American Idol 2016. In May 2017, ABC acquired the rights to the series and the program would return for the 2017–18 television season. 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 Simon Cowell. A fourth judge, radio DJ Stryker, was originally chosen but he dropped out citing "image concerns". In the second season, New York radio personality Angie Martinez had been hired as a fourth judge but withdrew only after a few
American Idol (season 3) performance night. Guest judge: Quentin Tarantino Mentor and guest judge – Gloria Estefan Guest band – Miami Sound Machine Guest judge: Donna Summer Guest judge: Clive Davis Guest performance: Paul Anka – "My Way" After a nationwide vote of more than 65 million votes in total—more than the first two seasons combined--Fantasia Barrino won the "American Idol" title beating out Diana DeGarmo. The third season was also shown in Australia on Network Ten about half a week after episodes were shown in the US. Leah LaBelle is the first contestant to advance to the finals via Wild Card then get