American Idol (season 8) : Ask Biography

Home | reality music competition | American Idol (season 8)

The eighth season of American Idol' premiered on January 13, 2009 and concluded on May 20, 2009. Judges Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, and Randy Jackson continued to judge the show's contestants, along with Ryan Seacrest as host. The season introduced Kara DioGuardi as the fourth judge on the Idol panel. It was also Abdul's final season as a judge. Kris Allen, a native of Conway, Arkansas, was announced the winner of the competition on May 20, 2009, defeating runner-up Adam Lambert after nearly 100 million votes. Kris Allen is the only married winner of the competition at the time of his victory. This was the second season where both of the final 2 contestants had been in the bottom 3 or 2 at least once before the finale, with the first being season 3.

The eighth season saw numerous changes to the format of the show. There were 36 semi-finalists instead of 24, and thirteen finalists instead of twelve, nine contestants chosen by the public and four by the judges in a wild card round. Another addition was the "save," which was used on the top seven results show to veto Matt Giraud's elimination.

The winner Kris Allen was then signed to 19 Entertainment/Jive Records. In addition to Allen, Adam Lambert, Danny Gokey, Allison Iraheta, Lil Rounds and Michael Sarver all signed record deals. Anoop Desai signed an independent record deal.

2.98 min. \| 4.82 user rating	3.07 min. \| 4.83 user rating	5.92 min. \| 4.84 user rating	4.12 min. \| 4.83 user rating	1.23 min. \| 4.61 user rating
3.17 min. \| 4.16 user rating	2.20 min. \| 4.85 user rating	4.87 min. \| 4.86 user rating	3.90 min. \| 4.78 user rating	1.72 min. \| 3.02 user rating

Judges' Save :
Episode Air Date	Audition City	Date	Audition Venue	Tickets to Hollywood
January 13, 2009	Glendale, Arizona	July 25, 2008	Jobing.com Arena	27
January 14, 2009	Kansas City, Missouri	August 8, 2008	Kemper Arena	27
January 20, 2009	San Francisco, California	July 17, 2008	Cow Palace	12
January 21, 2009	Louisville, Kentucky	July 21, 2008	Freedom Hall	19
January 27, 2009	Jacksonville, Florida	August 13, 2008	Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena	16
January 28, 2009	Salt Lake City, Utah	July 29, 2008	EnergySolutions Arena	13
January 29, 2009	East Rutherford, New Jersey	August 19, 2008	Izod Center	26
January 29, 2009	San Juan, Puerto Rico	August 2, 2008	Coliseo de Puerto Rico	9
Total Tickets to Hollywood				149

Semi-Final Group 1 � Billboard Hot 100 hits :
Order	Contestant	Song (original artist)	Result
1	Jackie Tohn	"A Little Less Conversation" (Elvis Presley)	Eliminated
2	Ricky Braddy	"A Song for You" (Leon Russell)	Wild Card
3	Alexis Grace	"I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)" (Aretha Franklin)	Advanced
4	Brent Keith	"Hicktown" (Jason Aldean)	Eliminated
5	Stevie Wright	"You Belong with Me" (Taylor Swift)	Eliminated
6	Anoop Desai	"Angel of Mine" (Eternal)	Wild Card
7	Casey Carlson	"Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" (The Police)	Eliminated
8	Michael Sarver	"I Don't Want to Be" (Gavin DeGraw)	Advanced
9	Ann Marie Boskovich	"(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" (Aretha Franklin)	Eliminated
10	Stephen Fowler	"Rock with You" (Michael Jackson)	Eliminated
11	Tatiana Del Toro	"Saving All My Love for You" (Marilyn McCoo)	Wild Card
12	Danny Gokey	"Hero" (Mariah Carey)	Advanced

Semi-Final Group 2 � Billboard Hot 100 hits :
Order	Contestant	Song (original artist)	Result
1	Jasmine Murray	"Love Song" (Sara Bareilles)	Wild Card
2	Matt Giraud	"Viva la Vida" (Coldplay)	Wild Card
3	Jeanine Vailes	"This Love" (Maroon 5)	Eliminated
4	Nick Mitchell	"And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" (Jennifer Holliday)	Eliminated
5	Allison Iraheta	"Alone" (i-TEN)	Advanced
6	Kris Allen	"Man in the Mirror" (Michael Jackson)	Advanced
7	Megan Joy	"Put Your Records On" (Corinne Bailey Rae)	Wild Card
8	Matt Breitzke	"If You Could Only See" (Tonic)	Eliminated
9	Jesse Langseth	"Bette Davis Eyes" (Jackie DeShannon)	Wild Card
10	Kai Kalama	"What Becomes of the Brokenhearted" (Jimmy Ruffin)	Eliminated
11	Mishavonna Henson	"Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me)" (Train)	Eliminated
12	Adam Lambert	"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" (The Rolling Stones)	Advanced

Semi-Final Group 3 � Billboard Hot 100 hits :
Order	Contestant	Song (original artist)	Result
1	Von Smith	"You're All I Need to Get By" (Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell)	Wild Card
2	Taylor Vaifanua	"If I Ain't Got You" (Alicia Keys)	Eliminated
3	Alex Wagner-Trugman	"I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues" (Elton John)	Eliminated
4	Arianna Afsar	"The Winner Takes It All" (ABBA)	Eliminated
5	Ju'Not Joyner	"Hey There Delilah" (Plain White T's)	Eliminated
6	Kristen McNamara	"Give Me One Reason" (Tracy Chapman)	Eliminated
7	Nathaniel Marshall	"I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)" (Meat Loaf)	Eliminated
8	Felicia Barton	"No One" (Alicia Keys)	Eliminated
9	Scott MacIntyre	"Mandolin Rain" (Bruce Hornsby and the Range)	Advanced
10	Kendall Beard	"This One's for the Girls" (Martina McBride)	Eliminated
11	Jorge Núñez	"Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" (Elton John)	Advanced
12	Lil Rounds	"Be Without You" (Mary J. Blige)	Advanced

American Idol (season 8)

Home | reality music competition | American Idol (season 8)

American Idol (season 8) Video

Latest News : American Idol (season 8) : Tweet this RSS

American Idol season 8

Top 7 (first week) � Songs of the Cinema :
Order	Contestant	Song (original artist) - Film	Result
1	Allison Iraheta	"I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" (Aerosmith) - Armageddon	Safe
2	Anoop Desai	"(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" (Bryan Adams) - Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves	Bottom 3
3	Adam Lambert	"Born to Be Wild" (Steppenwolf) - Easy Rider	Safe
4	Matt Giraud	"Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?" (Bryan Adams) - Don Juan DeMarco	Saved¹
5	Danny Gokey	"Endless Love" (Lionel Richie & Diana Ross) - Endless Love	Safe
6	Kris Allen	"Falling Slowly" (Glen Hansard & Markéta Irglová) - Once	Safe
7	Lil Rounds	"The Rose" (Bette Midler) - The Rose	Bottom 2

Top 3 � Judges' choice and Contestants' choice :
Order	Contestant	Song (original artist) - Judge	Result
1	Danny Gokey	"Dance Little Sister" (Terence Trent D'Arby) - Paula Abdul	Eliminated
2	Kris Allen	"Apologize" (OneRepublic) - Randy Jackson & Kara DioGuardi	Safe
3	Adam Lambert	"One" (U2) - Simon Cowell	Safe
4	Danny Gokey	"You Are So Beautiful" (Billy Preston)	Eliminated
5	Kris Allen	"Heartless" (Kanye West)	Safe
6	Adam Lambert	"Cryin'" (Aerosmith)	Safe

Finale � Contestant’s choice, Simon Fuller’s choice & the winner’s single :
Week:		2/18	2/26	3/4	3/5	3/11	3/18	3/26	4/1	4/8	4/15	4/22	4/29	5/6	5/13	5/20
Place	Contestant	Result
1	Kris Allen		Top 13										Bottom 3			Winner
2	Adam Lambert		Top 13										Bottom 3			Runner-up
3	Danny Gokey	Top 13													Elim
4	Allison Iraheta		Top 13				Bottom 3		Bottom 3			Bottom 3		Elim
5	Matt Giraud		Wild Card		Top 13			Bottom 3			Saved		Elim
6 � 7	Anoop Desai	Wild Card			Top 13				Bottom 3	Bottom 3	Bottom 3	Elim
6 � 7	Lil Rounds			Top 13						Bottom 3	Bottom 3	Elim
8	Scott MacIntyre			Top 13				Bottom 3		Elim
9	Megan Joy		Wild Card		Top 13				Elim
10	Michael Sarver	Top 13					Bottom 3	Elim
11	Alexis Grace	Top 13					Elim
12 � 13	Jorge Núñez			Top 13		Elim
12 � 13	Jasmine Murray		Wild Card		Top 13	Elim
14-16	Ricky Braddy	Wild Card			Elim
	Tatiana Del Toro	Wild Card
	Jesse Langseth		Wild Card
	Von Smith			Wild Card
18-25	Arianna Afsar			Elim
	Felicia Barton
	Kendall Beard
	Ju'Not Joyner
	Nathaniel Marshall
	Kristen McNamara
	Taylor Vaifanua
	Alex Wagner-Trugman
26-30	Matt Breitzke		Elim
	Mishavonna Henson
	Kai Kalama
	Nick Mitchell
	Jeanine Vailes
31-36	Ann Marie Boskovich	Elim
	Casey Carlson
	Stephen Fowler
	Brent Keith
	Jackie Tohn
	Stevie Wright

Guest performances :
Week	Performer(s)	Title	Hot 100 Reaction	Hot Digital Songs Reaction	Notes
Top 36/ Group 1	Carly Smithson Michael Johns	"The Letter"	Ineligible to chart (No legal digital release)		live performance
Top 36/ Group 2	Brooke White	"Hold Up My Heart"	47 (debut)	27 (51,171 +999%)	live performance
Top 36/ Group 3	No performer
Top 13	Kanye West	"Heartless"	7 (+1)	13 (95,223 +18%)	pre-recorded
Top 13	Kelly Clarkson	"My Life Would Suck Without You"	5 (+4)	6 (141,167 +38%)	live performance
Top 11	Brad Paisley	"Then"	35 (debut)	18 (64,127 +999%)	live performance
Top 11	Carrie Underwood Randy Travis	"I Told You So"	9 (+48)	4 (125,806 +701%)	pre-recorded
Top 10	Ruben Studdard	"Together"	did not debut	N/A	pre-recorded
	Smokey Robinson Joss Stone	"You’re the One for Me"	did not debut	N/A	live performance
	Stevie Wonder	"My Chérie Amour"/"Superstition"/ "Overjoyed"/"All About the Love Again"	ineligible to re-enter	N/A	live performance
Top 9	David Cook	"Come Back to Me"	63 (debut)	40 (39,430 +498%)	pre-recorded
Top 9	Lady GaGa	"Poker Face"	2 (+1)	2 (228,799 +11%)	live performance
Top 8	Frankie Avalon	"Venus"	N/A	N/A	live performance
	Flo Rida Ke$ha	"Right Round"	3 (=)	4 (179,913 +9%)	live performance
	Kellie Pickler	"Best Days of Your Life"	50 (+53)	34 (46,825 +257%)	live performance
Top 7 (week 1)	Jennifer Hudson	"If This Isn't Love"	63 (+23)	86 (19,112 +172%)	live performance
Top 7 (week 1)	Miley Cyrus	"The Climb"	4 (+4)	2 (189,566 +0%)	pre-recorded
Top 7 (week 2)	David Archuleta	"Touch My Hand"	did not debut	107 (12,875 +558%)	live performance
Top 7 (week 2)	Freda Payne Thelma Houston KC	Medley of "Band of Gold" "Don't Leave Me This Way" "Get Down Tonight."	ineligible to re-enter	N/A	live performance
Top 5	Natalie Cole	"Something's Gotta Give"	did not debut	N/A	live performance
	Taylor Hicks	Seven Mile Breakdown	did not debut	N/A	live performance
	Jamie Foxx	"Blame It"	2 (+2)	4(+6)	live performance
Top 4	Paula Abdul	"I'm Just Here for the Music"	87 (debut)	61(24,615 +999%)	pre-recorded
	No Doubt	"Just a Girl"	ineligible to re-enter	TBA	pre-recorded
	Daughtry	"No Surprise"	15 (debut)	7 (103,593 +999%)	live performance
Top 3	Noah Mushimiyimana	"I'm the World's Greatest"	NA	NA	live performance
	Jordin Sparks	"Battlefield"	32 (debut)	12 (75,007 +999%)	live performance
	Katy Perry	"Waking Up in Vegas"	13 (+38)	5 (103,921) +180%	live performance
Top 2	Carrie Underwood	"Home Sweet Home"	79 (re-entry)	TBA	live performance on May 19, 2009

Primetime Emmy Awards :
Year	Category	Nominee(s)	Episode	Result
2009	Outstanding Reality Show or Reality Competition	American Idol
	Outstanding Directing For a Variety, Music Or Comedy Special	Bruce Gowers	Show 833 (The Final Three)
	Outstanding Host for a Reality-Competition Program	Ryan Seacrest

Teen Choice Awards :
Show	Episode	Air date	Week rank	Rating/ Share	18-49 rating/Share	Viewers (millions)
1	"Phoenix Auditions"	January 13, 2009	2	15.8 / 23	11.7 / 28	30.424
2	"Kansas City Auditions"	January 14, 2009	3	16.4 / 25	11.8 / 30	30.322
3	"San Francisco Auditions"	January 20, 2009	2	12.1 / 18	9.0 / 22	22.773
4	"Louisville Auditions"	January 21, 2009	1	14.3 / 22	9.8 / 24	25.897
5	"Jacksonville Auditions"	January 27, 2009	4	13.7 / 20	9.6 / 24	25.539
6	"Salt Lake City Auditions"	January 28, 2009	3	15.0 / 23	10.1 / 25	27.364
7	"New York & San Juan Auditions"	January 29, 2009	5	13.6 / 21	9.3 / 25	24.613
8	"Hollywood Round, Part 1"	February 3, 2009	1	14.7 / 22	10.0 / 25	26.601
9	"Hollywood Round, Part 2"	February 4, 2009	2	14.8 / 23	9.9 / 27	26.384
10	"Hollywood Round, Part 3"	February 10, 2009	2	13.9 / 21	9.2	24.941
11	"Hollywood Round, Part 4"	February 11, 2009	1	14.0 / 22	9.5	24.825
12	"Group 1 Semi-finalists Perform"	February 17, 2009	2	14.3 / 21	9.6	25.374
13	"Group 1 Results Show"	February 18, 2009	3	14.1 / 22	9.0 / 24	24.790
14	"Group 2 Semi-finalists Perform"	February 25, 2009	1	13.8 / 21	9.1	24.541
15	"Group 2 Results Show"	February 26, 2009	2	11.9 / 19	7.1 / 19	20.889
16	"Group 3 Semi-finalists Perform"	March 3, 2009	1	13.8 / 21	9.0	24.309
17	"Group 3 Results Show"	March 4, 2009	2	13.1 / 21	7.8 / 22	22.776
18	"Wild Card Round"	March 5, 2009	3	12.2 / 19	7.6 / 20	21.498
19	"Top 13 Perform"	March 10, 2009	1	14.6 / 23	9.5	25.767
20	"Top 13 Results""	March 11, 2009	2	14.6 / 22	9.1 / 22	25.547
21	"Top 11 Perform"	March 17, 2009	2	12.3 / 19	8.1 / 21	21.886
22	"Top 11 Results"	March 18, 2009	1	13.7 / 21	8.7	23.705
23	"Top 10 Perform"	March 25, 2009	1	14.7 / 23	9.3	26.025
24	"Top 10 Results"	March 26, 2009	2	13.2 / 21	7.7	23.102
25	"Top 9 Perform"	March 31, 2009	1	13.7 / 21	8.9	24.410
26	"Top 9 Results"	April 1, 2009	2	14.2 / 22	8.4 / 20	24.342
27	"Top 8 Perform"	April 7, 2009	2	13.1 / 21	8.1 / 22	22.813
28	"Top 8 Results"	April 8, 2009	1	13.4 / 21	8.0 / 20	22.976
29	"Top 7 Perform"	April 14, 2009	1	13.8 / 21	8.2 / 23	24.378
30	"Top 7 Results"	April 15, 2009	2	14.0 / 22	8.0 / 20	24.114
31	Top 6 Perform"	April 21, 2009	1	13.9 / 22	8.2	23.963
32	"Top 6 Results"	April 22, 2009	2	14.0 / 22	8.3	23.947
33	"Top 5 Perform"	April 28, 2009	1	13.5 / 21	8.1	23.261
34	"Top 5 Results"	April 29, 2009	2	13.2 / 20	7.7 / 19	22.369
35	"Top 4 Perform"	May 5, 2009	1	13.4 / 21	8.3	23.414
36	"Top 4 Results"	May 6, 2009	2	13.7 / 21	8.3 / 20	23.574
37	"Top 3 Perform"	May 12, 2009	2	13.0 / 22	8.0	22.712
38	"Top 3 Results"	May 13, 2009	1	14.0 / 21	8.7 / 21	24.670
39	"Top 2 Perform"	May 19, 2009	2	13.5 / 21	8.6	23.822
40	Season 8 Finale"	May 20, 2009	1	16.1 / 27	10.0	28.838

Finalists		Kris Allen * Adam Lambert * Danny Gokey * Allison Iraheta * Matt Giraud * Anoop Desai * Lil Rounds * Scott MacIntyre * Megan Joy * Michael Sarver * Alexis Grace * Jorge Núñez * Jasmine Murray
Other sources		Episode list * Tour * "No Boundaries"