The sixth season of American Idol premiered on the Fox Broadcasting Company as a two-night, four-hour premiere special on January 16 and 17, and ran until May 23, 2007. Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, and Randy Jackson returned as judges, and Ryan Seacrest returned as host. A record of 74 million votes were cast in the finale round, and a record 609 million votes were cast in the entire season. Jordin Sparks won the competition, while Blake Lewis was the runner-up. This is the first season not to be syndicated under the Rewind package.
Regional auditions Contestants were required to be between the ages 16 and 28 on August 6, 2006. Guest judges were used for auditions this season.
Jewel, Minneapolis auditions Carole Bayer Sager, New York auditions Olivia Newton-John, Los Angeles auditions
Auditions were held in the following cities:
+American Idol (season 6) – regional auditions City Preliminary date Preliminary venue Filming date(s) Filming venue Golden tickets Los Angeles, California August 6, 2006 Rose Bowl, Pasadena September 26, 2006 Millennium Biltmore Hotel 40 San Antonio, Texas August 11, 2006 Alamodome August 26, 2006 Henry B. González Convention Center 24 New York City, New York August 14, 2006 Continental Airlines Arena, East Rutherford August 30, 2006 Chelsea PiersCowell & co. seek Pier-less singers 35 Birmingham, Alabama August 21, 2006 Birmingham–Jefferson Convention Complex September 29–30, 2006 Sheraton Hotel 20 Memphis, Tennessee September 3, 2006 FedExForum October 5–6, 2006 Memphis Cook Convention Center 22 Minneapolis, Minnesota September 8, 2006 Target Center September 12, 2006 Minneapolis Convention CenterSimon and Co. like a little of what they hear; The "American Idol" judges, who were in the Twin Cities on Tuesday, found Minnesotans a little loony 17 Seattle, Washington September 19, 2006 KeyArena October 2–3, 2006 W Hotel 14 Total number of tickets to Hollywood 172
Jordin Sparks, this season's winner, originally failed to pass through her audition in Los Angeles, but later landed an audition in Seattle as a reward for winning a local Fox-affiliate-sponsored contest called Arizona Idol.
Hollywood week The Hollywood rounds of the audition process were held over four days in November 2006 at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles. The first round consisted of each contestant singing one song a cappella in front of the judges. Contestants were then told whether they were moving on or going home in groups of six. This extended over the first two days.
The second round took place on the second and third days, and consisted of groups of three or four contestants rehearsing and then performing one of nine pre-selected songs. Groups were reviewed and contestants were then judged individually as to whether they were moving on or going home. The third round took place on the fourth day, where each contestant performed one song from a pre-selected list accompanied by a piano and backup singers. Contestants were again informed of whether they had made the cut or not.
The final round took place at the Pasadena Civic Center on January 14–15, 2007, just before the regional audition shows began airing. Without any further auditioning, the 40 remaining contestants were reduced to 24. In a process taking a whole day, contestants waited in a sitting room until, one by one, they went up to the center's Gold Room. The three judges told them whether they had made it onto the stage show or were cut. The 24 semifinalists were announced on February 14, 2007.
Semifinals The live show portion of the semifinals began on February 20, 2007, with the names announced on February 14. Starting with 12 women and 12 men, the women and men performed weekly on separate shows and on the result show, the bottom two male and two female contestants were eliminated. The semifinals took place over three weeks, leaving the other six to form the top 12. The females performed on the first night, followed by the males the next night.
Color key:
Top 24 (February 20 & 21) Contestants are listed in the order they performed. +Top 24 (Female contestants) Contestant Song Result Stephanie Edwards "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?" Safe Amy Krebs "I Can't Make You Love Me" Eliminated Leslie Hunt "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" Safe Sabrina Sloan "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)" Safe Antonella Barba "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" Safe Jordin Sparks "Give Me One Reason" Safe Nicole Tranquillo "Stay" Eliminated Haley Scarnato "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" Safe Melinda Doolittle "(Sweet Sweet Baby) Since You've Been Gone" Safe Alaina Alexander "Brass in Pocket" Safe Gina Glocksen "All by Myself" Safe LaKisha Jones "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" Safe+Top 24 (Male contestants) Contestant Song Result Rudy Cardenas "Free Ride" Eliminated Brandon Rogers "Rock with You" Safe Sundance Head "Nights in White Satin" Safe Paul Kim "Careless Whisper" Eliminated Chris Richardson "I Don't Want to Be" Safe Nick Pedro "Now and Forever" Safe Blake Lewis "Somewhere Only We Know" Safe Sanjaya Malakar "Knocks Me Off My Feet" Safe Chris Sligh "Typical" Safe Jared Cotter "Back at One" Safe A. J. Tabaldo "Never Too Much" Safe Phil Stacey "I Could Not Ask for More" Safe +Non-competition performancesPerformersSongTop 24 "Sowing the Seeds of Love" Fantasia "I'm Here"
Top 20 (February 27 & 28) Contestants are listed in the order they performed. +Top 20 (Female contestants) Contestant Song Result Gina Glocksen "Alone" Safe Alaina Alexander "Not Ready to Make Nice" Eliminated LaKisha Jones "Midnight Train to Georgia" Safe Melinda Doolittle "My Funny Valentine" Safe Antonella Barba "Because You Loved Me" Safe Jordin Sparks "Reflection" Safe Stephanie Edwards "Dangerously in Love" Safe Leslie Hunt "Feeling Good" Eliminated Haley Scarnato "Queen of the Night" Safe Sabrina Sloan "All the Man That I Need" Safe+Top 20 (Male contestants) Contestant Song Result Phil Stacey "Missing You" Safe Jared Cotter "Let's Get It On" Safe A. J. Tabaldo "Feeling Good" Eliminated Sanjaya Malakar "Steppin' Out with My Baby" Safe Chris Sligh "Trouble" Safe Nick Pedro "Fever" Eliminated Blake Lewis "Virtual Insanity" Safe Brandon Rogers "Time After Time" Safe Chris Richardson "Geek in the Pink" Safe Sundance Head "Mustang Sally" Safe +Non-competition performancesPerformersSong Top 20"Joy to the World" Kellie Pickler "I Wonder"
Top 16 (March 6 & 7) Contestants are listed in the order they performed. +Top 16 (Female contestants) Contestant Song Result Jordin Sparks "Heartbreaker" Safe Sabrina Sloan "Don't Let Go (Love)" Eliminated Antonella Barba "Put Your Records On" Eliminated Haley Scarnato "If My Heart Had Wings" Safe Stephanie Edwards "Sweet Thing" Safe LaKisha Jones "I Have Nothing" Safe Gina Glocksen "Call Me When You're Sober" Safe Melinda Doolittle "I'm a Woman" Safe+Top 16 (Male contestants) Contestant Song Result Blake Lewis "All Mixed Up" Safe Sanjaya Malakar "Waiting on the World to Change" Safe Sundance Head "Jeremy" Eliminated Chris Richardson "Tonight I Wanna Cry" Safe Jared Cotter "If You Really Love Me" Eliminated Brandon Rogers "I Just Want to Celebrate" Safe Phil Stacey "I Need You" Safe Chris Sligh "Wanna Be Loved" Safe +Non-competition performancesPerformersSong Top 16 "Stuck in the Middle with You" Carrie Underwood "Wasted"
Top 12 finalists The top 12 finalists were announced on March 8, 2007. As in past years, the top 12 appeared on the annual compilation album while the top 10 participated in the American Idol summer concert tour. Also as in past years, one finalist was eliminated every week, with the exception of the April 25 show, when all contestants were declared safe. As a result, two of the participants were eliminated on the May 2 results program.
Jordin Sparks (17 at the time of the show) was from Glendale, Arizona, and auditioned in Seattle. She is the daughter of former NFL defensive back Philippi Sparks. Blake Lewis (25 at the time of the show) was from Bothell, Washington, and auditioned in Seattle. Claiming to be the city's beatboxing champion, Lewis sampled a hip-hop tune to the judges before rendering Seal's "Crazy." He passed the auditions, but Simon commented to him: "you are not as good as you think you are." Melinda Doolittle (29 at the time of the show) was from Brentwood, Tennessee, and auditioned in Memphis. She auditioned with "For Once in My Life" by Stevie Wonder and was met with universal praise from the three judges on her vocal ability. LaKisha Jones (27 at the time of the show) was from Flint, Michigan, and she performed "Think" by Aretha Franklin at her audition in New York. Chris Richardson (23 at the time of the show) was from Chesapeake, Virginia, and auditioned in New York with Leon Russell's "A Song for You." During Richardson's audition, Randy Jackson compared him to Justin Timberlake. Phil Stacey (29 at the time of the show) was from Jacksonville, Florida, and auditioned in Memphis. He missed the birth of his daughter to audition. He performed two songs before going through to Hollywood: "My Girl" and "Let's Get It On." Sanjaya Malakar (17 at the time of the show) was from Federal Way, Washington, and auditioned in Seattle with his sister Shyamali, singing "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours." Simon commented that he had a better voice than his sister. Both made it to Hollywood, but Sanjaya was shown tearfully embracing his sister when he made it to the top 40 in Hollywood and she did not. Haley Scarnato (24 at the time of the show) was from San Antonio, Texas and sang "I Can't Make You Love Me" by Bonnie Raitt during her audition. Gina Glocksen (22 at the time of the show) was from Naperville, Illinois, and auditioned in Memphis. She originally auditioned in the fifth season and made it to Hollywood, but she was cut before the top 40. Chris Sligh (28 at the time of the show) was from Greenville, South Carolina, and auditioned in Birmingham with "Kiss from a Rose" by Seal, after which Paula Abdul gave him a standing ovation saying, "I like you very much." Stephanie Edwards (19 at the time of the show) was from Savannah, Georgia, and auditioned in Memphis. Brandon Rogers (29 at the time of the show) was from North Hollywood, California, and auditioned in Los Angeles. After hearing his audition, the judges, including guest judge Olivia Newton-John, were impressed with his vocals. Simon Cowell later mentioned he was the best audition in Los Angeles.
Finals There were eleven weeks of finals with twelve contestants competing. One contestant was eliminated every week based on the public's votes, with the exception of the top 6 week, where one week featured a non-elimination and the following week a double-elimination.
Color key:
Top 12 – Diana Ross (March 15) Diana Ross served as a guest mentor this week. Contestants performed one song each from her discography and are listed in the order they performed. Contestant Diana Ross song Result Brandon Rogers "You Can't Hurry Love" Eliminated Melinda Doolittle "Home"Safe Chris Sligh "Endless Love"Safe Gina Glocksen "Love Child"Safe Sanjaya Malakar "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" Bottom two Haley Scarnato "Missing You"Safe Phil Stacey "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" Bottom three LaKisha Jones "God Bless the Child"Safe Blake Lewis "You Keep Me Hangin' On"Safe Stephanie Edwards "Love Hangover"Safe Chris Richardson "The Boss"Safe Jordin Sparks "If We Hold on Together"Safe +Non-competition performancesPerformersSong Top 12"Where Did Our Love Go""Baby Love""Stop! In the Name of Love" Diana Ross "More Today Than Yesterday"
Top 11 – British Invasion (March 24) British singers Peter Noone and Lulu served as guest mentors this week, with the former mentoring the men and the latter mentoring the women. Contestants are listed in the order they performed.