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,[1] while Randy Jackson, Jennifer Lopez,[2] and Steven Tyler[3] 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.[4] This 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,[5][6] although Lopez later returned as a judge for the show's thirteenth season.[7]
American Idol
January 18 –
May 23, 2012
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.[8]
Changes from previous seasons[edit]
This season, long-time vocal coach Debra Byrd was replaced by Jimmy Iovine's own team.[9] Additionally, fashion designers Tommy Hilfiger and Soyon An were employed as image advisers for the top 13 finalists.[10]
Hollywood week[edit]
The Hollywood rounds were held at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium starting December 12, 2011.[35] 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.[36] 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 all 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.[37] 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 (Jermaine Jones, Johnny Keyser, Richie Law, or David Leathers, Jr.) would be reinstated into the competition as a surprise thirteenth male, rendering it a Top 25 this season.[38][39] Ultimately, Jones was selected, and revealed at the end of the males' semifinals show for his performance.
Controversies[edit]
On March 14, finalist Jermaine Jones was disqualified for concealing arrests and outstanding warrants.[46] Jones, however, denied that he had concealed his previous arrests and had admitted his arrests when he signed up for Idol.[49] A police official where he was the target of two arrest warrants said that "the case wasn't big enough to merit going after him in California," and a New Jersey legislator commented that for the show "to expose, embarrass and interrogate a young man without an attorney in front of 40 million viewers was an outrage."[50] Critics suggested that the show may have staged the disqualification to boost ratings.[51] When asked about speculations that producers had had prior knowledge of his criminal past and that the producers were simply out to exploit him on-air, Jones replied that "I haven't even taken my mind into that and why they did what they did, because then I'll drive myself crazy."[52]
The premiere was watched by 21.93 million viewers. While at the time it drew the second largest audience of any entertainment program in the television season, it was down 16 percent from the previous year's premiere, which was watched by 26.23 million viewers.[53] After seven consecutive years as the most watched program on primetime television (eight years in the 18/49 demo), the eleventh season of American Idol came in second place to NBC Sunday Night Football in total viewers, as well as in the 18/49 demo.[54]