American Idol (season 4) American Idol (season 4) 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. Carrie Underwood won the season with approximately 500 million votes cast in the season and 37 million for the finale. Underwood has since gone on to become a seven-time Grammy-winning country megastar. 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
Idol (franchise) from major networks. Elisabeth Murdoch, daughter of News Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch, persuaded her father to buy the rights for an American adaptation. The series, "American Idol: The Search for a Superstar", debuted on the Fox network on 11 June 2002. "American Idol" also featured Cowell as its judge, who also proved to be popular among the American audiences. "American Idol" quickly rose to the top of the U.S. TV ratings, due to the popularity of the judges (particularly Cowell) and its contestants, which were led by its first winner, Kelly Clarkson. The success brought by "American Idol" led to