American Idol Season Four

From LoveToKnow Music

Season 4 of American Idol debuted on January, 18, 2005, with the finale airing May 25, 2005. Carrie Underwood carried the competition. A few changes to the Idol format opened up the field to a new group of competitors.

American Idol- Season Four Personnel

The judging team of Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson, and Paula Abdul remained in place during season 4, and Ryan Seacrest remained on as host. Abdul’s Idol future appeared to be threatened briefly, when expelled contestant Corey Clark from season 2 resurfaced and claimed to have had an affair with Abdul. The timing of his claims was suspect, as he had a new album and book to launch shortly after the controversy. Fox Network investigated the charges and found no evidence to substantiate Clark’s claims.

Clive Davis joined the judging panel for the show finale.

Auditions

Auditions were held in St. Louis, New Orleans, Washington D.C., Cleveland, Orlando, Las Vegas, and San Francisco. A scheduled audition in Anchorage was later cancelled.

Two changes were made to the audition process. First, the age limit was raised to 28, expanding the base of potential contestants. Next, celebrity judges took part in the audition rounds. The judges who appeared were:

Mark McGrath (Sugar Ray)
Gene Simmons (KISS)
LL Cool J
Brandy

As usual, the worst auditions were as memorable as the good ones, and Mary Roach and Leroy Wells became famous for their lack of musical ability.

Semifinals

In another change to the previous format, the 190 contestants who made it to round two in Hollywood were whittled down to two groups - one of 12 men and one of 12 women. Two of each gender faced the chop each week until a final 12 emerged. This was done to make sure there was a more even distribution between the sexes after season 3’s female-heavy finals.

The Top 12

The 12 who made it to the final round, in order of their elimination, were:

Lindsey Cardinale
Mikalah Gordon
Jessica Sierra
Nikki Smith
Nadia Turner
Anwar Robinson
Constantine Maroulis
Scott Savol
Anthony Fedoror
Vonzell Soloman
Bo Bice
Carrie Underwood – winner

The season finale featured appearances by Lynyrd Skynyrd, Babyface, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, David Hasslehoff, Kenny G, Rascal Flatts, George Benson, and Billy Preston.

Theme Weeks

One thing that remained the same in season 4 was the inclusion of theme weeks. The themes in season 4 were:

1960s
Billboard Number 1 Hits
1990s
Musicals
Music From Year of Birth
1970s Dance
2000s
Jerry Leiber and Mark Stoller/Top 40 Hits
Nashville Country/Gamble and Huff
Clive Davis’ Choice/Contestant’s Choice/Judges’ Choice

Where Are They Now?

American Idols Live

The top 10 finalists from season 4 took to the road shortly after the show finished for a 40 city concert tour.

Carrie Underwood

Underwood’s debut album, “Some Hearts” debuted at number 2, but went on to become platinum. She won three Billboard Music awards in December of 2005.

Bo Bice

Bice’s solo debut album debuted at number 4. His first single, “Inside Your Heaven” went straight in at number 1, knocking Underwood’s version of the same song right off the top spot.

Constantine Maroulis

Maroulis went back to his band Pray For the Soul of Betty after he was voted off the show. Since then, Kelsey Grammer’s production company has signed a deal to produce a television series based on Maroulis’ life for ABC. Shooting is expected to begin in spring of 2006.