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
David Jackson (judge) David Jackson (judge) The Honourable Justice David Jackson is a Judge in the Supreme Court of Queensland which is the highest ranking court in the Australian State of Queensland. He was appointed to the Supreme Court of Queensland on 8 October 2012. Jackson was called to the Queensland Bar in 1977 and appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1990. Jackson now sits on the Commercial List of the Supreme Court of Queensland. In August 2014 he was appointed as Chair of the Queensland Law Reform Commission. The appointment of Jackson as a judge was controversial as he was, and is still currently,