American Idol (Season 1)
The first season of
American Idol premiered on
June 11,
2002 and continued until
September 4,
2002. It was won by
Kelly Clarkson. This season was co-hosted by
Brian Dunkleman, who left the show after one season.
Auditions were held in
New York,
Los Angeles,
Chicago,
Dallas,
Miami,
Atlanta, and
Seattle in the spring of 2002.
The 30 semi-finalists were:
*
Christopher Aaron#Still In Love With You#
On Bended Knee (
Boyz II Men, 1994)
*
Alexandra Bachelier#
Save the Best For Last (
Vanessa Williams, 1992)
*
Christopher Badano#I Swear (
All-4-One, 1994)
*
Natalie Burge#
Crazy (
Patsy Cline)
*
Khaleef R. Chiles#
My Cherie Amour (
Stevie Wonder)
*
Christina Christian*
Kelly Clarkson*
EJay Day*
Rodesia Eaves#
Daydream Believer (
The Monkees)
*
Brad Estrin#Just Once (
James Ingram)
*
A.J. Gil*
Kelli Glover#
I Will Always Love You (
Whitney Houston, 1992)#How Am I Supposed To Live Without You (
Michael Bolton, 1990)
*
Tamyra Gray*
Justin Guarini*
RJ Helton*
Adriel Herrera#I'll Be (
Edwin McCain, 1998)
*
Kristin Holt#
Fallin' (
Alicia Keys, 2001)
*
Jamar Kane#
Careless Whisper (
Wham!, 1985)
*
Alexis Lopez#
I Will Survive (
Gloria Gaynor, 1979)#
Saving All My Love For You (
Whitney Houston, 1985)
*
Jazmin Lowery#You Put a Move On My Heart
*
Nikki McKibbin*
Angela J. Peel#
Run to You (
Whitney Houston)#As We Lay
*
Tanesha Ross#Until You Come Back to Me, That's What I'm Gonna Do
*
Melanie Sanders#And I Am Telling You, I'm Not Going (
Jennifer Holliday)
*
Mark Scott#
My Girl (
The Temptations)
*
Gil Sinuet#Ribbon In the Sky" (
Stevie Wonder)
*
Ryan Starr*
Tenia Taylor#"
Greatest Love of All" (
Whitney Houston, 1985)
*
Jim Verraros*
Justinn Waddell#
When a Man Loves a Woman (
Percy Sledge, 1966)
 |
Clarkson performing in Idol |
In the first season the show was co-hosted by Seacrest and
Brian Dunkleman.
Kelly Clarkson won, with
Justin Guarini coming in second. A television special from
Las Vegas starring the top thirty-two finalists aired after the show, a forty city tour with the top ten followed, as did the
box office bomb titled
From Justin to Kelly. Since winning, Clarkson has gone on to a successful recording career, including multiple-platinum albums, a number of Top 10 hit singles and on to win 2
Grammy awards.
*Christina Christian was not present during the night of her elimination after being hospitalized from exaustion. Her elimination was shocking to many, especially Simon Cowell. Some people think that she forfeited the competition because of her hospitalization. One rumor said that she earlier committed unacceptable behavior during the finals so some people say that the show gave fake results.
*Jim Verraros, the first and so far only openly gay finalist was told to remove all gay comments from the show. This, of course, caused much controversy.
*There is a rumor that semi-finalist Adriel Herrera was invited to perform at the wild card show but turned down the offer for no apparent reason.
Major releases
American Idol: Greatest Moments*"
A Moment Like This" (Kelly Clarkson)
Thankful (Kelly Clarkson)
Justin Guarini (Justin Guarini)
*"
Miss Independent" (Kelly Clarkson)
*"
Low" (Kelly Clarkson)
*"
The Trouble with Love Is" (Kelly Clarkson)
*"
Breakaway" (Kelly Clarkson)
The Dreamer (Tamyra Gray)
*"
Since U Been Gone" (Kelly Clarkson)
Breakaway (Kelly Clarkson)
*"
Behind These Hazel Eyes" (Kelly Clarkson)
*"
Because of You" (Kelly Clarkson)
*"
Walk Away" (Kelly Clarkson)
Minor or independent releases
(This list does not include pre-Idol releases)
Unsaid and Understood (
Jim Verraros, 2003)
Real Life (
RJ Helton, 2004)
*"My Religion" (
Ryan Starr, Single 2004)
Human Again (Adriel Herrera)
Rollercoaster (
Jim Verraros, 2005)
Stranger Things Have Happened (
Justin Guarini, 2005)
*"To Be With You" (
Nikki McKibbin, Single 2006)
*"The Lie" (
Nikki McKibbin, Single 2006)
Voyces United for UNHCR (Brad Estrin, 2006)
Source: Idolsmusic.com*
American Idol*
List of American Idol contestants*
List of songs performed on American Idol
