not a single major TV network airs a reality singing competition. It’s terrible, I know, but it also gives me a lot of time to ponder American Idol history. (Everyone does this in their free time, yes?) And my latest flight of Idol fancy got me mulling this question: Was Season 11′s Top 10 the strongest — top to bottom — in show history? Let’s examine:
For starters, I’d automatically rule out the five seasons with three or more Top 10 contestants who probably wouldn’t have outlasted Season 11′s No.
For starters, I’d automatically rule out the five seasons with three or more Top 10 contestants who probably wouldn’t have outlasted Season 11′s No.
- 3/26/2012
- by Michael Slezak
- TVLine.com
Zap2it has been looking back at the best performances from each stage of the "American Idol" finals and now we're taking a gander at the Top 7. This week on "Idol," the contestants are taking on 21st Century Songs, but what about the past performances at Top 8?
Who are you favorites? Vote below. As of this writing, you've voted Carrie Underwood's "Alone" as the best Top 11 performance, David Cook's "Billie Jean" as the best Top 10 performance and David Archuleta's "Smoky Mountain Memories" as the best Top 9 performance and Adam Lambert's "Mad World" as the best Top 8 performance.
For our Top 7 rewind, we were delighted to remember how great the Great American Songbook was for Season 5 and how Mariah Carey was surprisingly strong for Season 7. We also had to relive the horror that was Barry Manilow week for Season 3. Plus, Bo Bice's best performance ever.
So...
Who are you favorites? Vote below. As of this writing, you've voted Carrie Underwood's "Alone" as the best Top 11 performance, David Cook's "Billie Jean" as the best Top 10 performance and David Archuleta's "Smoky Mountain Memories" as the best Top 9 performance and Adam Lambert's "Mad World" as the best Top 8 performance.
For our Top 7 rewind, we were delighted to remember how great the Great American Songbook was for Season 5 and how Mariah Carey was surprisingly strong for Season 7. We also had to relive the horror that was Barry Manilow week for Season 3. Plus, Bo Bice's best performance ever.
So...
- 4/20/2011
- by editorial@zap2it.com
- Zap2It - From Inside the Box
Wednesday night's "American Idol" was supposed to be all about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. But leave it to Jimmy Iovine's sleepwalking producers and Nigel Lythgoe's showbiz pizzazz to make it rock softer than an Air Supply acoustic album.
That's not to say the top nine of "American Idol X: Pay No Attention to the Man Behind the Curtain" didn't give it their all and then some. This may go down as the sweatiest "Idol" episode ever. Did Idolland's air conditioning break, or is there a fire within these contestants causing them to look like James Brown on Pcp?
As an added challenge this week, producers handicapped the girls by forcing them to wear Gwen Stefani's L.A.M.B. collection of leopard-print diapers and silk tube-top jumpsuits. I guess they really don't want the Season 10 "Idol" to have a vagina. Paging Gloria Steinem!
Also...
That's not to say the top nine of "American Idol X: Pay No Attention to the Man Behind the Curtain" didn't give it their all and then some. This may go down as the sweatiest "Idol" episode ever. Did Idolland's air conditioning break, or is there a fire within these contestants causing them to look like James Brown on Pcp?
As an added challenge this week, producers handicapped the girls by forcing them to wear Gwen Stefani's L.A.M.B. collection of leopard-print diapers and silk tube-top jumpsuits. I guess they really don't want the Season 10 "Idol" to have a vagina. Paging Gloria Steinem!
Also...
- 4/7/2011
- by Jim Cantiello
- MTV Newsroom
Glue a wig to your head and put Eminem on speed dial because it's Elton John week on "American Idol X: Ballads Or Bust."
The Top 11 returned to primetime because Casey Abrams was saved last week. ("Saved" in the "Idol" sense, mind you. Lord knows if he's accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior.) Producers were keen on trumping up the drama as much as possible, even going so far as recapping last week's results show with a graphic that mimicked a screenplay. "Hope has been renewed. But no more second chances," the Courier font typed out. Because if there's one thing us diehard "Idol" freaks love, it's having Nigel Lythgoe imply that last week's intense results were manufactured by a writer. Whoops!
The Top 11 also stopped by Entertainment Weekly for a photo shoot. Some of them even got makeovers. All that was missing from this "America's Next Top Model...
The Top 11 returned to primetime because Casey Abrams was saved last week. ("Saved" in the "Idol" sense, mind you. Lord knows if he's accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior.) Producers were keen on trumping up the drama as much as possible, even going so far as recapping last week's results show with a graphic that mimicked a screenplay. "Hope has been renewed. But no more second chances," the Courier font typed out. Because if there's one thing us diehard "Idol" freaks love, it's having Nigel Lythgoe imply that last week's intense results were manufactured by a writer. Whoops!
The Top 11 also stopped by Entertainment Weekly for a photo shoot. Some of them even got makeovers. All that was missing from this "America's Next Top Model...
- 3/31/2011
- by Jim Cantiello
- MTV Newsroom
(This post contains spoilers for Thursday's "Idol" results.)
"American Idol" was missing a piece when it kicked off Thursday's (March 10) results show.
Host Ryan Seacrest told viewers at the top of the show that finalist Casey Abrams "is unfortunately sick and in the hospital right now." According to "Idol" blog Joe's Place, Casey sometimes experiences stomach bleeding brought on by stress and may have had a recurrence of the issue.
Fortunately for him, though, Casey didn't have to sweat out whether he would be back for next week's show. The bottom three was announced about two-thirds of the way through the show, and he wasn't part of it. Viewers liked his rendition of "With a Little Help From My Friends" enough to keep him safe for a week.
An "Idol" elimination when a contestant is ill isn't unprecedented: Back in Season 1, Christina Christian got the boot while she was hospitalized for dehydration.
"American Idol" was missing a piece when it kicked off Thursday's (March 10) results show.
Host Ryan Seacrest told viewers at the top of the show that finalist Casey Abrams "is unfortunately sick and in the hospital right now." According to "Idol" blog Joe's Place, Casey sometimes experiences stomach bleeding brought on by stress and may have had a recurrence of the issue.
Fortunately for him, though, Casey didn't have to sweat out whether he would be back for next week's show. The bottom three was announced about two-thirds of the way through the show, and he wasn't part of it. Viewers liked his rendition of "With a Little Help From My Friends" enough to keep him safe for a week.
An "Idol" elimination when a contestant is ill isn't unprecedented: Back in Season 1, Christina Christian got the boot while she was hospitalized for dehydration.
- 3/11/2011
- by editorial@zap2it.com
- Zap2It - From Inside the Box
The Season 10 premiere of "American Idol" is only a week away and to make the days go by a bit faster, Zap2it decided to take a stroll down memory lane and re-evaluate the previous nine seasons.
Each day leading up to the premiere on Wednesday, Jan. 19, we will post a retrospective on each season. We're breaking it down into four categories: Best Performance, Worst Performance, Most Underrated Idol and most Overrated Idol. At the end, we will decide how the season stacks up against the rest, rating it as great, good, or not-so-good.
First up, the inaugural 2002 Season. We kind of miss the more intimate, smaller feeling of the show when it was still figuring itself out and had a touch of innocence to it. It produced one of the show's most successful "Idol" winners ever and had that extremely awkward co-host Brian Dunkleman (remember him? Bueller?) competing with Ryan Seacrest for more screen-time.
Each day leading up to the premiere on Wednesday, Jan. 19, we will post a retrospective on each season. We're breaking it down into four categories: Best Performance, Worst Performance, Most Underrated Idol and most Overrated Idol. At the end, we will decide how the season stacks up against the rest, rating it as great, good, or not-so-good.
First up, the inaugural 2002 Season. We kind of miss the more intimate, smaller feeling of the show when it was still figuring itself out and had a touch of innocence to it. It produced one of the show's most successful "Idol" winners ever and had that extremely awkward co-host Brian Dunkleman (remember him? Bueller?) competing with Ryan Seacrest for more screen-time.
- 1/12/2011
- by editorial@zap2it.com
- Zap2It - From Inside the Box
Moments before the Top 10 took to the "Idol" stage to sing soul and R&B songs, an "Idol" blogger colleague messaged me on Twitter freaking out. "Gahhh! Jim, season nine needs to start getting serious. It's getting out of hand. Maybe tonight will be the night."
My reply?
"Well, it certainly can't get any worse."
On that note, let's get to the performances!
Siobhan Magnus
Song: "Through the Fire" by Chaka Khan
Verdict: Through the Ringer
Ever wondered what it would sound like if Marlee Matlin sang in a wind tunnel? You're in luck, because Siobhan Magnus' take on Chaka Khan's classic provided just that! Boys and girls, step right up and see the incredible shrieking shrinking woman! Marvel at how quickly the Queen of Quirk can become as boring and atonal as previous seasons' ear-terrorists Jasmine Trias, Ramiele Malubay and Carmen Rasmusen!
What went wrong here? Well,...
My reply?
"Well, it certainly can't get any worse."
On that note, let's get to the performances!
Siobhan Magnus
Song: "Through the Fire" by Chaka Khan
Verdict: Through the Ringer
Ever wondered what it would sound like if Marlee Matlin sang in a wind tunnel? You're in luck, because Siobhan Magnus' take on Chaka Khan's classic provided just that! Boys and girls, step right up and see the incredible shrieking shrinking woman! Marvel at how quickly the Queen of Quirk can become as boring and atonal as previous seasons' ear-terrorists Jasmine Trias, Ramiele Malubay and Carmen Rasmusen!
What went wrong here? Well,...
- 3/31/2010
- by Jim Cantiello
- MTV Newsroom
David Cook, Megan Joy and Christina Christian also had health issues during their seasons.
By Gil Kaufman
Crystal Bowersox
Photo: Frank Micelotta/ Getty Images
The pressure on "American Idol" is intense. Singers spend their weeks picking songs, learning them, rehearsing group numbers, doing press and otherwise living in the intense bubble that is the "Idol" universe.
So it's not surprising that sometimes, that strain can get to the contestants, most of whom are performing in front of audiences and cameras for the first time in their lives. The latest singer to go down is Crystal Bowersox, the 24-year-old Ohio busker and mother of one who was hospitalized Tuesday and ordered by doctors not to perform as scheduled on that night's show. That led to a rare lineup shuffle, forcing the men to perform Tuesday night as Bowersox rested up for Wednesday night's (March 3) show.
"Due to medical issues which would...
By Gil Kaufman
Crystal Bowersox
Photo: Frank Micelotta/ Getty Images
The pressure on "American Idol" is intense. Singers spend their weeks picking songs, learning them, rehearsing group numbers, doing press and otherwise living in the intense bubble that is the "Idol" universe.
So it's not surprising that sometimes, that strain can get to the contestants, most of whom are performing in front of audiences and cameras for the first time in their lives. The latest singer to go down is Crystal Bowersox, the 24-year-old Ohio busker and mother of one who was hospitalized Tuesday and ordered by doctors not to perform as scheduled on that night's show. That led to a rare lineup shuffle, forcing the men to perform Tuesday night as Bowersox rested up for Wednesday night's (March 3) show.
"Due to medical issues which would...
- 3/3/2010
- MTV Music News
Oh, Chris Sligh. I remember when you first graced my TV screen way back in 2007, a breath of fresh air amongst a crop of season six Idol lookers like Haley Scarnato. Oh, how silly you were, bouncing into that Idol audition room in Birmingham like an ever-huggable Teletubby, spouting off funny-isms like, " to make David Hasselhoff cry." But now, Chris Sligh, you're making me cry. And not in a good way. This past Saturday, you took to your blog to give season 8's top ten Idols some advice following their final tour date. And though you make some valid points throughout your rant (and yes, I will qualify it as a rant), most of your blog post just reeks of arrogance and negativity. So let's take a look, and refute -- and support when necessary -- some of your points, shall we? Note: This blog post was written prior to...
- 9/23/2009
- by Kate Ward
- EW.com - PopWatch
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.