American Idol (season 6) American Idol (season 6) The sixth season of "American Idol" premiered on the Fox Broadcasting Company as a two-night, four-hour premiere special on January 16 and January 17, and ran until May 23, 2007. Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, and Randy Jackson returned to judge once again, and Ryan Seacrest returned as host. A new record of 74 million votes were cast in the finale round, and a new record of 609 million votes were cast in the entire season (the seasonal total record was surpassed by the tenth season and the finale vote record was broken by the eleventh season).
American Idol (season 13) night before with all three judges on hand to toast the forthcoming announcement. On September 3, 2013, Lopez and Connick Jr. were officially announced as judges for this season along with the confirmation of Jackson being the new mentor. Lopez is the first "American Idol" judge to return after leaving at the end of the eleventh season. It was also later reported that Idol alumni Adam Lambert and Chris Daughtry would be assisting Jackson in mentoring the contestants. In a rules change from past seasons, semifinalists from the twelfth season (but not previous seasons) who were not in the top