American Idol (season 3)

American Idol
Season 3
Broadcast from	January 19, 2004–May 26, 2004
Judges	Simon Cowell Paula Abdul Randy Jackson
Host(s)	Ryan Seacrest
Broadcaster	Fox Broadcasting Company
Finals venue	Kodak Theatre
Winner: Fantasia Barrino
Fantasia Barrino in The American Idol Experience motorcade at Walt Disney World.
Origin	High Point, North Carolina, U.S.
Song	"I Believe"
Genre(s)	R&B, pop, soul
Runner-up
Diana DeGarmo
Chronology
◄ 2004 ►

The third season of American Idol premiered on Monday, January 19, 2004 and continued until May 26, 2004. The third season was won by Fantasia Barrino, who defeated Diana DeGarmo by an approximate margin of 2% (1.3 million votes); the vote total (65 million votes) was the highest recorded vote total in the show's history until the May 23, 2007 finale of American Idol 6. This season also featured Jennifer Hudson, who would subsequently win the 2006 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Season 3 is the first season where both the winner and the runner-up had been in the bottom 2 or 3 prior to the finale, being followed by season 8. It is the first (and so far only) season to have a finale with two female contestants, while the second, seventh and eighth seasons had a finale with two male contestants. It is also the first season where a Wild Card contestant, Leah LaBelle, is eliminated in the first episode of the finals. It is the first season to have a gender imbalance among the finalists, followed by season 8, each having eight finalists of the dominant gender. Season 3 has eight female finalists, whereas season 8 has eight male finalists.

Both Fantasia and Diana DeGarmo released a single after the finale. Fantasia's first single, released in June 2004 on the RCA record label, entered the Billboard Hot 100 at #1, making Fantasia the first artist in the history of Billboard to debut at number one with their first single. In addition to Fantasia and DeGarmo, Jasmine Trias, LaToya London, George Huff, Jennifer Hudson, and Camile Velasco have released albums since the season ended.

Auditions

Auditions were held in the following cities:^[1]

Episode Air Date	Audition City	Date of audition	First Audition Venue	Callback Date	Callback Venue	Golden Tickets
January 19, 2004	New York, New York	August 25, 2003	Jacob K. Javits Convention Center	August 29, 2003	Waldorf-Astoria Hotel[2]	29
January 20, 2004	Atlanta, Georgia	August 20, 2003	Georgia Dome	September 2003	Atlanta Convention Center at AmericasMart[3]	24
January 21, 2004	Houston, Texas	August 13, 2003	Minute Maid Park	September 4-5, 2003[4]	InterContinental Houston[5]	13
January 27, 2004	Los Angeles, California	August 3, 2003	Rose Bowl	September 2003	Renaissance Hollywood Hotel[6]	25
	San Francisco, California	September 22, 2003	Pac Bell Park	September 2003	Renaissance Parc 55 Hotel[7]	10
January 28, 2004	Honolulu, Hawaii	September 30, 2003	Aloha Stadium	October 4-5, 2003	Sheraton Waikiki Hotel[8]	17
Total number of tickets to Hollywood						118

In this season over 80,000 attended the auditions in 6 cities. Paula Abdul was absent from the Los Angeles audition. A prominent auditioner was William Hung, a University of California, Berkeley student, who became a surprise cult figure following his tuneless rendition of Ricky Martin's "She Bangs" at the San Francisco audition. ^[9] He was later invited back to perform on a special edition Uncut, Uncensored and Untalented. His appearance on the show landed him a record deal with Koch Records and he released an album soon afterwards.^[10] He became one of the most successful contestants to emerge from this year.^[11]

During the audition round in Houston, Texas, auditioner Jonathan Rey threw a cup of water at Simon, who moments earlier commented that he was terrible and "there's not a song in the world you could sing." Security quickly escorted Jonathan out, and Houston police questioned him, but released him after Simon decided against pressing assault charges on him. Another prominent auditioner that year was "scooter girl", Nicole Tieri.

Hollywood week

There were 117 contestants in the first Hollywood round which was held at the Pasadena Civic Center in Pasadena, California. The contestants first came onto the stage in groups but each performed solo and talked briefly about themselves. Simon Cowell was not impressed with their performances. They were also asked to write original lyrics and melody for one of ten song titles given and perform their song the next day. After their performance, they were divided into four groups and one groups is eliminated.

In the next round, the remaining 87 contestants performed in groups in three. The girls and boys were separate and they were each given 3 different songs to choose - Girls with The Supremes' You Can't Hurry Love, Vonda Shepard's "Tell Him", Candi Staton's Young Hearts Run Free, the boys with Billy Joel's Tell Her About It, Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give You Up, The Drifters's Up on the Roof. 30 contestants were cut and 57 then advanced to the next stage where they performed solo. The contestants were then divided into 3 group and placed in separate rooms, with one group sent home. 32 contestants remained for the semi-finals.

Hollywood rounds contestant Taryn Southern later appeared on the Project My World series and wrote and performed the 2007 "Hott4Hill" viral video.

Semifinals

The contestants who reached this stage were referred to in the show as the Top 32 finalists. This is the first time that two contestants who previously tried out for American Idol (Matthew Metzger and Lisa Leuschner) made it to the top 3 of their semifinals group. Both contestants were eliminated during Hollywood round in the previous season.

George Huff replaced Donnie Williams in Semifinal Round 4 after Williams was disqualified following a DUI arrest.^[12]

Unlike previous seasons, this season the contestants performed in front of a small studio audience, with orchestra accompaniment on backing tape. As with Season 2, in these rounds, two from each group were selected by public vote to proceed on to the Top 12, and those who failed at any of the previous stages were given a second chance in the wild-card show.

In the wild card show, four contestants in the wildcard round were eliminated by the judges before they had the chance to sing: Lisa Leuschner, Eric Yoder, Tiara Purifoy, and Marque Lynche. The judges each chose one of their favorites to join the Top 12, and Jon Peter Lewis advanced to the top 12 after receiving 22% of the public vote.

Semifinal Group 1

#	Performer	Song	Artist	Result
1	Diana DeGarmo	"I've Got the Music in Me"	Kiki Dee	Advanced
2	Marque Lynche	"Wind Beneath My Wings"	Roger Whittaker	Eliminated
3	Ashley Thomas	"Crazy"	Willie Nelson	Eliminated
4	Katie Webber	"Orange Colored Sky"	Nat King Cole	Wild Card
5	Erskine Walcott	"Open Arms"	Journey	Eliminated
6	Jennifer Hudson	"Imagine"	John Lennon	Wild Card
7	Matthew Metzger	"Walking in Memphis"	Marc Cohn	Top 3/Wild Card
8	Fantasia Barrino	"Something to Talk About"	Bonnie Raitt	Advanced

Semifinal Group 2

#	Performer	Song	Artist	Result
1	Matthew Rogers	"What You Won't Do for Love"	Bobby Caldwell	Advanced
2	Briana Ramirez-Rial	"Don't Know Why"	Norah Jones	Eliminated
3	Noel Roman	"This I Promise You"	*NSYNC	Eliminated
4	Kara Master	"I'm Outta Love"	Anastacia	Eliminated
5	Lisa Leuschner	"Sweet Thing"	Chaka Khan	Top 3/Eliminated
6	Jesus Roman	"Back at One"	Brian McKnight	Eliminated
7	Camile Velasco	"One Last Cry"	Brian McKnight	Advanced
8	Marisa Joy	"Some Kind of Wonderful"	Soul Brothers Six	Eliminated

Semifinal Group 3

#	Performer	Song	Artist	Result
1	Elizabeth LeTendre	"I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)"	Whitney Houston	Wild Card
2	Eric Yoder	"In the Still of the Night"	The Five Satins	Eliminated
3	Amy Adams	"The Power of Love"	Jennifer Rush	Advanced
4	Jon Peter Lewis	"Tiny Dancer"	Elton John	Top 3/Wild Card
5	Charly Lowry	"Chain of Fools"	Aretha Franklin	Eliminated
6	Jonah Moananu	"I Wish"	Carl Thomas	Eliminated
7	Leah LaBelle	"I Have Nothing"	Whitney Houston	Wild Card
8	La Toya London	"All By Myself"	Eric Carmen	Advanced

Semifinal Group 4

#	Performer	Song	Artist	Result
1	Suzy Vulaca	"Un-Break My Heart"	Toni Braxton	Wild Card
2	John Preator	"That's What Love Is All About"	Michael Bolton	Eliminated
3	Heather Piccinini	"New Attitude"	Patti LaBelle	Eliminated
4	John Stevens	"She's Always a Woman"	Billy Joel	Advanced
5	Jasmine Trias	"Run to You"	Whitney Houston	Advanced
6	George Huff	"Always and Forever"	Heatwave	Top 3/Wild Card
7	Lisa Wilson	"Come to My Window"	Melissa Etheridge	Eliminated
8	Tiara Purifoy	"I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)"	Whitney Houston	Eliminated

Wild Card

#	Performer	Song	Artist	Result
1	Jon Peter Lewis	"A Little Less Conversation"	Elvis Presley	Public Vote
2	Elizabeth LeTendre	"The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face"	Peggy Seeger	Eliminated
3	Katie Webber	"So Emotional"	Whitney Houston	Eliminated
4	George Huff	"Lean on Me"	Bill Withers	Simon's Choice
5	Suzy Vulaca	"I Will Survive"	Gloria Gaynor	Eliminated
6	Matthew Metzger	"When I See You Smile"	Bad English	Eliminated
7	Leah LaBelle	"Let's Stay Together"	Al Green	Paula's Choice
8	Jennifer Hudson	"I Believe in You and Me"	Four Tops	Randy's Choice

Finalists

Back standing - Leah LaBelle, Jennifer Hudson, Fantasia Barrino, John Stevens, Matthews Rogers, Amy Adams, Jon Peter Lewis
Seated - Camile Velasco, Jasmine Trias, LaToya London, Diana DeGarmo, George Huff

• Fantasia Barrino (born June 30, 1984 in High Point, North Carolina, aged 19 on the show) auditioned in in Atlanta, Georgia. Her audition songs were Lauryn Hill's "Killing Me Softly with His Song" and Tina Turner's "Proud Mary". She has performed from a young age with her family who had released a CD. She performed Aretha Franklin's Think in the Hollywood rounds.
• Diana DeGarmo (born June 16, 1987 in Birmingham, Alabama, age 16 on the show) is from Snellville, Georgia, and auditioned in Honolulu, Hawaii with Aretha Franklin's Chain of Fools. She was on the show America's Most Talented Kid in 2002 as well as other TV shows. She performed Ike & Tina Turner's A Fool in Love in the Hollywood rounds.
• Jasmine Trias (born November 3, 1986 in Honolulu, Hawaii, 17 on the show) is from Mililani, Hawaii and auditioned in Honolulu. She is the first Filipino-American contestant in American Idol who made it to the final three.
• LaToya London (born December 29, 1978 in San Francisco, California, 25 on the show) is from Oakland, California and auditioned in San Francisco with Aretha Franklin's Chain of Fools.
• George Huff (born November 4, 1980 in New Orleans, Louisiana, aged 23 on the show) auditioned in Houston, Texas with Joe Cocker's You Are So Beautiful. He performed Luther Vandross' Here And Now in the Hollywood rounds.
• John Stevens (born July 28, 1987 in Buffalo, New York, 16 on the show) is from East Amherst, New York and auditioned in New York City with Fred Astaire's "The Way You Look Tonight". He performed Tony Bennett's I Left My Heart in San Francisco in Hollywood.
• Jennifer Hudson (born September 12, 1981, in Chicago, Illinois, aged 22 on the show) auditioned in Atlanta with Aretha Franklin's "Share Your Love with Me.
• Jon Peter Lewis (born November 7, 1979 in Lincoln, Nebraska, aged 24 on the show) is from Rexburg, Idaho and auditioned in Honolulu with Van Morrison's "Crazy Love". He was dubbed the 'pen salesman' by Simon Cowell. He performed The Jackson 5's I Want You Back.
• Camile Velasco (born September 1, 1985 in Makati City, Philippines, 19 on the show) is from Haiku, Maui and auditioned in Honolulu with Fugees' "Ready or Not".
• Amy Adams (born July 25, 1979 in Kansas City, Kansas, aged 24 on the show) is from Bakersfield, California and auditioned in Atlanta, Georgia with Fontella Bass' "Rescue Me". She performed Jennifer Rush's The Power of Love in Hollywood.
• Matthew Rogers (born September 16, 1978 in Rancho Cucamonga, California, 25 on the show) auditioned in Los Angeles with James Ingram's "Just Once".
• Leah LaBelle (born September 8, 1986 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, aged 17 on the show) is from Seattle, Washington and auditioned in New York with Whitney Houston's "I Believe in You and Me". She auditioned with her birth name Leah Vladowski. Her family was originally from Bulgaria who defected to U.S. She performed Diana Ross' Theme from Mahogany at the Hollywood rounds.

Finals

In this season, guest judges may be introduced in some episodes, and sometimes the mentor joined as judges. During Top 10 was the first time where are there were five judges when the duo Ashford & Simpson joined as judges.

In the result shows, the bottom two vote-getters may reprise their performances before the elimination was announced, or only the eliminated one may perform after the result is revealed, or they may performed before and after their elimination as in Top 5 when George Huff reprised both his songs from the performance night.

Top 12 (Soul)

#	Performer	Song	Artist	Result
1	La Toya London	"Ain't Nobody"	Chaka Khan	Safe
2	Amy Adams	"You Make Me Feel Brand New"	The Stylistics	Bottom 3
3	Matthew Rogers	"Hard to Handle"	Otis Redding	Safe
4	Camile Velasco	"Son of a Preacher Man"	Dusty Springfield	Safe
5	Jon Peter Lewis	"Drift Away"	John Henry Kurtz	Safe
6	Fantasia Barrino	"Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours"	Stevie Wonder	Safe
7	George Huff	"(Sittin' On) the Dock of the Bay"	Otis Redding	Safe
8	Jennifer Hudson	"Baby, I Love You"	The Ronettes	Bottom 2
9	John Stevens	"Lately"	Stevie Wonder	Safe
10	Leah LaBelle	"You Keep Me Hangin' On"	The Supremes	Eliminated
11	Jasmine Trias	"Inseparable"	Natalie Cole	Safe
12	Diana DeGarmo	"Think"	Aretha Franklin	Safe
Result Show
	Top 12	Soul Medley	Various
	Clay Aiken	"Solitaire"	Neil Sedaka

Top 11 (Country)

#	Performer	Song	Artist	Result
1	Diana DeGarmo	"A Broken Wing"	Martina McBride	Bottom 3
2	George Huff	"I Can Love You Like That"	John Michael Montgomery	Safe
3	Fantasia Barrino	"Always on My Mind"	Brenda Lee	Safe
4	John Stevens	"King of the Road"	Roger Miller	Safe
5	Camile Velasco	"Desperado"	The Eagles	Bottom 2
6	Jennifer Hudson	"No One Else on Earth"	Wynonna Judd	Safe
7	Jon Peter Lewis	"She Believes in Me"	Kenny Rogers	Safe
8	Jasmine Trias	"Breathe"	Faith Hill	Safe
9	Matthew Rogers	"Amazed"	Lonestar	Eliminated
10	La Toya London	"Ain't Goin' Down ('Til the Sun Comes Up)"	Garth Brooks	Safe
11	Amy Adams	"Sin Wagon"	Dixie Chicks	Safe
Result Show
	Kimberley Locke	"8th World Wonder"	Kimberley Locke

Top 10 (Motown)

Guest judges - Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson Guest band - The Funk Brothers

#	Performer	Song	Artist	Result
1	Camile Velasco	"For Once in My Life"	Stevie Wonder	Safe
2	Jon Peter Lewis	"This Old Heart of Mine"	The Isley Brothers	Safe
3	La Toya London	"Ooo Baby Baby"	The Miracles	Bottom 3
4	Amy Adams	"Dancing in the Street"	Martha & the Vandellas	Eliminated
5	John Stevens	"My Girl"	The Temptations	Safe
6	Jennifer Hudson	"(Love Is Like a) Heat Wave"	Martha & the Vandellas	Bottom 2
7	Jasmine Trias	"You're All I Need to Get By"	Marvin Gaye/ Tammi Terrell	Safe
8	Diana DeGarmo	"Do You Love Me"	The Contours	Safe
9	Fantasia Barrino	"I Heard It Through the Grapevine"	The Miracles	Safe
10	George Huff	"Ain't Too Proud to Beg"	The Temptations	Safe
Result Show
	Top 10	"Ain't No Mountain High Enough"	Marvin Gaye/ Tammi Terrell

Top 9 (Elton John)

Mentor - Elton John

#	Performer	Song	Result
1	Fantasia Barrino	"Something About the Way You Look Tonight"	Safe
2	Jon Peter Lewis	"Rocket Man"	Safe
3	Jasmine Trias	"Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me"	Bottom 2
4	John Stevens	"Crocodile Rock"	Safe
5	Camile Velasco	"Goodbye Yellow Brick Road"	Eliminated
6	George Huff	"Take Me to the Pilot"	Safe
7	Diana DeGarmo	"I'm Still Standing"	Bottom 3
8	La Toya London	"Someone Saved My Life Tonight"	Safe
9	Jennifer Hudson	"Circle of Life"	Safe
Result Show
	Top 9	"Bennie and the Jets" (Girls) "Daniel" (Boys) "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting"
	Tamyra Gray	"Raindrops Will Fall"

Top 8 (Movie Soundtracks)

Guest judge - Quentin Tarantino

#	Performer	Song	Artist	Movie	Result
1	George Huff	"Against All Odds"	Phil Collins	"Against All Odds"	Safe
2	Jennifer Hudson	"I Have Nothing"	Whitney Houston	"The Bodyguard"	Safe
3	Jon Peter Lewis	"Jailhouse Rock"	Elvis Presley	"Jailhouse Rock"	Eliminated
4	Diana DeGarmo	"My Heart Will Go On"	Celine Dion	"Titanic"	Bottom 3
5	Fantasia Barrino	"Summertime"	Abbie Mitchell	"Porgy and Bess"	Safe
6	Jasmine Trias	"When I Fall in Love"	Doris Day	"Sleepless in Seattle"	Safe
7	John Stevens	"As Time Goes By"	Dooley Wilson	"Casablanca"	Bottom 2
8	La Toya London	"Somewhere"	Reri Grist	"West Side Story"	Safe
Result Show
	Christina Christian	"Forever and Never"	Christina Christian

Top 7 (Barry Manilow)

Mentor and guest judge - Barry Manilow

#	Performer	Song	Result
1	Diana DeGarmo	"One Voice"	Safe
2	George Huff	"Tryin' to Get the Feeling Again"	Safe
3	Jennifer Hudson	"Weekend in New England"	Eliminated
4	Jasmine Trias	"I'll Never Love This Way Again"	Safe
5	La Toya London	"All The Time"	Bottom 3
6	John Stevens	"Mandy"	Safe
7	Fantasia Barrino	"It's a Miracle"	Bottom 2
Result Show
	Barry Manilow with Top 7	"Let Freedom Ring"

Top 6 (Gloria Estefan)

Mentor and guest judge - Gloria Estefan Guest band - The Miami Sound Machine

#	Performer	Song	Result
1	Fantasia Barrino	"Get on Your Feet"	Safe
2	George Huff	"Live for Loving You"	Bottom 2
3	La Toya London	"Rhythm Is Gonna Get You"	Safe
4	John Stevens	"Music of My Heart"	Eliminated
5	Jasmine Trias	"Here We Are"	Bottom 3
6	Diana DeGarmo	"Turn the Beat Around"	Safe
Result Show
	Top 6	Gloria Estefan medley

Top 5 (Big Band)

#	Performer	Song	Artist	Result
1 2	Diana DeGarmo	"Someone to Watch Over Me" "Get Happy"	Gertrude Lawrence Ruth Etting	Safe
3 4	George Huff	"Cheek to Cheek" "What a Wonderful World"	Fred Astaire Louis Armstrong	Eliminated
5 6	La Toya London	"Too Close for Comfort" "Don't Rain on My Parade"	Eydie Gormé Barbra Streisand	Safe
7 8	Jasmine Trias	"The Way You Look Tonight" "Almost Like Being in Love"	Fred Astaire Nat King Cole	Bottom 2
9 10	Fantasia Barrino	"Crazy Little Thing Called Love" "What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?"	Queen Julie Andrews	Safe

Top 4 (Disco)

Guest judge - Donna Summer

#	Performer	Song	Artist	Result
1	Jasmine Trias	"Everlasting Love"	Carl Carlton	Safe
2	La Toya London	"Love You Inside Out"	The Bee Gees	Eliminated
3	Fantasia Barrino	"Knock on Wood"	Eddie Floyd	Bottom 2
4	Diana DeGarmo	"This Is It"	Melba Moore	Safe
5	Jasmine Trias	"It's Raining Men"	The Weather Girls	Safe
6	La Toya London	"Don't Leave Me This Way"	Thelma Houston	Eliminated
7	Fantasia Barrino	"Holding Out for a Hero"	Bonnie Tyler	Bottom 2
8	Diana DeGarmo	"No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)"	Donna Summer/ Barbra Streisand	Safe
Result Show
	Top 4	"Bad Girls"/ "Hot Stuff"/ "Heaven Knows"/ "She Works Hard for the Money"	Donna Summer
	Donna Summer (with Top 4)	"Last Dance"	Donna Summer
	Clay Aiken (with Top 4)	"Fantasy"	Earth, Wind & Fire
	Donna Summer	"MacArthur Park"	Richard Harris

Top 3 (Idols' Choice, Judges' Choice, Clive's Choice)

Guest judge - Clive Davis

#	Performer	Song	Artist	Result
1	Jasmine Trias	"Saving All My Love for You"	Whitney Houston	Eliminated
2	Fantasia Barrino	"Chain of Fools"	Aretha Franklin	Safe
3	Diana DeGarmo	"Ain't No Mountain High Enough"	Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell	Safe
4	Jasmine Trias	"Mr. Melody" - Paula Abdul	Natalie Cole	Eliminated
5	Fantasia Barrino	"A Fool in Love" - Simon Cowell	Ike & Tina Turner	Safe
6	Diana DeGarmo	"Because You Loved Me" - Randy Jackson	Celine Dion	Safe
7	Jasmine Trias	"All By Myself"	Eric Carmen	Eliminated
8	Fantasia Barrino	"Greatest Love of All"	George Benson	Safe
9	Diana DeGarmo	"Don't Cry Out Loud"	Melissa Manchester	Safe
Result Show
	Tamyra Gray	"Star"	Tamyra Gray
	Guy Sebastian	"Angels Brought Me Here"	Guy Sebastian
	Tamyra Gray	"Raindrops Will Fall"	Tamyra Gray

Top 2 (Finale)

#	Performer	Song	Artist	Result
1	Diana DeGarmo	"I Believe"	Tamyra Gray	Runner-Up
2	Fantasia Barrino	"All My Life"	K-Ci and Jo-Jo	WINNER
3	Diana DeGarmo	"No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)"	Donna Summer/ Barbra Streisand	Runner-Up
4	Fantasia Barrino	"Summertime"	George Gershwin	WINNER
5	Diana DeGarmo	"Don't Cry Out Loud"	Melissa Manchester	Runner-Up
6	Fantasia Barrino	"I Believe"	Tamyra Gray	WINNER
	Paul Anka	"My Way"1	Frank Sinatra

• Note 1: The song was rewritten by Paul Anka specially for the episode as a recap for the season.

Finale Result Show
Performer	Song	Artist
Tamyra Gray	"The Star-Spangled Banner"
Top 2 with Kelly Clarkson, Ruben Studdard	"The Impossible Dream"	Richard Kiley
Kelly Clarkson	"Beautiful Disaster"	Kelly Clarkson
Top 12	"Reach Out I'll Be There" "1-2-3" "Heaven Knows" "She Works Hard for Her Money" "Solid" "It Don't Mean A Thing" "I'm Still Standing" "I Made it Through the Rain"	The Four Tops Gloria Estefan Donna Summer Donna Summer Ashford & Simpson Duke Ellington Elton John Barry Manilow
Ruben Studdard	"What If"	Ruben Studdard
Diana DeGarmo	"I Believe"	Fantasia
Fantasia Barrino	"Dreams"	Diana DeGarmo
Top 2	"I Knew You Were Waiting"	Aretha Franklin/ George Michael
Fantasia Barrino	"I Believe"	Fantasia

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 eliminated in the first week of the finals.

As a nod to the "Did Clay see the card?" controversy in AI2, Ryan Seacrest was instructed to memorize the winner's name and the vote margin and was given a blank card to hold while reporting the results. However, in a post-show interview with USA Today, Diana DeGarmo admitted that she had figured out that she had not won when the contestants were going over the schedule for the finale and she saw she would be singing "I Believe" (the winner's single) before the results were announced. Realizing that she would not be scheduled to sing a song she would have to sing again minutes later if she were announced as the winner, she correctly deduced that she had lost and Fantasia had won.

At the time of the finale many celebrities voiced their support for Fantasia: Frankie Muniz, Sharon Osbourne, Ray Romano, Amy Yasbeck, Nicole Kidman, Lori Loughlin, Patti LaBelle, Andy Richter, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Holly Robinson Peete, Giuliana Rancic, Toni Braxton, Ben Stiller, Redman (TV Guide), Method Man (TV Guide) Richard Schiff, Kate Hudson (On the Tonight Show), Lea Thompson and Mo'Nique.

Henry Winkler said "You've got incredible judges, Simon speaks the truth, I always agree with him. And Ryan is really good at what he does, but Fantasia," he smiles, "there's something in her that is bigger than anything. We voted for her about 250 times!"

Kelly Clarkson is quoted in the June 14th, 2004 People Magazine as saying she voted for Fantasia: "I just hit redial, redial."

Prior to the results show, the governors of Georgia and North Carolina -- the home states of DeGarmo and Barrino respectively—announced a friendly bet between them over which state's resident would prevail, each wagering a VIP NASCAR ticket package and a shipment of his state's signature fruit. The bet participants were Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue, a Republican, and North Carolina Governor Mike Easley, a Democrat.^[13]

Elimination chart

Legend

Did Not Perform

Top 32

Wild Card

Top 12

Stage:		Semi-Finals				Wild Card	Finals
Week:		2/11	2/18	2/25	3/03	3/10	3/17	3/24	3/31	4/07	4/15*	4/21	4/28	5/05	5/12	5/19	5/26
Place	Contestant	Result
1	Fantasia Barrino	1st										Bottom 2			Bottom 2		Winner
2	Diana DeGarmo	2nd						Bottom 3		Bottom 3	Bottom 3						Runner-Up
3	Jasmine Trias				2nd					Bottom 2			Bottom 3	Bottom 2		Elim
4	La Toya London			1st					Bottom 3	Top 3		Bottom 3			Elim
5	George Huff				3rd	Adv				Top 3			Bottom 2	Elim
6	John Stevens				1st						Bottom 2		Elim
7	Jennifer Hudson	Elim				Adv	Bottom 2		Bottom 2	Top 3		Elim
8	Jon Peter Lewis			3rd		1st					Elim
9	Camile Velasco		1st					Bottom 2		Elim
10	Amy Adams			2nd			Bottom 3		Elim
11	Matthew Rogers		2nd					Elim
12	Leah LaBelle			Elim		Adv	Elim
Wild Card	Elizabeth LeTendre			Elim		Elim
	Matthew Metzger	3rd
	Suzy Vulaca				Elim
	Katie Webber	Elim
Semi- Final 4	Heather Piccinni				Elim
	John Preator
	Tiara Purifoy
	Lisa Wilson
Semi- Final 3	Charly Lowry			Elim
	Jonah Moananu
	Eric Yoder
Semi- Final 2	Lisa Leuschner		3rd
	Marisa Joy		Elim
	Kara Master
	Briana Ramirez-Rial
	Jesus Roman
	Noel Roman
Semi- Final 1	Marque Lynche	Elim
	Ashley Thomas
	Erskine Walcott

Paul Anka made an appearance in the Season Finale.

* During the week of April 15, the week got delayed for White House press conference on Tuesday, April 13, 2004. The performance show was moved to Wednesday, April 14. Jon Peter Lewis was sent home on Thursday, April 15.

Controversies

Viewers raised many complaints when, during the semifinals Wild Card round, four of the contestants were inexplicably eliminated on the spot without having had the chance to sing and compete first, leaving only eight out of twelve contestants eligible for selection. Marque Lynch, who was one of the 4 contestants brought back for the Wild Card show but not allowed to sing, walked out after he was told that he wouldn't be performing on the show. The other 3 stayed in the audience for the duration of the show.

Both Jennifer Hudson and La Toya London, part of final twelve, were eliminated, despite high praises from the judges. After Hudson was eliminated, Sir Elton John, who was a mentor for that season criticized the vote as 'incredibly racist' in a press conference.^[14]

The elimination of both Hudson and London has been pointed out as a classic demonstration of vote-splitting in the American Idol vote, in which the presence of similar choices reduces the votes for each of the similar choices. Hudson, London and Barrino (who would eventually go on to win the competition) were female, African-American, highly praised singers—all appealing to the same demographic bloc of voters. All three of these previously popular singers ended up in the "bottom three" the night Hudson was eliminated—the three having the lowest individual vote counts.^[15]

Question were nevertheless raised about the inadequacy of the phone voting system when it was revealed that the state of Hawaii with a population of just 1.2 million managed to log more calls than every states apart New York and California.^[16] Jasmine Trias' fans from Hawaii, which is on its own time zone, enjoyed a far less crowded calling period and were able to get more of their votes through.

US Nielsen ratings

This season the show was ranked second overall in total viewer for the 2003-2004 TV seasons, with its Tuesday episodes taking the top spot, averaging 25.73 million viewers, while the Wednesday episodes ranked third with 24.31 million.^[17] It became the top-rated show for the 18-49 demographic for the season.^[18], a position it has held for all subsequent years up to and including 2010.

Episode list

Show Episode Air date Week rank 18-49 rating Viewers (in millions) 1 "Audition: New York"[19] January 19, 2004 2 12.9 29.0 2 "Audition: Atlanta"[19] January 20, 2004 3 12.5 28.6 3 "Audition: Houston"[19] January 21, 2004 1 12.7 29.4 4 "Audition: Los Angeles and San Francisco"[20] January 27, 2004 3 13.0 29.6 5 "Audition: Hawaii"[20] January 28, 2004 4 12.0 28.3 6 "Road to Hollywood, Best and Worst of the Rest"[21] February 2, 2004 8 9.7 21.1 7 "Hollywood Week: Part 1"[21] February 3, 2004 1 13.1 30.1 8 "Hollywood Week: Part 2"[21] February 4, 2004 3 12.6 28.8 9 "Top 32: Group 1"[22] February 10, 2004 2 11.1 26.2 10 "Top 32: Group 1 Results"[22] February 11, 2004 4 10.5 24.5 11 "Top 32: Group 2" February 17, 2004 2 10.9 25.2 12 "Top 32: Group 2 Results" February 18, 2004 6 9.8 22.1 13 "Top 32: Group 3"[23] February 24, 2004 4 11.3 26.6 14 "Top 32: Group 3 Results"[23] February 25, 2004 5 10.3 23.0 15 "Special: Uncut, Uncensored and Untalented"[24] March 1, 2004 6 8.5 19.7 16 "Top 32: Group 4"[24] March 2, 2004 1 11.1 25.5 17 "Top 32: Group 4 Results"[24] March 3, 2004 7 8.5 19.3 18 "Wildcard"[25] March 9, 2004 2 10.7 24.6 19 "Wildcard Results"[25] March 10, 2004 4 9.7 22.0 20 "Top 12 Perform"[26] March 16, 2004 1 11.3 26.7 21 "Top 12 Results"[26] March 17, 2004 2 9.7 22.9 22 "Top 11 Perform"[27] March 23, 2004 1 11.5 27.0 23 "Top 11 Results"[27] March 24, 2004 3 8.8 20.4 24 "Top 10 Perform"[28] March 30, 2004 2 8.8 25.9 25 "Top 10 Results"[28] March 31, 2004 3 9.4 21.9 26 "Top 9 Perform"[28] April 6, 2004 1 10.1 23.5 27 "Top 9 Results"[28] April 7, 2004 4 8.9 20.6 28 "Top 8 Perform"[29](1) April 14, 2004 3 9.7 23.1 29 "Top 8 Results"[29](1) April 15, 2004 8 6.2 15.3 30 "Top 7 Perform"[30] April 20, 2004 1 10.1 23.4 31 "Top 7 Results"[30] April 21, 2004 3 9.3 21.2 32 "Top 6 Perform"[31] April 27, 2004 1 10.4 23.4 33 "Top 6 Results"[31] April 28, 2004 3 9.3 21.2 34 "Special: The Final Five"[32] May 3, 2004 22 4.8 11.7 35 "Top 5 Perform"[32] May 4, 2004 6 9.0 22.8 36 "Top 5 Results"[32] May 5, 2004 7 8.8 21.2 37 "Top 4 Perform"[33] May 11, 2004 3 9.6 23.2 38 "Top 4 Results"[33] May 12, 2004 5 10.0 22.3 39 "Special: The Final Three"[34] May 3, 2004 4.2 40 "Top 3 Perform"[34] May 18, 2004 2 10.0 23.6 41 "Top 3 Results"[34] May 19, 2004 4 9.8 22.4 42 "Special: The American Idol Phenomenon"[34] May 23, 2004 27 3.7 10.8 43 "Top 2 Perform (Finale)"[35] May 25, 2004 2 10.6 25.1 44 "American Idol Season 3 Finale"[35] May 26, 2004 1 12.0 28.8

Note 1: The Top 8 shows were shifted to Wednesday and Thursday due to a presidential address on Tuesday.

Music Releases

Major releases

• American Idol Season 3: Greatest Soul Classics
• "I Believe" (Fantasia Barrino)
• "Dreams" (Diana DeGarmo)
• Free Yourself (Fantasia Barrino)
• Blue Skies (Diana DeGarmo)
• My Christmas EP! (George Huff)
• "Come Fly with Me" (John Stevens)
• Red (John Stevens)
• "Love Ko To" (Jasmine Trias)
• Jasmine Trias (Jasmine Trias)
• Love & Life (La Toya London)
• "Appreciate/Every Part of Me/All By Myself" (La Toya London)
• Miracles (George Huff)
• Fantasia (Fantasia Barrino)
• Stories from Hollywood (Jon Peter Lewis)
• "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" (Jennifer Hudson)
• "Spotlight" (Jennifer Hudson)
• "Jennifer Hudson" (Jennifer Hudson)
• "All Dressed in Love" (Jennifer Hudson)
• Back to Me (Fantasia Barrino)

Minor or independent releases

(This list does not include pre-Idol releases)

• Love, Lipstick and Poetry (Kiira Bivens)
• Love, Lana (Lana Phillips)
• Sing Me Home (Lisa Leuschner)
• Str8up Band (Dina Lopez)
• I'll Be Seeing You (John Preator)
• This Is Next Time (Alan Ritchson)
• Sun Shiney Day (Lisa Wilson)
• "If I Go Away" / "Man Like Me" (single) (Jon Peter Lewis)
• Just Like Magic (Donnie Williams)
• Reality (Lisa Leuschner)

Sources: Idolsmusic.com, CD Baby

See also

• American Idols LIVE! Tour 2004

References

1. ^ "American Idol auditions". idolonfox.msn.com. Archived from the original on August 10, 2003. http://web.archive.org/web/20030801080757/http://idolonfox.com/audition-popup.htm. Retrieved September 4, 2011. 
2. ^ They came. They sang. But only a handful will get to the big show.
3. ^ 10/8: Later Idol auditions back in the ATL
4. ^ Making the cut is 'American Idol' dream
5. ^ "'American Idol' hopefuls go before Simon, Paula and Randy". Houston Chronicle. September 5, 2003. Archived from the original on September 6, 2003. http://web.archive.org/web/20030906153239/http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/front/2082844. Retrieved September 12, 2011. 
6. ^ Idol Dreams
7. ^ Paly's Own American Idol
8. ^ 'Idol 3' auditions plan September stop in state
9. ^ Go, Jesamyn., He's a loser, baby, MSNBC.com, 2004-02-24, Retrieved on 2007-03-02.
10. ^ William Hung 'Bangs' Latin Lovers, R. Kelly Cover On Inspiration
11. ^ "Top 24 American Idols of All Time". Billboard. http://www.billboard.com/features/top-24-american-idols-of-all-time-1004088662.story#/features/top-24-american-idols-of-all-time-1004088662.story. Retrieved February 24, 2011. 
12. ^ Donnie Williams pulled from 'Idol' following arrest, replaced by George Huff
13. ^ San Diego Union-Tribune: Governors place bets on 'American Idol' winner, May 25, 2004
14. ^ Elton John Says 'American Idol' Vote Is 'Racist', Reuters via Yahoo.com, 2004-04-28, Retrieved on 2007-03-02.
15. ^ American Idol voting, Votefair.org, Retrieved on 2007-03-02.
16. ^ Calls Waiting: 'Idol' Voters Finally Get Through to Fox
17. ^ I. T. R. S. Ranking Report
18. ^ Jasmine Trias exits 'American Idol', Fantasia Barrino and Diana DeGarmo to compete in final showdown
19. ^ ^{a b c} AI week 1
20. ^ ^{a b} AI week 2
21. ^ ^{a b c} AI week 3
22. ^ ^{a b} AI week 4
23. ^ ^{a b} AI week 6
24. ^ ^{a b c} AI week 7
25. ^ ^{a b} AI week 8
26. ^ ^{a b} AI week 9
27. ^ ^{a b} AI week 10
28. ^ ^{a b c d} AI week 12
29. ^ ^{a b} AI week 13
30. ^ ^{a b} AI week 14
31. ^ ^{a b} AI week 15
32. ^ ^{a b c} AI week 16
33. ^ ^{a b} AI week 17
34. ^ ^{a b c d} AI week 18
35. ^ ^{a b} AI week 19

External links

• Official American Idol Contestants Website
• American Idol (Season 3) at the Internet Movie Database
• American Idol (Season 3) at TV.com