American Idol (season 4)

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The fourth season of American Idol premiered on January 18, 2005 and continued until May 25, 2005. It was hosted by Ryan Seacrest. Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell also returned to judge. It was won by Carrie Underwood.

Contents 1 Auditions 2 Eliminated Contestants 2.1 Early auditions 2.2 Hollywood Round One 2.3 Hollywood Round Two 2.4 Hollywood Round Three 2.4.1 Resigned 2.5 Final Cutdown 3 Semi-finals 3.1 Women Eliminated 3.2 Men Eliminated 4 Top 12 Finalists 4.1 Theme weeks 4.2 Performances on results shows 4.3 Finale 5 Semi-Finals/Finals Elimination Chart 6 Releases 6.1 Compilations 6.2 Major releases 6.3 Minor or independent releases 7 Dialidol 8 Controversy 9 External links

[edit] Auditions

American Idol Season 4 Winner
Birthname	Carrie Marie Underwood
Years as winner	May 25, 2005 - May 24, 2006
Genres	Country Pop
Succeded by	Taylor Hicks
Predecessor	Fantasia Barrino

Auditions were held in Washington, DC, St. Louis, Missouri, New Orleans, Louisiana, Las Vegas, Nevada, Cleveland, Ohio, Orlando, Florida and San Francisco, California. There was originally supposed to be an audition held in Anchorage, Alaska, but that was changed about a month before so they could go to Orlando, Florida. Auditions were held from August to October 2004. While in the past seasons celebrity guest judges have been invited to participate during the competition, this was the first season where guest judges were invited to participate in the auditions. The music celebrities featured were:

• January 18, Mark McGrath of Sugar Ray
• January 25, Gene Simmons of KISS
• January 26, Kenny Loggins
• February 1, LL Cool J
• February 2, Brandy

It is also the first season in which the age limit was raised to 28, in order to increase variety. Among those who benefitted from this new rule were Constantine Maroulis and Bo Bice, considered to be the eldest (and most experienced) of Idol contestants. They were also constantly mentioned by Ryan Seacrest and in the media as "the two rockers", since their long hair and choice of songs made them stand out from conventional Idol standards.

[edit] Eliminated Contestants

[edit] Early auditions

• The most notable contestant in the early episodes was Mary Roach, who auditioned in Washington D.C. Her rendition of Carole King's "I Feel The Earth Move", as well as her comments to the judges that followed her audition, brought considerable negative attention (including false rumors of mental illness) and comparisons to William Hung. Mary later admitted on her website that she was playing it up and acting out a character in order to get as much television exposure as possible. She specifies that, among other things, she joked after receiving the turn-down from the idol judges, and only launched into her second song (which was her own composition) after much prodding from American Idol employees. Additionally, she pointed to one point in that song at which she almost broke into laughter; it is indeed visible, at the line "You said we weren't right/You insisted we were wrong." Mary was considered an eccentric artist in high school, though she left public school in 9th grade and finished the high school program at the age of sixteen, so any rumors of going to high school with Mary Roach are most likely ficticious or outdated. She performs stand-up comedy and acts in plays whenever possible and is working on two movie scripts. Mary also communicates through her page on MySpace.

• Also noted was Leroy Wells from Grand Bay, Alabama who auditioned in New Orleans singing Ol' Dirty Bastard's "Got Your Money". He acquired mild fame by repeatedly yelling, "Can you dig it?" to the judges and for the inability of the judges to fully understand him. Wells did not seem to audition for the sake of singing, but to entertain the masses with his sense of humor, to appear on television, and to go to Hollywood. His English was incomprehensible, leading to repeated requests by the judges to slow down and explain his intentions. An extended audition of Leroy Wells is also available on The Worst of American Idol DVD, in which he improvised "I Feel Good". Leroy was incarcerated at the time the episode aired, but was allowed to watch the show.

• Joseph Land auditioned in Las Vegas and claimed that he was 28 years old, the maximum age allowed for the competition. All the judges, however, were skeptical of Land's claim, because he appeared to be much older than 28. The Chyron graphics displaying his stats even showed his age as "28" (including the quote marks). After his audition received unanimous negative feedback from the judges, Land finally admitted to being 44 years old.

• The Maynard triplets – Mandy, Missy and Erin Maynard were also noted for their televised audition. They were 18 years old and auditioned in St. Louis. Maynard Triplets official website

• Comedian Chris Wylde aka Christopher Noll auditioned as a rapping nanny. Many fans of the show recognized Wylde from his various television appearances, but the show itself never indicated that Wylde was anything other than a serious audition. This led to widespread speculation on newsgroups and forums devoted to the show that the audition process, and in particular the really bad auditions, were largely staged. Wylde's audition was also included on The Worst of American Idol DVD, again with no acknowledgement that the audition was a prank.

[edit] Hollywood Round One

A total of 193 contestants made it to Hollywood. 96 were cut at this point, a few of which include:

• Regina Brooks was noted for selling an expensive engagement ring in order to afford the airfare to fly to the audition.
• Briana Davis, who stood out with her blue hair and gothic looks, performed the theme of the Phantom of the Opera in an operatic soprano in her first audition.
• Jeff Johnson
• Rich Molfetta auditioned with his twin brother, J.P. J.P. did not make the Hollywood round.
• Emily Neves first performed Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Want to Have Fun", and was commented by the judges for being highly energetic. She had to sing a second song, "Different Drum" before getting the green light to Hollywood.
• Patrick Norman
• Francisco Torres

[edit] Hollywood Round Two

97 contestants remained at this point, where the contestants were put into groups. 22 were cut, including:

• Lamar Jefferson
• Aaron Kelly was one of the boys portrayed as a rocker in his group.
• Nicholas Kolbosky
• Elizabeth Pha (nee Chandara) wore a fishnet tube dress for her initial audition. The judges disliked Pha's outfit, but not her voice. During the second Hollywood round, Pha claimed that her groupmates ostracized her. The groupmates countered that Pha refused to learn her part and was generally uncooperative. During the group performances, Pha did not sing her assigned lyrics during her turn, but merely harmonized with the music instead. All three judges expressed great disappointment with her performance. After she was cut, Pha cried to the camera that the whole experience had been unfair. She has since released an independent album. Official site

[edit] Hollywood Round Three

75 contestants remained at this point (including Marlea Stroman who left the competition, see below). 30 were cut, including:

• Larry Ellis
• Sharon Galvez was known as a cocktail waitress who had plenty of experience in the clubs in Las Vegas.
• Angel Higgs was a music teacher from Knoxville, Tennessee.
• Aa'Shia Jackson was a 16-year-old rapper who performed an original composition for her initial audition.
• Rashida Johnson lost her voice early in the Hollywood round and struggled with it; but managed to perservere.
• Michael Liuzza
• Sean McNeill
• Dezmond Meeks was known for his acrobatic moves in the audition and split the judges. He sang "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)". Dezmond Meeks was much supported in the early rounds of the competition by Paula Abdul, whose support subsequently wavered.
• Kurtis Parks
• Jennifer Todd
• Shunta Warthen was shown having got on the wrong bus when the 193 Hollywood contestants split up on the first day in Hollywood; she had to find her own way back.
• Ross Williams became well known as one of several crooners in Season 4.
• Carrie Zaruba was one of the group members at odds with Elizabeth Pha in the previous round.

[edit] Resigned

• Marlea Stroman was the first contestant to voluntarily drop out of the Hollywood round, because of the ill-health of her young son.

[edit] Final Cutdown

New for this season, the final cuts were taken several weeks after the Hollywood rounds, cutting 44 down to 24 without benefit of any new performances from the competitors. Those cut then include:

• J.R. Aquino
• Jaclyn Crum, at 16, was the youngest contestant to make it to Hollywood, and had to deal with her mother being sent to the hospital midway through the Hollywood round for a severe case of food poisoning. She was the last contestant to be eliminated in Hollywood before Amanda Avila (who got the last spot in the top 24).
• Erin Furey
• Ivan Ganchev
• Faith Gatewood
• Nathan Herron
• Kim Holloway
• Jamar Jefferson
• Matthew Kester
• Jamie Paul Koehler
• Rachel Leslie
• Gina McFadden
• Yolanda McIntosh
• Tammy Nash
• Warren Nolan
• John Zisa, whose father was the mayor of Hackensack, New Jersey.

[edit] Semi-finals

Because of the highly unbalanced finals in Season 3 where female contestants took a clear supermajority (8 to 4) of the Final 12, rules were changed to prevent a similar incident from happening again.

This season also implemented new rules for the final portion of the contest. Instead of competing in semifinal heats in which the top vote-getters are promoted to the final round, 24 semifinalists were named -- 12 men and 12 women, who competed separately, with 2 of each gender being voted off each week until 12 finalists were left.

The semi-finalists who were eliminated:

[edit] Women Eliminated

Haley Amanda Avila (69458) (born June 18, 1981) was 24 years old when she auditioned in Las Vegas, Nevada, which is also her hometown. Before Idol, she graduated from a performing arts high school. She was voted off on March 9, 2005. Amanda is now a correspondent for the Fox Reality Channel's Reality Remix.

1. "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You" (Laura Branigan, 1983)
2. "Turn the Beat Around" (Vicki Sue Robinson/Gloria Estefan)
3. "River Deep, Mountain High" (Tina Turner) - Eliminated 3/9/05

Janay Castine (50687) was 16 years old when she auditioned in New Orleans, Louisiana. She is from Lawrenceville, Georgia. She was voted off on March 9, 2005.

1. "I Wanna Love You Forever" (Jessica Simpson)
2. "Hit 'Em Up Style (Oops!)" (Blu Cantrell)
3. "Dreaming of You" (Selena) - Eliminated 3/9/05

Aloha Mischeaux (15368) was 18 years old when she auditioned in St. Louis, Missouri, which is also her hometown. She wore a flower in her hair when performing and was known for her exuberant personality and gospel singing style. She was voted off on March 2, 2005.

1. "Work It Out" (Beyoncé Knowles)
2. "You Don't Know My Name" (Alicia Keys) - Eliminated 3/2/05

Celena Rae Batchelor (3231) was 28 years old when she auditioned in Cleveland, Ohio. She is from Fort Worth, Texas and plays piano and clarinet. She first started singing in elementary school. Her vocal coach was Linda Septien, whom she hired for one year before auditioning on the show. She was voted off on March 2, 2005. She now hosts the entertainment magazine "DFW10" on KTXA-TV in Dallas.

1. "I Will Love Again" (Lara Fabian)
2. "When the Lights Go Down" (Faith Hill) - Eliminated 3/2/05

Melinda Lira (91018) was 18 years old when she auditioned in San Francisco, California. She is from Hanford. She started singing when she was 5. She was the first to be voted off on February 23, 2005.

1. "The Power of Love" (Jennifer Rush/Celine Dion) - Eliminated 2/23/05

Sarah Mather (31018) (born June 23, 1982)was 22 years old when she auditioned in Washington, D.C. She is from Wilmington, North Carolina. She started singing when she was 5. She had a vocal coach for 5 months and was singing in bands/ensembles when she was 7. She writes in a journal. Because she seemed upset during the results show at the way she was informed, she had difficulty with her farewell performance. She was voted off on February 23, 2005.

Surprisingly, Mather appeared in Breaking Benjamin's video The Diary of Jane as Jane.

1. "Get Ready" (The Temptations) - Eliminated 2/23/05

[edit] Men Eliminated

Travis Tucker (25918) was 21 years old when he auditioned in Washington, D.C. He is from Manassas, Virginia and co-founded the a capella group at the University of Virginia. He was voted off on March 9, 2005. He is now a math teacher Freedom High School in Woodbridge, Virginia.

1. "My Cherie Amour" (Stevie Wonder)
2. "All Night Long (All Night)" (Lionel Richie)
3. "Every Little Step" (Bobby Brown) - Eliminated 3/9/05

Joseph Murena (73998) (born June 14, 1978) was 26 years old when he auditioned in Las Vegas, Nevada. He is from Smithtown, New York. He first started singing when he was 16, to record a song for his mother's birthday. He has acted in local theaters and studies jujitsu. He was hypnotized to overcome his stage fright. He was voted off on March 2, 2005.

1. "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You" (Laura Branigan/Michael Bolton)
2. "Let's Stay Together" (Al Green) - Eliminated 3/2/05

David Brown (50349) was 20 years old when he auditioned in New Orleans, Louisiana, his hometown. He started singing when he was 4 years old. He got professional training when he attended a performing arts school. He was voted off on March 2, 2005.

1. "Never Can Say Goodbye" (Gloria Gaynor)
2. "All In Love Is Fair" (Stevie Wonder) - Eliminated 3/2/05

Jared Yates (20068) (born June 28, 1986) was 18 years old when he auditioned in St. Louis, Missouri. He is from Fort Walton Beach, Florida and moved to Danville, Illinois. He started singing when he was 14 while playing with his aunt's karaoke machine. He lives on a farm. He used to work at a mortuary. His house burned down on January 2, 2005. He was voted off on February 23, 2005.

1. "How Could I" (Marc Anthony) - Eliminated 2/23/05

Judd Harris (51885) was 27 years old when he auditioned in New Orleans, Louisiana. He is from New York City. He studied singing in high school and college, particularly "speech level singing" a technique created by his vocal coach Seth Riggs. He also studied acting and dance. He plays piano, guitar and kazoo. He is a graduate of New York University. He was voted off on February 23, 2005.

1. "Travelin' Band" (Creedence Clearwater Revival) - Eliminated 2/23/05

Mario Vazquez (69200) was 26 years old when he auditioned in Las Vegas. He is from New York City. He was originally one of the top 12, but dropped out of the competition on March 11, just days before the top 12's first performance, citing "personal issues," opening a spot in the final 12 for Nikko Smith, who had been voted off in the semi-finals the previous week.

1. "Do I Do" (Stevie Wonder)
2. "I Love Music" (The O'Jays)
3. "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" (The Bee Gees/Al Green)

[edit] Top 12 Finalists

in reverse order of elimination

Carrie Underwood (14887) was born and raised in rural Checotah, Oklahoma, her parents own a farm ranch. She was 21 years old when she auditioned in St. Louis, Missouri. She was a senior at Northeastern State University and also plays piano. Was profiled on show as never leaving Oklahoma, but records show she had several local band gigs nationwide and a studio album.[1] She won a peacock feather hat. (unclear)

Bo Bice (40513) was 28 years old when he auditioned in Orlando, Florida. He is a veteran musician from Helena, Alabama. He was voted off on May 25, 2005 and was first runner-up

Vonzell Solomon (37828) was 20 years old when she auditioned in Orlando, Florida and worked at a post office as a mail carrier. She is from Fort Myers. She was voted off on May 18, 2005.

Anthony Fedorov (3674) was 19 years old when he auditioned in Cleveland, Ohio. He was a Bucks County Community College student. He is from Trevose, Pennsylvania. Widely known for his childhood health crisis. He was never trained professionally (vocally) and also stated in an interview that he plays piano; he "doesn't play professionally, but plays enough". His elimination is somewhat controversial due to the fact that his numbers were replaced with Carrie Underwood's on the performance night of his elimination. On the east coast the only correct number shown was the text voting one. Although FOX and the producers at 19 never mentioned or acknowledged this error, he was voted off one week after his 20th birthday on May 11.

Scott Savol (502) was 28 years old when he auditioned in his hometown, Cleveland. He was a mall security guard. He was voted off on May 4, 2005.

Constantine Maroulis (25483) was 28 years old when he auditioned in Washington, D.C. He is from New York City and attended the prestigious Boston Conservatory (as well as Berklee College of Music) in Boston, Massachusetts. He was the lead singer of the rock band Pray for the Soul of Betty and auditioned without telling his family and bandmates. He was voted off on April 27, 2005.

Anwar Robinson (29163) was 25 years old when he auditioned in Washington DC. He taught 8th grade music classes. He is from East Orange, New Jersey. He was voted off on April 20, 2005.

Nadia Turner (91272) was 27 years old when she auditioned in San Francisco, California. She is from Tampa, Florida. She started singing when she was 5. She was voted off on April 13, 2005.

Nikko Smith (13362) was 21 years old when he auditioned in St. Louis. His father is baseball legend Ozzie Smith. Was originally eliminated in the semi-finals at the final cut on March 9, but was called back into the competition after Mario Vazquez dropped out when Smith's vote totals was the higher of the two eliminated male contestants. He was voted off the finals on April 6.

Jessica Sierra (41368) was 18 years old when she auditioned in Orlando, Florida. She is from Tampa, Florida. She was a former Star Search contestant. She was voted off on March 30, 2005.

Mikalah Gordon (68116) was 16 years old when she auditioned in her hometown, Las Vegas, where she worked as a waitress for an oxygen bar. She was voted off on March 24, 2005.

Lindsey Cardinale (52808) was 19 years old when she auditioned in New Orleans. She was a radiology major in school. She was born in Hammond and raised in Ponchatoula. She was voted off on March 16, 2005.

For the May 18 show featuring the final three, a guest judge, legendary record producer Clive Davis was added. He chose the first song each performer would sing. Davis had produced some of these songs previously in his career. The second song was "performer's choice" and could be any song from any era. In an unprecedented move, Bo Bice performed his choice completely a cappella. For the third and final song of the night, one of the standard judges (Jackson, Abdul or Cowell) chose each contestant's selection. Vonzell Solomon was the 10th contestant voted off the Top 12 on Wednesday May 18th.

[edit] Theme weeks

• Final 2: Grand Finale
• Final 3: Three songs per contestant

Contestant's choice, Judge's choice and Clive Davis's choice

• Final 4: Country/Gamble & Huff
• Final 5: Leiber & Stoller/Billboard Top 40
• Final 6: Songs of the 21st Century
• Final 7: 1970s dance music
• Final 8: Songs from the contestant's year of birth
• Final 9: Songs from Broadway musicals
• Final 10: Songs from the 1990s
• Final 11: Billboard #1's
• Final 12: Songs from the 1960s

[edit] Performances on results shows

• Final 2: "Up Were We Belong"
• Final 3: "United We Stand"
• Final 4: "Islands In The Stream"
• Final 5: "Bridge Over Troubled Water"
• Final 6: "Emotion" (original artist: The Bee Gees)
• Final 7: "You Can Shine"
• Final 10: "Everything Is Beautiful"
• Final 11: "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother"
• Final 12: "When You Tell Me That You Love Me" (original artist: Dolly Parton)

[edit] Finale

The fourth season finale featuring Bo Bice and Carrie Underwood aired May 24-May 25, and 37 million votes were cast. It featured appearances by former auditioners, and celebrity cameos by Kenny G, Rascal Flatts, David Hasselhoff, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, George Benson, Billy Preston, Babyface and Lynyrd Skynyrd. The winner of the competition was Carrie Underwood, who would eventually become the first "Idol" winner to sweep all three major music awards (American Music, Billboard, and Grammy Award) in a single season (for 2006-07).

In a nod to the "Diana knew she'd been eliminated by the performance order" controversy of AI3, neither contestant sang the winner's single, "Inside Your Heaven", before the results were announced.

[edit] Semi-Finals/Finals Elimination Chart

Legend

Female

Male

Top 12

Top 24

Note: Bottom 2 indicates that the contestant was 'saved' last. This may or may not indicate his or her actual vote rank.

Stage:		Semi-Finals			Finals
Week:		2/23	3/2	3/9	3/16	3/24	3/30	4/6	4/13	4/20	4/27	5/4	5/11	5/18	5/25
Place	Contestant	Result
1	Carrie Underwood														Winner
2	Bo Bice								Btm 2						Runner-Up
3	Vonzell Solomon		Btm 3					Btm 3			Btm 3		Btm 2	Elim
4	Anthony Fedorov					Btm 3				Btm 2	Btm 2	Btm 2	Elim
5	Scott Savol							Btm 2	Btm 3	Btm 3		Elim
6	Constantine Maroulis										Elim
7	Anwar Robinson						Btm 2			Elim
8	Nadia Turner					Btm 2	Btm 3		Elim
9	Nikko Smith			Elim1				Elim
10	Jessica Sierra				Btm 3		Elim
11	Mikalah Gordon				Btm 2	Elim
12	Lindsey Cardinale				Elim
13	Mario Vazquez			Withdrew2
14-16	Amanda Avila			Elim
14-16	Janay Castine			Elim
14-16	Travis Tucker		Btm 3	Elim
17-20	Joseph Murena		Elim
17-20	David Brown		Elim
17-20	Aloha Mischeaux		Elim
17-20	Celena Rae		Elim
21-24	Judd Harris	Elim
21-24	Sarah Mather	Elim
21-24	Jared Yates	Elim
21-24	Melinda Lira	Elim

¹Nikko was originally eliminated in a semi-finals results show, He was called back after Mario Vazquez dropped out of American Idol and he replaced Mario on the final 12.

²Mario was originally joined in the top 12. A few days later, he dropped out of American Idol for personal reasons.

[edit] Releases

[edit] Compilations

• American Idol Season 4: The Showstoppers (2005) RCA Records

[edit] Major releases

• Some Hearts (Carrie Underwood ) (2005) Arista Records- 5 Million copies sold.
• Inside Your Heaven (Carrie Underwood) (2005) RCA Records
• The Real Thing (Bo Bice) (2005) RCA Records - 850,000 copies sold.
• Inside Your Heaven (Bo Bice) (2005) RCA Records
• Gallery (Mario Vazquez) (2006) J Records - 8,000 copies sold.

[edit] Minor or independent releases

(This list does not include pre-Idol releases)

• All That I Am (Jared Yates)
• It's Christmas Time (Jamie Paul Koehler)
• Melinda (Melinda Lira)
• Shaken (Jeff Johnson)
• Something for Everyone (Kurtis Parks)
• The Moon & The Stars (Elizabeth Pha aka Chandara)
• Anwar Robinson (Anwar Robinson)
• Nothing Like A Dream/Drive (Lindsey Cardinale) - single

Source: Idolsmusic.com

[edit] Dialidol

The computer program DialIdol was in development during season 4. It was finished by week 6 and was used to predict the voting results from the top 6 to top 2. [2]

However, it was not made available to the general public until season 5.

[edit] Controversy

• This season brought attention to the alleged Corey Clark and Paula Abdul "Maccarena scandal". The finale show included a parody segment spoofing the alleged scandal.
• Votefortheworst.com, of Survivor Sucks, made headlines when Scott Savol received the most votes and made it into the final five.
• Simon Cowell said on the fifth season of Idol that he didn't like "last year's winner" as much as Kellie Pickler, a Top 12 Season 5 finalist. He has since said that it was a heat of the moment thing, as Carrie had performed on the show the week before.

[edit] External links

• Official American Idol Contestants Website
• American Idol Season Four Auto Mash-up

Preceded by Season 3 (2004)

American Idol Season 4 (2005)

Succeeded by Season 5 (2006)

v • d • e American Idol
Seasons	1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6
Hosts and judges	Ryan Seacrest · Randy Jackson · Paula Abdul · Simon Cowell · Brian Dunkleman
Winners	Kelly Clarkson · Ruben Studdard · Fantasia Barrino · Carrie Underwood · Taylor Hicks
Runners-up	Justin Guarini · Clay Aiken · Diana DeGarmo · Bo Bice · Katharine McPhee
Other notable alumni	Chris Daughtry · Jennifer Hudson · Josh Gracin · Kellie Pickler · Tamyra Gray · Kimberley Locke · William Hung · Elliott Yamin
Spin-offs	From Justin to Kelly · American Juniors · An American Idol Christmas · American Idol Extra · American Idol Rewind
Other	Idol Gives Back · American Idol Compilation Series · Controversy · American Idol Magazine · American Idol Underground · Font · Video game · List of spin-offs · List of episodes