Saturday, May 3, 2008

American Idol Trivia

So far, the winner of American Idol has never been in the bottom 3 during the first five weeks of finals.

Taylor Hicks was the oldest winner at 29, Jordin Sparks the youngest at 17.

Bo Bice remains the only contestant to ever perform a capella outside of auditions.

Jason Castro was the first contestant to play an instrument, and is the only one to ever play a ukulele.

Brooke White remains the only female to play an instrument on the show, and was the first of those that did play instruments to be eliminated (with the exception of Chikezie’s brief harmonica “playing”).

No contestant to perform last has ever been eliminated that same week prior to the Final 4.

The top 5 has always contained at least one African American contestant (mostly female).

The top 3 has never contained a married contestant. (Chris Daughtry came closest in 4th place.)

The first 5 AI winners were from the South, two of which (Ruben and Taylor) were from the same city (Birmingham, AL).

In season 4, viewers had to re-vote when a few incorrect phone numbers were displayed during top 11 week.

Thus far, David Cook has done four covers of covers. Chris Daughtry did two.

More often than not, the person who opens the show is also the one to be eliminated that week, or at least find themselves in the bottom 2/3.

Phil Collins’ “Against All Odds (Take A Look at Me Now)” has been performed every season during competition except last year, which makes it the most popular contestant song pick.

Brooke White is the only Idol contestant to ever stop and restart her song during a live performance.

Chris Daughtry is the most successful contestant to not finish in the top 2 of AI. He is the 4th most successful Idol behind Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, and Clay Aiken.

Corey Clark (season 2) remains the only contestant to have ever been disqualified during the voting rounds of the competition. Frenchie Davis and The Brittenum twins were disqualified before making the top 12/24.

So far this season, every contestant to wear a black vest during a broadcast (Garrett Haley, David Hernandez, Ramiele Malubay, Michael Johns and Carly Smithson) was eliminated that week, with the exception of Brooke White who survived until a later date. The opposite is true of those who wore grey vests.

Clay Aiken is the only runner-up to avoid the bottom 2/3 during finals. Melinda Doolittle and Tamyra Gray also managed to go far while avoiding the bottom 2/3 before the night of their elimination.

There has been a “shocker” vote off every season but season 2. (Tamyra Gray, Jennifer Hudson/LaToya London, Constantine Maroulis, Chris Daughtry, Melinda Doolittle and Michael Johns, respectively.)

Mario Vazquez remains the only contestant to ever willingly withdraw from the competition after making it into the voting rounds. (Season 4, top 12). Nikko Smith took his place.

Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood and Taylor Hicks are the only contestants to ever finish the competition without ever hitting the bottom 2/3. So far this season, David Cook and David Archuleta have done the same.

Anthony Fedorov and Melinda Doolittle are the only contestants to ever be eliminated after performing last that same week. (Finale week doesn’t count since no one is “eliminated.”)


Until David Cook broke the curse this week, every contestant to perform second during top 5 week was promptly eliminated.

The first five contestants who performed first during top 3 week were then eliminated. Jordin Sparks broke the curse.

Bo Bice holds the record for making it the furthest in the competition (runner-up, season 4) without receiving any airtime prior to the top 24 episode. Jason Castro is currently closing in on Bice’s record.

At a whopping 6 times, Syesha Mercado is currently tied with Nikki McKibbin for the most appearances in the bottom 2/3.

Clay Aiken holds the “pimp spot” record for closing the most shows at 5 times. Ruben Studdard and Diana DeGarmo each closed 4 shows (this does not include “specials.”)

This year’s Idols Live! Tour will begin in the hometown of our current Idol Jordin Sparks, and, if David Cook wins, it will end in the city of our newest American Idol.


Despite rumors that this could be the last season due to the lowest ratings the show has seen in five years, American Idol has been renewed through 2011.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I really enjoyed this article. Excellent research! I have been a fan of the show since Season 1 and up until Season 4, I seemed to be able to choose the winner but I was so impressed by Constantine Maroulis, I was hoping he would win and then he was eliminated which was a huge shock. It is interesting that Clay is listed as one of the most successful. I know he has a wonderful fan base supporting him and of course he barely lost to Reuben. Isn't Jennifer Hudson also one of the most successfuly with her Oscar and Grammy?

Thanks for writing this -- very interesting.

Anonymous said...

Cool Idol trivia. Thanks for this. I really enjoyed it.

I guess everyone defines "success" differently, but success here is obviously defined by how many CDs are sold. I simply don't agree that this is the only measure. It only shows how many people were suckered into buying CDs by the Idol Machine, who for the most part manufactured their overnight "success". As well as getting people involved in a frenzy by making it a competition. Without this exposure, most of these winners would still be doing their day job. Let's see where these folks are 5 years from now and then measure their success or not.

The only measure of success that really matters would be in the heart of the individual who is trying to have a career. Each person has different aspriations - from a modest career doing what they love over a long period of time, to superstardom. It's a personal thing. I think we put way too much emphasis on the superficial measures of "celebrity".

The winner of this show is decided based solely on the demographic of each fanbase, and how obsessed those people are with texting and voting. As seen this season, even with David Cook still in the game, the best SINGERS have already left the competition. The entire premise of the show, that being to find the best singer, is flawed by the voting system. All they are really looking for is who can make them the most short term money.

Some of the multi-talented contestants could (and already have) easily "make it" doing something other than being a recording and touring artist. I wish those personal successes could be embraced as well by the general public.

sleepingbeauty37 said...

Wow, thanks for the detailed and insightful comments guys :)

Yes, in this case, "success" is measured by amount of record sales, according to Wikipedia. I find it disturbing that in this case, Kellie Pickler is among the top 6 most successful Idols.