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
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