American Idol season 11
The eleventh season of American Idol premiered on Fox on January 18, 2012, and concluded on May 23, 2012. Ryan Seacrest returned as host, while Randy Jackson, Jennifer Lopez, and Steven Tyler all returned as judges. Interscope Records chairman Jimmy Iovine, a songwriter and producer, also returned as an in-house mentor to work with the contestants on a weekly basis. The season followed the same format as the tenth season. Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler both announced that they would be leaving the show two months after the finale, although Lopez later returned as a judge for the show's thirteenth season.
The season set a record when 132 million votes were received for the finale. On May 23, 2012, Phillip Phillips became the winner of the eleventh season of American Idol, beating Jessica Sanchez, who was the runner-up.
Changes from previous seasons
This season, long-time vocal coach Debra Byrd was replaced by Jimmy Iovine's own team. Additionally, fashion designers Tommy Hilfiger and Soyon An worked as image advisers for the top 13 finalists.Regional auditions
Auditions took place in the following cities:The audition in East Rutherford, New Jersey, was a late addition to the schedule. The audition was held, although the attendance was reportedly low. However, the audition episode was not shown. Contestants known to have auditioned in East Rutherford were listed as having auditioned elsewhere on the official American Idol website. For example, Alex Wong, who auditioned in East Rutherford, had San Diego listed as his audition city on the official website.
Hollywood week
The Hollywood rounds were held at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium beginning on December 12, 2011. The 309 contestants performed solo for the first round, and 185 made the cut. Amongst those sent home included Jim Carrey's daughter, Jane Carrey. The second round involved group performances, and a number of contestants became ill and collapsed in the auditorium. 98 contestants moved on to the third and final round: solo performances accompanied by a band or an instrument. The contestants were then separated into four rooms, where one room of 28 contestants were all eliminated, while the 70 contestants in the other three rooms advanced to the Las Vegas round.In Las Vegas, the contestants performed traditional 1950s songs in groups with Elvis Presley's "Viva, Elvis!" show as the backdrop. 28 of the 70 contestants were eliminated. Next came a solo round accompanied by an instrument at the stage for Le Rêve at the Wynn Las Vegas. After the 42 remaining contestants sang their last solo, they were summoned one-by-one to appear before the judges. Twelve men and twelve women were initially announced as the semifinalists; however, the judges announced that one of four men eliminated would be reinstated into the competition as a surprise thirteenth male, rendering it a Top 25 this season. Ultimately, Jones was selected, and revealed at the end of the males' semifinals show for his performance.
Semifinals
The semifinals began on February 28. The males and females competed on back-to-back nights, and the top five from each group, along with the judges' three Wild Card choices, advanced to the finals.Color key:
Top 25
Contestants are listed in the order they performed.Wild Card roundAfter ten singers advanced on Thursday, March 1, six of the remaining semifinalists were selected by the judges to compete in the Wild Card round. The judges selected three contestants to advance to the final group of 13. Contestants are listed in the order they performed.
Top 13 finalists
Color key: Top 13 – Whitney Houston & Stevie Wonderserved as a guest mentor this week. This week, all of the ladies performed one song from the Whitney Houston discography and all of the men performed one song from the Stevie Wonder discography. In a twist, the bottom three from each group were announced the next night. The man and the woman who each received the fewest votes faced the judges, who had to decide which contestant would be saved and which would be eliminated. Contestants are listed in the order they performed.
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