TV Show American Idol

American Idol is a television series from the American Singing Competition created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle Media North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It was initially aired on Fox from June 11, 2002 to April 7, 2016 for 15 seasons. Since March 11, 2018, a return to the ABC series has been released.

It began as an addition to the Idols format based on Idol Pop on British television, and has become one of the most successful programs in American television history. The concept of the series is to discover the recording of the stars of unsigned singing talents, with the winner identified by American viewers through telephone and Internet voting and SMS. The winners of the first 17 seasons selected by spectators are Kelly Clarkson, Robin Stoddard, Fantasia Barrino, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Hicks, Jordan Sparks, David Cook, Chris Allen, Lee Dewis, Scottie McCreary, Philip Phillips, Candice Glover, Caleb Johnson, Nick Fradiani, Trent Harmon, Maddy Bob and Lynn Hardy respectively.

American Idol uses a panel of vocal judges who criticize the contestants' performance. The original referees, from the first to the eighth season, were producers and music director, Randy Jackson, singer and choreographer Paula Abdul, and executive director and musician Simon Cowell. The jury in Fox's last three seasons consisted of singers Keith Urban, Jennifer Lopez and Harry Connick Jr. Season 6 brought in three new judges: singers Lionel Richie, Katie Perry and Luke Bryan. The first season featured radio personality Ryan Seacrest and comedian Brian Dunkelman, but Seacrest remained the only master of celebrations for the rest of the series. The success of American Idol has been described as "incomparable in the history of transmission."  A rival television official said the series was "the most shocking program in television history".