American Idol was based on the British show Pop Idol created by Simon Fuller, which was in turn inspired by the New Zealand television singing competition Popstars. Television producer Nigel Lythgoe saw a versi… See more

The show had originally planned on having four judges following the Pop Idol format; however, only three judges had been found by the time of the audition round in the first season, namely Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul, and … See more

In a series of steps, the show selected the eventual winner out of many tens of thousands of contestants.
The eligible age-range for contestants is fifteen to twenty-eight years old. The initial age limit w… See more