Click here for American Idol: Season 1 Rewind
Season one of
American Idol arrived with little fanfare, it's series premiere garnering a pedestrian 10 million viewers. Once January of 2003 came along,
American Idol was a monumental hit, the season premiere pulling in a monster 27 million viewers.
American Idol was no one season wonder, and its second season solidified its place as television's number one show. It's conceivable that a sophomore slump for American Idol, if the talent wasn't there or if FOX tinkered too much with the formula, might have made audiences sour on the series. It's not as if the series was a slam dunk coming into the season. For one, the second season aired in the Spring as opposed to the first season's Summer run, and therefore competed against all the big prime-time shows for the first time. Fears were likely allayed once the premiere aired with those 27 million viewers, and it laid the ground work for the formula and format that Idol has used in each subsequent Idol season.
Format:
The format for season two of Idol was only slightly altered from the premiere season. The main difference being that, instead of narrowing the top 30 down to the top 10, season two went from a top 32 into a top 12. The top 32 were broken into four groups of 8, with two singers from each group advancing to the top 12. A wild card round brought back nine singers who didn't make the cut. After performing once more, each judge chose one contestant to move on to the top 12, plus an audience favorite.
Top 12:
#12 –
Vanessa Olivarez
#11 –
Charles Grigsby
#10/DQ'ed –
Corey Clark
#19 –
Julia DeMato
#8 – Rickey Smith
#7 – Kimberly Caldwell
#6 – Carmen Rasumussen
#5 -
Trenyce
#4 – Joshua Gracin
#3 – Kimberly Locke
#2 –
Clay Aiken
#1 –
Ruben Studdard
Notable Season 2 Contestants:
Josh Gracin:
Former Marine who's debut album placed three separate singles on the Billboard Country charts. That same album peaked at number two on the country charts.
Corey Clark:
A top 12 finalist and fame whore, who sued
Paula Abdul (we'll get to that in a second).
Kimberly Locke:
Locke has found great success on the Adult Contemporary charts since leaving Idol and has also worked as a plus-sized model. You may have seen her on VH-1's
Celebrity Fit Club.
Kimberly Caldwell:
The third place finisher recently released a self-titled album, though has worked as a television correspondent for various outlets since her time on Idol.
Clay Aiken:
The runner-up on Idol's second season ended up becoming the most successful singer from season 2. He's launched eight separate tours, sold nearly five million records worldwide and has tried his hand at acting, writing and philanthropy. Though often the butt of jokes, Aiken has a devoted fan base and should be considered another Idol success story.
Ruben Studdard:
The rotund soul singer didn't find a ton of success post-Idol. His first album did debut at number two on the Billboard charts and Ruben has been a recognizable member of the R&B community, but given his immense talent, his career is a bit of a disappointment.
Controversy:
Corey Clark:
Clark was dismissed from the show upon making the final 12, due to him not fully disclosing his criminal past. Two years later, neatly coinciding with the release of his debut album, Clark began asserting that he had an affair with Idol judge Paula Abdul during season 2 and that she gave him preferential treatment as a result. No evidence was found to support these claims and Clark's album flopped.
Dropped Votes:
The finale of season 2 of American Idol found Ruben Studdard winning by a mere 100,000 or so votes. The sheer volume of calls, it was determined, made it so millions of potential votes were not counted, calling the validity of the results into question. Though nothing could be done posthumously, FOX and Idol altered the voting system to where something like this could never happen again.
-Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image Courtesy of FOX)