American Idol (2002) (TV Show)

format_quote (on announcing the results)
Ryan Seacrest: Dim the lights... and here we go.

stars  David Cook holds the record for the most downloaded song from American Idol. His song "Time of My Life" has been downloaded more than 300,000 times.

stars  Season 5 was the first season to use an actual song (Daniel Powter's "Bad Day") for an eliminated contestant's montage. All the earlier seasons were instrumental.

stars  During the Atlanta tryouts of Season 3, a young woman named Kristen Powell, clad in a leotard and leg warmers, gave a tone-deaf and rhythm-less performance of "Flashdance", which the judges quickly rejected. Though Powell burst into tears and begged for the chance to be "synthesized" to look and sound like a star, it was revealed that she and LaMosa Rowell (her companion at the audition) were merely performing a stunt for a radio broadcast (which included an obscenity-laced tirade by Rowell, complete with angry posturings at the camera). LaMosa and Kristen were interns for the MJ Morning Show, a radio morning show based on 93.3 WFLZ-FM in Tampa, Florida. The show is also heard in Jacksonville, FL (on 97.9 Kiss FM) and St. Louis, MO (on Z107.7 FM). MJ's other American Idol activities included an "American Idiot" competition in which people submitted video tapes of themselves doing foolish things to compete for cash prizes.

stars  Jordin Sparks is the youngest contestant to win on the show. Taylor Hicks is the oldest contestant to win.

stars  Kelly Clarkson and Kris Allen are the only winners to not have their entire audition shown on television - while Kris had a clip of his shown, Kelly's was not shown at all.