American Idol the winner determined by American viewers using phones, Internet, and SMS text voting. The winners of the first sixteen seasons, as chosen by viewers, are Kelly Clarkson, Ruben Studdard, Fantasia Barrino, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Hicks, Jordin Sparks, David Cook, Kris Allen, Lee DeWyze, Scotty McCreery, Phillip Phillips, Candice Glover, Caleb Johnson, Nick Fradiani, Trent Harmon, and Maddie Poppe, respectively. "American Idol" employs a panel of vocal judges who critique the contestants' performances. The original judges, for the first through eighth seasons, were record producer and music manager Randy Jackson, singer and choreographer Paula Abdul, and music executive and manager Simon
American Idol (season 12) the first season in "American Idol" history in which all of the contestants of one gender were voted off before anyone of the opposite gender. The contestants performed a song that a previous "American Idol" winner performed while on the show, including their coronation songs, or a song they recorded in their post-Idol career. Two more acts were presented on the Top 10 results show, for one last spot in the Idol tour 2013. They were Aubrey Cleland and Charlie Askew, who were the sixth-place finishers for each respective gender group. The results were announced the next episode. Before the