American Idol is perhaps the biggest singing competition in America these days, and it’s really not hard to see why. Broadcasted over Fox Network in the United States, it is aired internationally in more than 100 countries outside the United States such as; Canada, Mexico, the Philippines, Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, and India. And with viewer ratings ranging from 9.9 million viewers during the first season up to 37.7 million in the sixth season, this singing competition, which has also been dubbed as a reality show, is undoubtedly one of the most phenomenal programs to be broadcast on television.

In fact, American Idol has come to be regarded by many as an authoritative television executive, a force to be reckoned with, such that even rival television networks have come to rearrange their program schedules around American Idol in order to diminish their losses. Fox has even accordingly used American Idol to publicize and promote its other programs during its airing. Needless to say, American Idol is a major advertising hotspot for some of the biggest companies and products in the United States.

American Idol was created by British show business mogul, Simon Fuller, in 2002 and the main thrust of the show is to search for the best singer in the United States through a succession of singing contests. Contestants are filtered from literally hundreds of aspiring American Idol hopefuls across the United States. During the initial auditions, contestants are screened and chosen by four judges; recording producer Randy Jackson, Grammy award-winning pop songstress, Emmy award-winning choreographer and dancer Paula Abdul, music manager and mogul Simon Cowell. Recently added, was the multi-Grammy nominated songstress and composer Kara DioGuardi.

Judges decide the top 24 contestants who then face off in a series of weekly competitions, each with different themes. Examples of themes that have been used include disco, big band, Motown, Billboard hits, and even featured singing artists like Dolly Parton, Elton John, Billy Joel, The Beatles, Queen, Barry Manilow, Elvis Presley, Stevie Wonder, Neil Diamond, The BeeGees, Mariah Carey, Gloria Estefan, Rod Stewart, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Neil Sadaka. It is during this later stage of the show when the public vote is used to decide the top 12, eventually narrowing it down to the top 2 by voting a contestant out every week.

American Idol is hosted by Ryan Seacrest who used to host game shows for children. In the first season, he co-hosted the show with funnyman Brian Dunkleman.

First aired with little fanfare as a summer stand-in television show in 2002, American Idol has since developed and grown an immense fan base all through to its eighth season this year. Needless to say, the show has produced award-winning and popular singing artists, starting off with the winners of the first seven seasons, namely Kelly Clarkson, Fantasia Barrino, Ruben Studdard, Taylor Hicks, Jordin Sparks, Carrie Underwood, and David Cook. Noteworthy are also the runners-up of the first seven seasons, who are Justin Guarini, Blake Lewis, Clay Aiken, Diana DeGarmo, Katharine McPhee, Bo Bice, and David Archuleta.