Finals
The finals were broadcast live, in front of a live studio audience. The finals lasted for eight weeks, each finalist performed a song or songs selected from a weekly theme. During the first few weeks, contestants sang one song each. By the top four week, the contestants sang two songs each, and in the finale the two finalists performed three songs apiece.
The results of public vote were revealed in the night following the performance night in the results show. The three or two contestants in the later rounds who received the lowest number of votes were typically called the Bottom Three or Two. From the bottom three, one contestant was sent to safety so that two contestants remained and finally the contestant who received the lowest amount of votes was eliminated from the competition. A farewell video with montage of the eliminated contestant is shown.
This season largely set the pattern for later seasons, such as group performance by the contestants during the result shows, home town visits for the top 3, and performing the songs for the top 2 that would be released immediately after the finale. In this season, there are no guest mentor apart from the Burt Bacharach week where the composer helped the contestants prepare their songs.
The finale was between Kelly Clarkson and Justin Guarini, and Kelly Clarkson was declared the winner with 58% out of 15.5 million votes cast. Over 110 million votes were cast over the entire season.
A television special from Las Vegas starring the top thirty-two finalists aired later, a thirty date tour with the top ten followed, as did the box office bomb movie titled From Justin to Kelly.
Read more about this topic: Alexis Stone Lopez