American Idol
Reviewing Season's Past - American Idol 1
By Jillian Kuras
January 11, 2006
As season five of American Idol rapidly approaches, I thought it would be fun to look back on the four previous seasons of AI. In my four part commentary leading up to next Tuesday's season 5 premiere, I'll discuss the many ups, downs and memorable moments of AI. This first commentary will cover season one. Come on; take a trip down memory lane with me!
Season one of American Idol premiered in June of 2002. I actually missed the first week of the show (which I have seen since then) so I officially starting watching from week two on. Season one actually began with one (that's right, one!) night of auditions. After those Tuesday auditions, Wednesday included one night of the Hollywood round. This was the week I originally missed.
So when I tuned in week two, we were already in the top 30. That season, the contestants were divided in three groups of 10. Each group sang, America voted, and the top three from each group made it into the top ten. This totaled 9 contestants and the top 10 was completed with one judge's wild card. Ah, the simple days.
So as I said, I turned on my TV during week two and slowly started flipping through the channels pondering which summer rerun to watch that night. I had no interest in whatever was on channels four and five but when I got to six I stopped.
Some girl by the name of Tamyra Gray was singing the crap out of that And I'm Telling You song. Who the heck was this girl? A professional I had never heard of? Nope, just a nobody singer competing to make it in show business. Genius! And on top of that, this NEW show was going on during summer reruns? Genius again!
From that moment on I was hooked. I religiously watched each week, voted for my favorites, cried when I disagreed with the eliminations, and told everyone I knew about the great new show I had discovered. The excitement leading up the finale was huge, and not just in my little world. All across America everyone was wondering just what would happen to those two kids named Justin and Kelly. Would they really become stars? Would they really sell millions of albums? No one knew for sure and that was half the fun. And for that reason, as well as many others, season one of American Idol will always hold a special place in my heart.
Let's begin with a quick recap of the contestants who we met that year before we get to the awards. The top ten consisted of Tamyra Gray, Ryan Starr, and Jim Verraros from group one, Justin Guarini, Kelly Clarkson and A.J. Gil from group two, Christina Christian, Nikki McKibbin and EJay Day from group three, and the judges Wild Card choice, R.J. Helton.
So even though we were only weeks into the show, I could already tell that true singing talent was not the only factor America was voting on. Having "the look" of a pop star was hugely stressed in season one. So much so that an overweight yet extremely talented woman was actually cut by the judges in the Hollywood round.
If this show was 100% based on true singing talent and stage presence, Alexis Lopez and Kelli Glover would have been in the top ten instead of Jim and A.J. And clearly, Simon agreed with me there. If you remember, this was the season that Simon and Randy nearly got into a fist fight after Simon referred to Jim and A.J. as "losers".
When the top ten started and the show went.....
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