The fourth season of American Idol premiered on January 18, 2005, and continued until May 25, 2005. It was hosted by Ryan Seacrest. Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul, and Simon Cowell also returned as judges. Carrie Underwood won the season with approximately 500 million votes cast in the season and 37 million for the finale, while Bo Bice was the runner-up. Underwood has since gone on to become an eight-time Grammy-winning country megastar. It was also the first season of the series to be aired in high definition.
Changes from previous seasons
This was the first season where guest judges were invited to participate in the auditions.
Auditions for the fourth season began on August 4, 2004, in Cleveland, Ohio.[1] An audition was originally planned for Anchorage, Alaska, but that was cancelled due to a possible schedule conflict as a result of hurricanes affecting the Orlando auditions.[2]
^The contestants from the Orlando audition were moved to Las Vegas for the final round of the audition due to the impending Hurricane Ivan.[4] It was originally scheduled for September 6–7, 2004,[5] but rescheduled to September 14, 2004, to coincide with the Las Vegas audition.
Hollywood week
There were 193 contestants in the Hollywood rounds. They were split into two groups and performed on separate days at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles. The contestants first chose from a list of twelve songs selected by the producers. They were separated into groups of males and females, but they performed solo with piano accompaniment and back-up singers. 95 contestants were eliminated after this round. The remaining 97 contestants competed in the second round which featured group performances. The songs for the groups were Four Tops's "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)," The Temptations' "Get Ready," Barry Manilow's "Jump Shout Boogie," The Marvelettes's "Please Mr. Postman," and The Supremes' "Where Did Our Love Go." 75 remained after this round.
In the last round, they performed a cappella. After their performances, the contestants were divided into four groups in separate rooms. Two groups were eliminated and the number of contestants was cut to 44. After further deliberation by the judges, 24 semifinalists – 12 men and 12 women – were then selected. At the Pasadena Civic Center, each contestant took the elevator from their holding room to the floor above to see the judges, who then revealed their fate.
Semifinals
The rules for this season's semifinal round were changed so as to result in an equal number of male and female finalists. Twelve men and twelve women competed separately on consecutive nights, with two from each group being voted off each week until twelve finalists were left: six men and six women.
Color key:
This contestant was saved by the public vote.
This contestant was eliminated.
Top 24 (February 21 & 22)
Contestants are listed in the order they performed.
^Nikko Smith was originally eliminated during the results show. However, when Mario Vazquez withdrew from the competition, Nikko was brought back as his replacement in the top 12.
^Mario Vazquez withdrew from the competition prior to the next episode.[8]
Top 12 finalists
Standing - Anthony Fedorov, Vonzell Solomon, Bo Bice, Nikko Smith, Mikalah Gordon, Anwar Robinson, Nadia Turner, Lindsey Cardinale, Jessica Sierra Front - Scott Savol, Constantine Maroulis, Carrie Underwood
Constantine Maroulis (born September 17, 1975, in Brooklyn, New York; 29 years old at the time of the show) was from New York City and auditioned in Washington with Aerosmith's "Cryin'." In Hollywood, he performed The Box Tops's "The Letter" and the Four Tops's "I Can't Help Myself."
Anwar Robinson (born April 21, 1979, in Newark, New Jersey; 25 years old at the time of the show) was from East Orange, New Jersey, and auditioned in Washington. He performed the Four Tops's "I Can't Help Myself" in Hollywood.
Jessica Sierra (born November 11, 1985, in Tampa, Florida; 19 years old at the time of the show) auditioned in Orlando with Etta James' "At Last." In Hollywood, she performed Diana Ross' "When You Tell Me That You Love Me."
Top 5 – Leiber and Stoller & Billboard current chart (May 3)
Each contestant performed two songs: one written by songwriting duo Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, and one from the Billboard current chart. Contestants are listed in the order they performed.
Each contestant performed three songs: one chosen by Clive Davis, one chosen by one of the judges, and one chosen by themselves. Contestants are listed in the order they performed.
Simon Cowell believed that Bo Bice would have won had he able to save his a cappella rendering of "In a Dream" for his final performance.[9]
^Owing to a mix-up during the March 22 performance show, American Idol did not eliminate a contestant on the Wednesday results show, and instead conducted a full revote. Mikalah Gordon was eliminated on Thursday, March 24.
^Nikko Smith was originally eliminated in the semifinal round, but was brought back after Mario Vasquez withdrew from the competition.
^Mario Vazquez withdrew from the competition for personal reasons.[8]
Controversies
During the season, Corey Clark, a second season contestant who was disqualified for having an undisclosed arrest record, alleged in an interview on ABC's Primetime Live that he had had an affair with Paula Abdul while on the show.[10]
During the top 11 competition show, three of the contestants had their voting telephone numbers improperly displayed. The Wednesday night show, which was supposed to have been the elimination night, allowed viewers to vote again as the numbers were fixed, and the elimination took place on Thursday.
Bo Bice was revealed to have been arrested on a felony cocaine possession charge in June 2001 in Madison County, Alabama, and was also arrested two years later for marijuana possession, public intoxication, and possession of drug paraphernalia.[11] Scott Savol was also revealed to have been convicted of a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct for domestic violence.[12] However, no action was taken against either contestant by the show producers because they had revealed their misdemeanors to them in advance.[13]
U.S. Nielsen ratings
The fourth season of American Idol had an overall average viewership of 26.8 million and was the top show for the 2004–2005 TV season. Its Tuesday episodes averaged 27.32 million (ranked first) while the Wednesday episodes averaged 26.07 million (ranked third).[14] It also drove Fox, for the first time ever, to become the top network in the 18-to-49 demographic for the season.[15][16]
Note 1: The Top 11 Wednesday night was a repeat performance night due to a mix-up in the phone numbers for the contestants. The result show was moved to Thursday.
Music releases
The compilation album for this season was performed by the top twelve finalists.
^Corey Moss (May 25, 2005). "Carrie Underwood Wins 'American Idol'". MTV. Archived from the original on April 17, 2015. The outspoken judge, however, thought Bo would have won had he saved his goose-bump-inducing a cappella rendition of Badlands' "In a Dream" from last week for Tuesday's final performance night.
