American Idol season 6

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American Idol season 6
File:AmericanIdoltitlecard.jpg
Created bySimon Fuller
Directed byBruce Gowers
StarringRyan Seacrest
Paula Abdul
Simon Cowell
Randy Jackson
Country of originUnited States
No. of episodes33 (as of April 25, 2007)
Production
Executive producersNigel Lythgoe
Ken Warwick
Simon Fuller
Running timeVaries
Original release
NetworkFOX, CTV
ReleaseJanuary 16, 2007

The sixth season of American Idol premiered on the FOX Broadcasting Network on January 16,2007 and will run until May 23,2007. Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson returned to judge once again, and Ryan Seacrest returned as host.

Broadcast schedule

Beginning in mid-November 2006, FOX began airing teaser clips of the upcoming sixth season. First a bad contestant was highlighted, with judge Cowell giving his usual horrified grimace, then by early December another began airing, a girl singing "Stormy Weather" as the judges looked on approvingly. Following this, a new commercial began to air, showcasing eventual top 24 contestant Leslie Hunt.

The season premiere began as a two-night, four-hour premiere special on January 16 and 17. Starting the following week, regularly scheduled hours of the program aired at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Tuesdays and 9 p.m. ET/PT on Wednesdays.

The audition shows were spread over eight episodes, each covering one of the seven cities toured as well as a "Best of the Rest" episode. They aired on Jan. 16 (Minneapolis), 17 (Seattle), 23 (Memphis), 24 (East Rutherford), 30 (Birmingham), 31 (Los Angeles), February 6 (San Antonio), and February 7 ("The Best of the Rest"). Guest judges for that leg of the process included Olivia Newton-John, Carole Bayer Sager and Jewel.[1] The Hollywood round episodes aired on February 13 and 14. The Top 24 was announced on February 14. Voting rounds began on February 20.

TV Guide Channel brought back a second season of Idol Tonight, the live pre-show to American Idol, which aired on Wednesdays starting in March. The show features former Idol runner-up Justin Guarini as a correspondent along with Kimberly Caldwell and Rosanna Tavarez. Additionally American Idol Extra, a behind-the-scenes show, also returned for a second season, corresponding with the start of the finals in March. It airs Thursdays on Fox Reality.

Regional auditions phase

Locations

The Auditions were held in the following cities:

Auditioning contestants were required to be between the ages 16 and 28 on August 6, 2006 (born between August 7, 1977 and August 6, 1990).

Structure of auditions

Auditions for the show were held in the seven cities shown above. As reported in The Los Angeles Daily News, the 2006 process was especially difficult: the 10,000 or so contestants waited in long lines, then were herded before two young assistant producers and given roughly 15 seconds to perform one song. At that point the large majority of them were summarily rejected.[2]

Survivors of the first phase were typically seen then by Idol's executive producers, and only if surviving that cut (because they were especially good and fit what Idol was looking for, or especially bad in some novel way) were seen by Cowell, Abdul, and Jackson. The contestants then had one chance to impress the judges by singing a song of their choice a cappella. Then the judges each gave the contestant either a "yes" or a "no" to continue to the next round. If the contestant received a majority of yeses, the contestant received a "golden ticket" and qualified for the "Hollywood Rounds." If rejected, the contestant returned home.

Many of the people who auditioned had trouble with the double doors, always going towards the wrong door on their way out; this was spoofed by Idol later in the season with "audition footage" featuring Tony Bennett.

Hollywood phase

The so-called "Hollywood" phase of the audition process were held over four days in mid-November 2006 at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles.

The first round consisted of each contestant singing one song a capella of their own choosing in front of the judges and all the other contestants of the same gender. Contestants were then told whether they were moving on or going home, in groups of six. This extended over the first two days, first females, then males.

The second round took place on the second and third day, and consisted of groups of three or four contestants choosing, rehearsing, and then performing one of nine pre-selected songs a capella. Groups were reviewed and contestants were then judged individually as to whether they were moving on or going home.

The third round took place on the fourth day, and consisted of individual contestants performing a song from a pre-selected list, accompanied by a piano and backup singers. Contestants were again informed of whether they had made the cut or not.

Cut down to 24

The final pre-audience voting cutdown took place at the Pasadena Civic Center on January 14 or 15, 2007, just before the regional audition shows began airing (although at least one contestant had been shown a tape of the show in advance). Without any further auditioning, but possibly with some audience research having taken place, the 40 remaining contestants were reduced to 24. In a process taking a whole day, contestants wait in a sitting room until one by one, they go up an elevator and take a long walk to the other end of the Center's Gold Room. Then the three judges tell them whether they have made it onto the stage show or are cut.

The show capturing this phase was aired February 14, 2007.

Semi-finalists

Template:Spoiler The semi-finals began on February 20, with the names announced on February 14. There were three shows each week for the three weeks of the semi-finals.

There are no format changes from season 4 and 5. The semi-finals featured the contestants (24 total) divided by gender with the 12 male singers singing on Tuesdays and the 12 female singers on Wednesdays. Each person had the chance to select a song to sing live in front of the judges. Following the show's airing, each U.S. timezone would have two hours to vote by phone or by text-messaging. On Thursday, the two of each group with the lowest amount of votes were eliminated each week until the finals.

The 24 semi-finalists, announced February 14, 2007, were:

Females Males
Alaina Alexander Rudy Cárdenas
Antonella Barba Jared Cotter
Melinda Doolittle Sundance Head
Stephanie Edwards Paul Kim
Gina Glocksen Blake Lewis
Leslie Hunt Sanjaya Malakar
LaKisha Jones Nicholas Pedro
Amy Krebs Chris Richardson
Haley Scarnato Brandon Rogers
Sabrina Sloan Chris Sligh
Jordin Sparks Phil Stacey
Nicole Tranquillo A.J. Tabaldo

Females

Sabrina Sloan (born December 28, 1979) is 27 years old and is originally from Mission Viejo, California but now calls Studio City, CA her home. Sloan toured the United States as part of the Broadway musical Hairspray under her maiden name, Sabrina Scherff. She earned her Bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University in Musical Theatre and Communication Studies.
  1. I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You) (Aretha Franklin)
  2. All the Man That I Need (Whitney Houston)
  3. Don't Let Go (Love) (En Vogue)- Eliminated March 8, 2007
Antonella Barba (2123) (born February 8, 1987), age 20, auditioned with her best friend Amanda Coluccio and made it to Hollywood. An undergraduate at The Catholic University of America, she is originally from Point Pleasant, New Jersey. She made it to Round 3 with Coluccio and both passed the group round (although their third member, Baylie Brown, did not). Coluccio was eliminated in the cut for the top 40. Recently, there has been emergence of racy photographs which include Barba topless along with other women on a beach.[3] These pictures have received mainstream attention including a February 27, 2007 featured article in USA Today,[4] a full segment concerning the controversy on the February 26, 2007 edition of FOX News' The O'Reilly Factor and also on multiple episodes of MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann (as recent as March 2007).[5] Photos of Barba posing in a wet t-shirt in the fountain of the National World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. have also surfaced;[6] however, Barba's friend Coluccio has stated that the sexually explicit photos were fake.[7].
  1. I Don't Want to Miss a Thing (Aerosmith)
  2. Because You Loved Me (Celine Dion)
  3. Put Your Records On (Corinne Bailey Rae)- Eliminated March 8, 2007
Leslie Hunt (73560) (born March 23, 1982), a 25-year-old dog walker from Chicago, Illinois, who was featured in an American Idol commercial before Season 6 started. She is a self-described indie rocker. She suffers from the autoimmune disease lupus.
  1. (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman (Aretha Franklin)
  2. Feeling Good (Nina Simone and others) - Eliminated March 1, 2007
Alaina Alexander (66442) (born July 21, 1982) auditioned in Los Angeles. She is 24 years old and from West Hollywood, California. Before her American Idol 6 audition, Alexander revealed that after struggling for six years to make it in the music business in Los Angeles she had decided she was not going to sing anymore and had decided to go to college instead. She considered American Idol to be her last chance to pursue a singing career. For her Los Angeles audition, Alexander sang "Feeling Good" by Michael Buble.
  1. Brass in Pocket (The Pretenders)
  2. Not Ready to Make Nice (Dixie Chicks) - Eliminated March 1, 2007
Nicole Tranquillo (60162) (born August 13, 1985) is 21 years old and from Wernersville, Pennsylvania. She gained a vocal major at the University of the Arts. She auditioned in Memphis.
  1. Stay (Chaka Khan) - Eliminated February 22, 2007
Amy Krebs (80984) (born May 2, 1984) is 22 years old and is from Federal Way, Washington. She is fluent in German. She auditioned in Seattle.
  1. I Can't Make You Love Me (Bonnie Raitt) - Eliminated February 22, 2007

Males

Jason "Sundance" Head (53540) (born January 22, 1979) auditioned in Memphis and lives in Porter, Texas. He is 28 years old and is the son of Roy Head, who had a number-two single with "Treat Her Right" in 1965; the song was second on the charts to The Beatles, which Jason said made his dad dislike them. He sang the classic hit "Stormy Monday."
  1. Nights in White Satin (The Moody Blues)
  2. Mustang Sally (Wilson Pickett)
  3. Jeremy (Pearl Jam) - Eliminated March 8, 2007
Jared Cotter (8067) (born June 17, 1981) is from Kew Gardens, New York (listed as Long Island on the show). He is 25 years old and auditioned in New York City. Jared played basketball in college, but quit to start his music career.
  1. Back at One (Brian McKnight)
  2. Let's Get It On (Marvin Gaye)
  3. If You Really Love Me (Stevie Wonder) - Eliminated March 8, 2007
A.J. Tabaldo (66398) (born January 3, 1985) auditioned in Los Angeles and is from Santa Maria, California. He is 22 years old. Tabaldo is half-Filipino and half-Portuguese, and auditioned for American Idol five times.
  1. Never Too Much (Luther Vandross)
  2. Feeling Good (Nina Simone and others) - Eliminated March 1, 2007
Nicholas Pedro (10377) (born April 24, 1981) is 25 years old. He auditioned in New York and is from Taunton, Massachusetts. Pedro dropped out of the competition last season after forgetting the lyrics of "Buttercup" in Hollywood. This audition, he gave a soulful rendition of "Fly Me To The Moon" which earned him a second chance to fulfill his Idol aspirations.
  1. Now and Forever (Richard Marx)
  2. Fever (Peggy Lee) - Eliminated March 1, 2007
Rudy Cárdenas (59576) (born April 3, 1978) auditioned in Seattle and is from North Hollywood, California. Originally from Venezuela, the 28-year-old is part of a Los Angeles-based band called M-Pact. In his audition, he sang Journey rock classic "Open Arms". Although Simon was unimpressed with his singing, Rudy made it to Hollywood with the support of the other two judges. In Hollywood, he sang "How Deep Is Your Love" together with Chris Sligh, Blake Lewis, and Tom Lowe in group round. The judges were impressed by their vocals.
  1. Free Ride (Edgar Winter Group) - Eliminated February 22, 2007
Paul Kim (74201) (born March 26, 1981) auditioned in Los Angeles. He is from Saratoga, California, and attended Monta Vista High School. Kim is 25 years old, and being Korean-American, his motivation for auditioning was to alter the stereotypical Asian image that William Hung gave during the previous seasons. His performance received unanimous praise from the judges as Randy mentioned that Kim has one of the best male vocals he has heard this season. In contrast to their early praise, the judges mentioned when they put him through that Paul made it to the top 24 by "a split decision". He sang barefooted during all of his performances.
  1. Careless Whisper (Wham!) - Eliminated February 22, 2007

Finalists

The 12 finalists were announced on March 8, 2007. As in past years, the top 12 will appear on the annual compilation album while the top 10 will be the participants in the American Idol summer concert tour. Also as in past years, one finalist will be eliminated every week, with the exception of the April 25 show, when all contestants were declared safe. As a result, two of the participants will be eliminated on the May 2, 2007 results program.

The following is first in alphabetical order by family name, then reverse chronological order by elimination date, if applicable.

Melinda Doolittle (57073), (born December 1, 1977) age 29, auditioned in Memphis, and is from Brentwood, Tennessee. Despite being a professional back-up singer, she admitted she was still tense and nervous about competing in the show. She auditioned with "For Once in My Life" popularized by Stevie Wonder, and was met with universal praise from the three judges on her vocal ability. The judges did express concern about her nerves and told her to believe in herself. She has sung back up for Aaron Neville, CeCe Winans, and Season 3 finalist George Huff.
LaKisha Jones (8292), (born January 13, 1980) a 27-year-old bank teller who performed "Think" by Aretha Franklin, and is originally from Flint, Michigan. Viewers were first introduced to Jones during the "Best of the Rest" episode. After her audition in New York, LaKisha celebrated with her family and cried tears of happiness with her daughter. She is also the runner up of the Houston show, KPRC Local 2 Gimme the Mike, in 2005. She listed Ft. Meade, MD., on her application, also has a Houston following.
Blake Lewis (77804) (born July 21, 1981) is 25 years old and auditioned in Seattle, and is from Bothell, Washington. He is a former member of the a capella group KickShaw. Claiming to be the city's beatboxing champion, Lewis sampled a hip-hop tune to the judges before rendering Seal's "Crazy". Blake passed the auditions but Simon commented to him that "You are not that good as you think are," reminding him not to be cocky and overconfident in the future.
Chris Richardson (8963) (born February 19, 1984) is 23 years old. He auditioned in New York and is from Chesapeake, Virginia. During Richardson's audition Randy compared him to Justin Timberlake.
Jordin Sparks (80066) , (born December 22, 1989) is a 17-year-old from Glendale, Arizona who auditioned in Seattle. She was a contestant on America's Most Talented Kid in 2003 and also appeared on the program's Tournament of Champions, on which she sang the Celine Dion ballad "Because You Loved Me" in her auditions. She is the daughter of former NFL defensive back Philippi Sparks. She also performed in the Christmas "Christmastime" Tours in 2005 and 2006 for Contemporary Christian singer, Michael W. Smith.
Phil Stacey (51815) (born January 25, 1978) is 29 years old and serves in the United States Navy. He auditioned in Memphis and is from Jacksonville, Florida. He missed the birth of his daughter, Machaela, to audition for Idol. He performed two songs before getting through to Hollywood: My Girl and Let's Get It On.
Sanjaya Malakar (80203) (born September 10, 1989) is 17 years old. He auditioned in Seattle with his sister Shyamali, singing "Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours)." He is from Federal Way, Washington, the same town as Amy Krebs. After Sanjaya's audition, Simon commented that he had a better voice than his sister. Both made it to Hollywood, but Sanjaya was shown tearfully embracing his sister when he made it to the top 40 in Hollywood and she was cut.

- Eliminated April 18, 2007

Haley Scarnato (50411) (born June 15, 1982) is a 24-year-old former wedding band singer. She sang "I Can't Make You Love Me" by Bonnie Raitt during her audition. She lives in San Antonio.

- Eliminated April 11, 2007

Gina Glocksen (53750) (born July 4, 1984) is 22 years old, auditioned in Memphis, and is from Naperville, Illinois. She auditioned in Chicago during Season 5 and made it to Hollywood but was cut before the Top 40.

- Eliminated April 4, 2007

Chris Sligh (24994) (born June 20, 1978) is 28 years old, hails from Greenville, South Carolina, and graduated from North Greenville University. He auditioned in Birmingham and sang "Kiss from a Rose" by Seal, after which Paula gave a standing ovation and stated, "I like you very much." Paula, Simon, and Randy laughed at his ambition "to make David Hasselhoff cry" (a nod to the Season 5 finale where David Hasselhoff did, in fact, cry).

- Eliminated March 28, 2007

Stephanie Edwards (52357) (born August 5, 1987) is 19 years old and from Savannah, Georgia. She auditioned in Memphis.

- Eliminated March 21, 2007

Brandon Rogers (74191) (born January 9, 1978) is 29 years old. He auditioned in Los Angeles and is from North Hollywood, California. Rogers has been a backup singer to established artists, performing on Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera's 2003 Justified and Stripped Tour and Anastacia's 2005 Encore Tour. After hearing his audition song, the judges (including guest judge Olivia Newton-John) were impressed with his vocals. Simon Cowell later mentioned he was the best auditioner coming from that city.

- Eliminated March 14, 2007

Song themes

Just as was done in season 5, the performers whose themes are performed do not appear as judges. Instead, they "coach" the contestants on the theme.

Performers on results shows

Exit song

This year, the song played during the flashback to an eliminated contestant's journey is Daughtry's "Home," replacing "Bad Day" by Daniel Powter.

Semi-Finals/Finals elimination chart

Contestants are in alphabetical order by last name, then by reverse chronological order of elimination.

Legend
Female Male Top 12 Top 24
Stage: Semi-Finals Finals
Week: 2/22 3/1 3/8 3/14 3/21 3/28 4/4 4/11 4/18 4/25* 5/2 5/9 5/16 5/23
Place Contestant Result
Melinda Doolittle
LaKisha Jones Btm 2
Blake Lewis Btm 3
Chris Richardson Btm 2 Btm 3
Jordin Sparks
Phil Stacey Btm 3 Btm 3 Btm 3 Btm 2
7 Sanjaya Malakar Btm 2 Elim
8 Haley Scarnato Btm 2 Btm 2 Elim
9 Gina Glocksen Elim
10 Chris Sligh Elim
11 Stephanie Edwards Elim
12 Brandon Rogers Elim
13-16 Sundance Head Elim
13-16 Sabrina Sloan Elim
13-16 Antonella Barba Elim
13-16 Jared Cotter Elim
17-20 Leslie Hunt Elim
17-20 A.J. Tabaldo Elim
17-20 Alaina Alexander Elim
17-20 Nicholas Pedro Elim
21-24 Rudy Cardenas Elim
21-24 Nicole Tranquillo Elim
21-24 Amy Krebs Elim
21-24 Paul Kim Elim

Note: Bottom 2 indicates that the contestant was 'saved' last. This may or may not indicate his or her actual vote rank. Sometimes, Seacrest will announce that the contestant is in the bottom 2, sometimes he will not. On 3/21, only the bottom two were announced.

* During the week of 04/25, no one was eliminated. That week's votes will be added to the following week's votes, and the bottom two will be eliminated.

Template:Spoilerend

Idol Gives Back

On the March 8, 2007 results show, Ryan Seacrest announced an initiative to give back to people in poverty in both Africa and the United States (including those affected by Hurricane Katrina). The event took place over two episodes of the series. For every vote cast after the April 24, 2007 broadcast, sponsors such as The Coca-Cola Company, Ford Motor Company, AT&T, Allstate, Exxon Mobil, and News Corp donated funds to the Charity Projects Entertainment Fund, which will distribute the money raised to Save the Children and other charities benefiting disadvantaged children in the United States, as well as charitable organizations funding programs in Africa. News Corp pledged to donate 10 cents for every vote made to the show for the first 50 million calls, that is, up to $5 million. MySpace created a special profile page for the event in order to spread the word.[2] Donations from viewers were accepted by phone and website during the April 25, 2007 results show, in a manner similar to a telethon. Near the end of the broadcast, Seacrest announced the show raised 30 million US dollars, with the final tally coming on May 1, 2007. As of April 26, 2007, over 60 million dollars has been raised as a result of Idol Gives Back.[13]

Between contestant performances, video vignettes showcasing the judges and Seacrest visiting and observing stark conditions in Africa and United States were aired. Similar vignettes were aired during the results show. For this special, the voting period was doubled to four hours following the show, rather than the usual two. In response to the anticipated call volume, each contestant was assigned two toll free numbers. Over 70 million votes were cast.

The results show was broadcast from two locations—the regular American Idol stage and Disney Hall—and included celebrity actors and personalities: Twiggy, David Schwimmer, Ben Stiller, Teri Hatcher, Forest Whitaker, Dr. Phil, Hugh Laurie, Hugh Grant, Bernadette Peters, Jack Black, Kyle Gass, Seal, Eric McCormack, Keira Knightley, Helena Bonham Carter, Helen Mirren, Lisa Kudrow, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Shaquille O'Neal, Tom Cruise, Michael Buble, Ewan McGregor, Gwyneth Paltrow, Julia Roberts, Madonna, Rob Schneider and Bono. The show also included numerous performers; for a full list of performances, see below. Ellen DeGeneres co-hosted the event from the Disney Hall stage. Proceeds from ticket sales benefited the fund.[14] Videos of the results show's performances are available for purchase on iTunes, with proceeds going to charity.

Due to the "charity" theme of the show, no contestant was eliminated on the April 25th results show. All of the votes from that week will be added to the next week's votes, and the bottom two contestants will be eliminated.

Performers

American Idol Songwriting Contest

On the April 3, 2007 show, Ryan Seacrest announced the first American Idol Songwriting Contest. Following an open online submission process, twenty songs will be selected for competition by A&R representatives. Beginning May 2, 2007, the American public will vote for their favorite, and the winning song will be recorded by the winner of American Idol Season 6. [15]

UK Edition

For the UK back-to-back repeat of the Performance and Results shows on the following Friday night on ITV2, Cat Deeley presents additional sections preceding and following each commercial break, and follows the end of the show with a short interview with that week's eliminated contestant.[16]

"The crying girl"

File:Ashlerferlcrying.jpg
Ashley Ferl, "the crying girl"

Ashley Ferl is a 13-year-old girl who has become known for crying during Sanjaya Malakar's performance, as well as other contestants, on the Top 11 episode of American Idol 6. Ashley's family, who are from Riverside, CA, obtained tickets on a website to attend the dress rehearsal of the program. Since Ashley cried a great deal at the rehearsal, producers offered her family top notch seats for the final taping of the episode.[17]

Ashley started to cry not long after Malakar began his performance of "You Really Got Me", and was invited to hug him onstage immediately following his performance. She was also shown crying for several more contestants. At the end of the show, she went onstage a second time, and got a chance to hug and get autographs[18] of all of the contestants and was introduced to the judges. Television vans from E!, Access Hollywood, and Fox were waiting outside of her house the next day, and, that evening, NBC paid for Ashley's entire family to fly to the taping of the Today Show. After that, she gave several other radio and news interviews to sources such as MSNBC, Fox News, and Entertainment Tonight.[19]

Saturday Night Live spoofed her and Sanjaya Malakar on the Saturday following his elimination.

References

  1. ^ "[[Randy Jackson]] confirms guest judges" (audio). Retrieved 2006-11-28. {{cite web}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help)
  2. ^ "www.dailynews.com/tv/ci_5094765". Retrieved 2007-02-20.
  3. ^ http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070224/ap_en_tv/tv_american_idol
  4. ^ http://www.usatoday.com/life/peytu7yilople/2007-02-28-playboy-party_x.htm
  5. ^ http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17365649/
  6. ^ 'Antonella Barba Nude Photos Online: American Idol Sex Scandal'
  7. ^ 'Antonella Barba Nude: Topless Photos Real, Fellatio Pics Fake'
  8. ^ http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/172395/american_idol_announces_idol_gives.html
  9. ^ http://www.tv-now.com/stars/bonjovi.html
  10. ^ http://www.barrygibb.com/
  11. ^ http://www.gactv.com/gac/nw_headlines/article/0,,GAC_26063_5432939,00.html
  12. ^ http://www.barrygibb.com/
  13. ^ http://www.yahoo.com/s/567298
  14. ^ http://www.americanidol.com/idolgivesback/
  15. ^ [1]
  16. ^ Digital Spy: Cat Deeley to front UK Edition of Americal Idol
  17. ^ LA Times
  18. ^ MSNBC
  19. ^ Topix.net

External links

Preceded by American Idol
Season 6 (2007)
Succeeded by
Season 7 (2008)