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* Result show - "[[Let Freedom Ring (song)|Let Freedom Ring]]" <small>(with Barry Manilow)</small>
* Result show - "[[Let Freedom Ring (song)|Let Freedom Ring]]" <small>(with Barry Manilow)</small>


'''Bottom 3: Jennifer Hudson, La Toya London and Fantasia Barrino'''
'''Bottom 3: Penis, La Toya London and Fantasia Barrino'''


'''Bottom 2: Jennifer Hudson and Fantasia Barrino'''
'''Bottom 2: Penis and Fantasia Barrino'''


'''''Eliminated: Jennifer Hudson'''''
'''''Eliminated: Penis'''''


===Top 6 (Gloria Estefan)===
===Top 6 (Gloria Estefan)===

Revision as of 01:26, 20 May 2009

American Idol season 3
Created bySimon Fuller
Directed byBruce Gowers
StarringRyan Seacrest
Paula Abdul
Simon Cowell
Randy Jackson
Country of originUnited States
No. of episodes43
Production
Executive producersNigel Lythgoe
Ken Warwick
Simon Fuller
Running timeVaries
Original release
NetworkFOX, CTV
ReleaseJanuary 19 –
May 26, 2004

The third season of American Idol premiered on January 19, 2004 and continued until May 26, 2004. The third season was won by Fantasia Barrino, who defeated Diana DeGarmo by an approximate margin of 2% (1.3 million votes); the vote total (65 million votes) was the highest recorded vote total in the show's history until the May 23, 2007 finale of American Idol 6. This season also featured Academy Award-winner Jennifer Hudson.

The third season is the first season where both the winner and the runner-up ended up in the bottom 2 or 3 prior to the finale, being followed by season 8. It is the first season to have a finale with two female contestants, while the second and seventh seasons had a finale with two male contestants. It is also the first season where a Wild Card contestant is eliminated in the first episode of the finals, who is Leah LaBelle, with Jasmine Murray following suit in season 8. It is the first season to have a gender imbalance among the finalists, followed by season 8, each having eight finalists of the dominant gender. Season 3 has eight female finalists, whereas season 8 has eight male finalists.

Auditions

Auditions were held in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, Atlanta, and Honolulu.

The early part of the season became well-known for the introduction of William Hung, a University of California, Berkeley student, who became popular following his rendition of Ricky Martin's "She Bangs". His performance as well as his attitude facing judge Simon Cowell's criticisms (which was a stark contrast to other contestants' confrontational, angry reactions) made him instantly popular, and landed him a record deal with Koch Records.[1]

During the audition round in Houston, Texas, auditioner Jonathan Rey threw a cup of water at Simon, who moments earlier commented that he was terrible and "there's not a song in the world you could sing." Security quickly escorted Jonathan out, and Houston police questioned him, but released him after Simon decided against pressing assault charges on him. The entire incident was caught on tape and was broadcast.

Hollywood rounds contestant Taryn Southern later appeared on the Project My World series and wrote and performed the 2007 "Hott4Hill" viral video.

Semi-finals

American Idol Season 3 Winner
Birthname Fantasia Monique Barrino
Years as winner May 26, 2004 - May 25, 2005
Genres Contemporary R&B, Soul
Successor Carrie Underwood
Predecessor Ruben Studdard

This is the first time that two contestants who previously tried out for American Idol (Matthew Metzger and Lisa Leuschner) made it to the top 3 of their semifinals group. Both contestants were eliminated during Hollywood round in the previous season.

Matthew Metzger, a semi-finalist who competed in the Wild Card episode, played the part of Demarest "Duke" Buchanan on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live from August 2004 to May 2006.

Lisa Wilson, a semi-finalist on American Idol, later became Miss Georgia USA 2006.

Top Twelve

American Idol 3 Scoreboard

Semi-final Group 1

Top 3: Fantasia Barrino, Diana DeGarmo and Matthew Metzger

Advancing to the Top 12: Fantasia Barrino and Diana DeGarmo

Semi-final Group 2

Top 3: Lisa Leuschner, Camile Velasco and Matthew Rogers

Advancing to the Top 12: Camile Velasco and Matthew Rogers

Semi-final Group 3

Top 3: La Toya London, Amy Adams and Jon Peter Lewis

Advancing to the Top 12: La Toya London and Amy Adams

Semi-final Group 4

Top 3: George Huff, Jasmine Trias and John Stevens

Advancing to the Top 12: John Stevens and Jasmine Trias

Wild Card

Eliminated before the show: Lisa Leuschner, Marque Lynche, Tiara Purifoy and Eric Yoder

Advancing to the Top 12: Jennifer Hudson (Randy's choice), Leah LaBelle (Paula's choice), George Huff (Simon's choice), Jon Peter Lewis (Public vote)

Top 12 (Soul)

Bottom 3: Leah LaBelle, Jennifer Hudson and Amy Adams

Bottom 2: Leah LaBelle and Jennifer Hudson

Eliminated: Leah LaBelle

Top 11 (Country)

Bottom 3: Matt Rogers, Camile Velasco and Diana DeGarmo

Bottom 2: Matt Rogers and Camile Velasco

Eliminated: Matt Rogers

Top 10 (Motown)

Bottom 3: Amy Adams, Jennifer Hudson and La Toya London

Bottom 2: Amy Adams and Jennifer Hudson

Eliminated: Amy Adams

Top 9 (Elton John)

Top voted: Jennifer Hudson

Bottom 3: Camile Velasco, Diana DeGarmo and Jasmine Trias

Bottom 2: Camile Velasco and Jasmine Trias

Eliminated: Camile Velasco

Top 8 (Movie Soundtracks)

Bottom 3: Jon Peter Lewis, John Stevens and Diana DeGarmo

Bottom 2: Jon Peter Lewis and John Stevens

Eliminated: Jon Peter Lewis

Top 7 (Barry Manilow)

Bottom 3: Penis, La Toya London and Fantasia Barrino

Bottom 2: Penis and Fantasia Barrino

Eliminated: Penis

Top 6 (Gloria Estefan)

  • Result show - Gloria Estefan medley

Bottom 3: John Stevens, Jasmine Trias and George Huff

Bottom 2: John Stevens and George Huff

Eliminated: John Stevens

Top 5 (Big Band)

Bottom 2: George Huff and Jasmine Trias

Eliminated: George Huff

Top 4 (Disco)

  • Result show - Donna Summer medley

Bottom 2: Fantasia Barrino and La Toya London

Eliminated: La Toya London

Top 3 (Idols' Choice, Judges' Choice, Clive's Choice)

Eliminated: Jasmine Trias

Top 2 (Finale)

Winner: Fantasia Barrino

Runner-Up: Diana DeGarmo

Finals

After a nationwide vote of more than 65 million votes in total--more than the first two seasons combined--Fantasia Barrino won the "American Idol" title beating out Diana DeGarmo. The third season was also shown in Australia on Network Ten about half a week after episodes were shown in the US. Leah LaBelle is the first contestant to advance to the finals via Wild Card then get eliminated in the first week of the finals.

As a nod to the "Did Clay see the card?" controversy in AI2, Ryan Seacrest was instructed to memorize the winner's name and the vote margin and was given a blank card to hold while reporting the results. However, in a post-show interview with USA Today, Diana DeGarmo admitted that she had figured out that she had not won when the contestants were going over the schedule for the finale and she saw she would be singing "I Believe" (the winner's single) before the results were announced. Realizing that she would not be scheduled to sing a song she would have to sing again minutes later if she were announced as the winner, she correctly deduced that she had lost and Fantasia had won.

At the time of the finale many celebrities voiced their support for Fantasia: Frankie Muniz, Sharon Osbourne, Ray Romano, Amy Yasbeck, Nicole Kidman, Lori Loughlin, Patti LaBelle, Andy Richter, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Holly Robinson Peete, Giuliana Rancic, Toni Braxton, Ben Stiller, Redman (TV Guide), Method Man (TV Guide) Richard Schiff, Kate Hudson (On the Tonight Show), Lea Thompson and Mo'Nique.

Henry Winkler said "You've got incredible judges, Simon speaks the truth, I always agree with him. And Ryan is really good at what he does, but Fantasia," he smiles, "there's something in her that is bigger than anything. We voted for her about 250 times!"

Kelly Clarkson is quoted in the June 14th, 2004 People Magazine as saying she voted for Fantasia: "I just hit redial, redial."

Prior to the results show, the governors of Georgia and North Carolina -- the home states of DeGarmo and Barrino respectively -- announced a friendly bet between them over which state's resident would prevail, each wagering a VIP NASCAR ticket package and a shipment of his state's signature fruit. The bet participants were Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue, a Republican, and North Carolina Governor Mike Easley, a Democrat.[2]

Elimination chart

Legend
Did Not Perform Top 32 Wild Card Top 12
Stage: Semi-Finals WC Finals
Week: 2/11 2/18 2/25 3/3 3/10 3/17 3/24 3/31 4/7 4/15* 4/21 4/28 5/5 5/12 5/19 5/26
Place Contestant Result
1 Fantasia Barrino 1st Btm 2 Btm 2 Winner
2 Diana DeGarmo 2nd Btm 3 Btm 3 Btm 3 Runner-Up
3 Jasmine Trias 2nd Btm 2 Btm 3 Btm 2 Elim
4 La Toya London 1st Btm 3 Btm 3 Elim
5 George Huff Elim Top 12 Btm 2 Elim
6 John Stevens 1st Btm 2 Elim
7 Jennifer Hudson Elim Top 12 Btm 2 Btm 2 Elim
8 Jon Peter Lewis Elim Top 12 Elim
9 Camile Velasco 1st Btm 2 Elim
10 Amy Adams 2nd Btm 3 Elim
11 Matthew Rogers 2nd Elim
12 Leah Labelle Elim Top 12 Elim
Wild
Card 		Elizabeth LeTendre Elim Elim
Matthew Metzger Elim
Suzy Vulaca Elim
Katie Webber Elim
Semi-
Final
4 		Heather Piccinni Elim
John Preator
Tiara Purifoy
Lisa Wilson
Semi-
Final
3 		Charly Lowry Elim
Jonah Moananu
Eric Yoder
Semi-
Final
2 		Marisa Joy Elim
Lisa Leuschner
Kara Master
Briana Ramirez-Rial
Jesus Roman
Noel Roman
Semi-
Final
1 		Marque Lynche Elim
Ashley Thomas
Erskine Walcott

Paul Anka made an appearance in the Season Finale.

* During the week of April 15, the week got delayed for White House press conference on Tuesday, April 13, 2004. The performance show was moved to Wednesday, April 14. Jon Peter Lewis was sent home on Thursday, April 15.

Releases

Major releases

Minor or independent releases

(This list does not include pre-Idol releases)

  • Love, Lipstick and Poetry (Kiira Bivens)
  • Love, Lana (Lana Phillips)
  • Sing Me Home (Lisa Leuschner)
  • Str8up Band (Dina Lopez)
  • I'll Be Seeing You (John Preator)
  • This Is Next Time (Alan Ritchson)
  • Sun Shiney Day (Lisa Wilson)
  • "If I Go Away" / "Man Like Me" (single) (Jon Peter Lewis)
  • Just Like Magic (Donnie Williams)
  • Reality (Lisa Leuschner)

Sources: Idolsmusic.com, CD Baby

Controversy

Viewers raised many complaints when, during the semifinals Wild Card round, four of the contestants were inexplicably eliminated on the spot without having had the chance to sing and compete first, leaving only eight out of twelve contestants eligible for selection.

Both Jennifer Hudson and La Toya London, part of final twelve, were eliminated, despite high praises from the judges. After Hudson was eliminated; Sir Elton John, who was a guest judge for that season criticized the vote as 'incredibly racist' in a press conference.[3]

The elimination of both Hudson and London relatively early in the competition has been pointed out as a classic demonstration of vote-splitting in the American Idol vote, in which the presence of similar choices reduces the votes for each of the similar choices. Hudson, London and Barrino (who would eventually go on to win the competition) were female, African-American, highly praised singers — all appealing to the same demographic bloc of voters. All three of these previously popular singers ended up in the "bottom three" the night Hudson was eliminated — the three having the lowest individual vote counts.[4]

Post-Idol career highlights

  • Many other contestants in this season went on and performed in musicals, both on Broadway and elsewhere. La Toya London was in the Chicago cast of The Color Purple, which is about to begin a national tour. Diana DeGarmo has starred as Penny Pingleton in the musical Hairspray and Brooklyn in Brooklyn the Musical. Katie Webber is currently playing the Witch's Mother in the New York production of Wicked. Fantasia played Celie in the Broadway version of The Color Purple, originated by Tony Award-winning actress LaChanze, and is set to reprise the role in the 2010 film version.
  • Jennifer Hudson won an Oscar, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, and a SAG Award for her role as Effie White in the 2006 movie "Dreamgirls." Her debut album, "Jennifer Hudson," was nominated for four Grammy Awards, winning in the category Best R&B Album.

References

  1. ^ Go, Jesamyn., He's a loser, baby, MSNBC.com, 2004-02-24, Retrieved on 2007-03-02.
  2. ^ San Diego Union-Tribune: Governors place bets on 'American Idol' winner, May 25, 2004
  3. ^ Elton John Says 'American Idol' Vote Is 'Racist', Reuters via Yahoo.com, 2004-04-28, Retrieved on 2007-03-02.
  4. ^ American Idol voting, Votefair.org, Retrieved on 2007-03-02.
Preceded by American Idol
Season 3 (2004) 		Succeeded by
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