American Idol season 1
The first season of American Idol premiered on June 11, 2002, over four months after Pop Idol's first series ended, with Will Young winning the series, and continued until September 4, 2002. The first season was co-hosted by Ryan Seacrest and Brian Dunkleman, the latter of whom left the show after the season ended. Paula Abdul, Simon Cowell, and Randy Jackson served as judges. Kelly Clarkson won the competition, defeating Justin Guarini, who finished in second place.
Kelly Clarkson signed with RCA Records, the label in partnership with American Idol's 19 Recordings. Immediately after the finale, Clarkson released two singles, including her coronation song, "A Moment Like This," which went on to break a thirty-eight-year-old record held by The Beatles for a song's biggest leap to number one on the Billboard Hot 100. It jumped up from number fifty-two to number one in just one week. Clarkson has enjoyed a successful recording and talk show hosting career since winning, with multiple platinum albums, numerous top-ten hit singles, three Grammy Awards, and eight Emmy Awards. Runner-up Justin Guarini also signed with RCA Records, eventually debuting an album in 2003 after the conclusion of the second season. In addition to Clarkson and Guarini, Nikki McKibbin, Tamyra Gray, R. J. Helton, and Christina Christian also signed recording contracts.
After the finale, a special show in Las Vegas was also shown on September 23, 2002, where all 30 of the contestants who made the judges' initial cut performed in a two-hour concert.
Regional auditions
Auditions were held in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Miami, Atlanta, and Seattle in the spring of 2002, and around 10,000 attended the auditions. Auditions were shown in the episode which aired originally on June 11, 2002.Kelly Clarkson was notable for being largely absent in the audition episode, and she remains the only winner whose audition was not aired in the original broadcast. The other top ten finalists whose auditions were not shown were Nikki McKibbin and EJay Day.
Structure of auditions
There were usually three stages in the audition process every season. The first stage was the advertised open call audition, where those auditioning each sing briefly in groups of five in front of selectors, though some may be asked to sing further. Most of those who attended are eliminated at this stage with only a limited number of auditions selected to proceed further. In the second round, they sing in front the executive producers and more are eliminated. In the last round, those who survived the first two stages are invited to sing in front of the judges, and this is the audition shown on television. Those who receive at least two "yes" votes from the three judges then receive a golden ticket to Hollywood.In the first season, the second and third stage of the audition may take place within a single day, but in the following seasons each stage of the audition may take place on separate days. The initial audition venue may not necessarily be the final audition venue in front of the judges, and in later seasons, up to three separate venues may be used for the auditions in each city. In the early seasons, the entire audition process in each city took place within a relatively short span of time, but became progressively extended in later seasons such that the callback date may be many weeks after the initial auditions.
Hollywood week
The Hollywood week rounds were held in the Pasadena Civic Center, where 121 contestants competed for a place in the finals. The contestants first came onto the stage in groups of nine or ten, but performed solo unaccompanied, and those who did not impress the judges were cut after the group finished their individual performances. The 65 singers who were selected to proceed on to the next round were then separated by gender and given a crash course to learn their next song overnight, which they were expected to perform the next day in small groups. The ladies' song was Dionne Warwick's "I Say a Little Prayer" and the men's song was Stevie Wonder's "For Once in My Life". Again, those who failed to impress were cut immediately after their performance.In the final round, the remaining 45 were given new songs to learn and each performed solo and a cappella. The top 15 were first announced, and then the judges selected 15 more out of the remaining 30.
Delano Cagnolatti was initially amongst those announced as the Top 30, but he was later disqualified for falsifying his age, and became the first person to be disqualified on American Idol. He was replaced by EJay Day.
Semifinals
These 30 contestants reached the semifinals stage of the season. Before their performances, contestants took part in intensive music workshops, where they were given vocal coaching by Debra Byrd and advice by stylists. The contestants each emerged to perform solo with piano accompaniment. There was no studio audience at this stage and the performances were pre-taped. The audiences voted after each round of performances, and the results of the votes were announced the next day. A total of 3.3 million votes were cast in the first week of voting. From each group, three contestants advanced to the next round based on votes by the viewers.Color key:
Contestants are listed in the order they performed.
Group 1 (June 19)
Group 2 (June 26)
Group 3 (July 3)
Wild Card round (July 10)
Five of the remaining 21 semifinalists were selected by the judges to compete in the Wild Card round. Following another performance by each Wild Card contender, the judges selected one contestant to advance to the final group of ten. Contestants are listed in the order they performed.| Contestant | Song | Result |
| Kelli Glover | "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You" | Eliminated |
| Christopher Aaron | "On Bended Knee" | Eliminated |
| Alexis Lopez | "Saving All My Love for You" | Eliminated |
| R.J. Helton | "Lately" | Saved by the judges |
| Angela Peel | "As We Lay" | Eliminated |
Top 10 finalists
- Kelly Clarkson was from Burleson, Texas, and auditioned in Dallas with Etta James' "At Last" and Madonna's "Express Yourself." She performed Aretha Franklin's "Respect" and Vanessa Williams' "Save the Best for Last" in Hollywood.
- Justin Guarini was from Doylestown, Pennsylvania, and auditioned in New York City with The Jackson 5's version of "Who's Lovin' You." He performed Oleta Adams' version of "Get Here" in Hollywood.
- Nikki McKibbin auditioned in Dallas with Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" and Whitney Houston's "One Moment in Time." She performed The Righteous Brothers' "Unchained Melody" in Hollywood.
- Tamyra Gray was from Atlanta, Georgia, and auditioned there with Mariah Carey's "Vision of Love." She performed Oleta Adams' "Get Here" in Hollywood.
- R. J. Helton was from Cumming, Georgia, and auditioned in Atlanta with The Jackson 5's "Never Can Say Goodbye."
- Christina Christian auditioned in Miami with Stevie Wonder's "Isn't She Lovely." She performed Diana Ross' "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" in Hollywood.
- Ryan Starr auditioned in Los Angeles with Bill Withers' "Lean on Me." She performed Bill Withers' "Ain't No Sunshine" in Hollywood.
- AJ Gil was from Tacoma, Washington, and auditioned in Seattle with "The Star-Spangled Banner."
- Jim Verraros was from Crystal Lake, Illinois, and auditioned in Chicago with Nat King Cole's "When I Fall in Love." He performed Diana Ross' "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" in Hollywood.
- EJay Day did not originally qualify for the semifinals, but was later chosen to replace disqualified contestant Delano Cagnolatti. He auditioned in Atlanta with Oleta Adams' "Get Here."
Finals
The results of public vote were revealed on the results show, which aired the next night. The two or three contestants who received the fewest number of votes were announced. The contestant who received the fewest votes was eliminated from the competition.
This season largely set the pattern for later seasons, such as group performances by the contestants during the result shows, hometown visits for the top three, and performing the songs for the top two that would be released immediately after the finale. In this season, there were no guest mentors aside from Burt Bacharach, who helped the contestants prepare their songs.
Kelly Clarkson was declared the winner over Justin Guarini with Kelly receiving 58% of the 15.5 million votes cast. Over 110 million votes were cast over the course of the entire season.
A television special from Las Vegas, Nevada, starring the top thirty-two finalists aired in September 23, 2002, a thirty-date tour with the top ten followed, as did the box office bomb From Justin to Kelly.
Color key:
Top 10 – Motown (July 16)
This week featured a double elimination. Contestants are listed in the order they performed.| Contestant | Motown song | Result |
| Ryan Starr | "If You Really Love Me" | Safe |
| R.J. Helton | "I Can't Help Myself " | Safe |
| Nikki McKibbin | "Ben" | Bottom three |
| EJay Day | "My Girl" | Eliminated |
| Tamyra Gray | "Touch Me in the Morning" | Safe |
| Justin Guarini | "For Once in My Life" | Safe |
| Jim Verraros | "Easy" | Eliminated |
| Kelly Clarkson | "You're All I Need to Get By" | Safe |
| AJ Gil | "My Cherie Amour" | Safe |
| Christina Christian | "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" | Safe |