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 then the highest recorded vote total in the show's history. This season also featured future EGOT winnerJennifer Hudson, who finished seventh in the competition.
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 number one, making Fantasia the first artist in the history of Billboard to debut at number one with their first single. In addition to Fantasia and Diana DeGarmo, Jasmine Trias, LaToya London, George Huff, Jennifer Hudson, and Camile Velasco all released albums since the season ended. This is also, to date, the only season in the show's history to produce multiple Grammy Award winners, courtesy of Fantasia (in 2011) and Hudson (in 2009 and 2017), as well as produce an Academy Award and Tony Award winner, courtesy of Hudson (in 2007 and 2022, respectively).
Changes from previous seasons
Unlike previous seasons, the semifinalists this season performed in front of a small studio audience with orchestral accompaniment on a backing tape. This was also the first season to feature two guest judges in one week: the duo Ashford & Simpson appeared during the top 10 week.
Regional auditions
Auditions were held in the summer of 2003 in the following cities:[1]
In this season, over 80,000 attended the auditions in 6 cities. A prominent audition 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]
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. 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 performances, they were divided into four groups and one group was eliminated.
Unlike previous seasons, the contestants this season performed in front of a small studio audience with orchestral accompaniment on a backing tape. As with the second season, two performers 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 round.
During the Wild Card round, twelve contestants were invited back to participate. However, after being evaluated during the week in rehearsals, only eight were chosen by the judges to perform that night. One performer was chosen by public vote, and one performer was chosen by each of the three judges.
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.
Color key:
This contestant was chosen by the public to advance.
This contestant was not chosen by the public, and had to perform again for the judges.
This contestant was not chosen by the public, but was chosen by the judges as a Wild Card pick.
This contestant was eliminated.
Contestants are listed in the order they performed.
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
Clive Davis served as a mentor and guest judge. Contestants performed three songs each: one chosen by Clive Davis, one chosen by one of the judges, and one chosen by themselves. Contestants are listed in the order they performed.
^The song was rewritten by Anka himself specially for this episode.
After a nationwide vote of more than 65 million votes — more than the first two seasons combined — Fantasia Barrino won American Idol over Diana DeGarmo.
Kelly Clarkson is quoted in the June 14, 2004 People magazine as saying she voted for Fantasia: "I just hit redial, redial."[citation needed]
^During the week of April 14, the episodes were pushed back one day for a White House press conference on Tuesday, April 13. The performance show aired on Wednesday, April 14, and the results show on Thursday, April 15.
Controversies
Both Jennifer Hudson and LaToya London, part of final twelve, were eliminated, despite high praises from the judges. After Hudson was eliminated, Elton John, who was a mentor for that season, criticized the vote as "incredibly racist" in a press conference.[15]
The elimination of both Hudson and London has been pointed out as a classic demonstration of vote-splitting in American Idol, 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 all 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, having the lowest individual vote counts.[16]
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 2011.
Re-edited episodes of the third season were shown in syndication as American Idol Rewind, paired with season 4. This season could not be syndicated in full for reasons beyond control (citing its unfair voting allegations[16]) and is the only season to be edited thereof.
