Unlike American Idol, the goal of the competition was not to find a single winner, but rather to create a singing group of five of the contestants. In this way, American Juniors more closely resembled the British series S Club Search, which had produced the group S Club Juniors.
The show spawned the singing group American Juniors, consisting of Taylor Thompson, Tori Thompson, Chauncey Matthews, Lucy Hale, and Danielle White. The group disbanded in 2004, after their self-titled studio album generated lackluster sales.
Two thousand young people auditioned for the show. A selected group of kids and their parents were flown to Hollywood to participate in "Hollywood Week", during which the field was narrowed to 20 performers who would move on to the live episodes.
Top 20 Semi-Final 1: Contestant Choice (June 17 and 18)
In each of two live "Top 20" semifinals, half of the remaining contestants competed for 5 positions in the Top 10, as determined by the votes of viewers. The results were aired the following evening.
Top 3: Danielle White, Chantel Kohl, and AJ Melendez
Top 2: Danielle White and Chantel Kohl
Final member of American Juniors: Danielle White
Morgan Burke performs: "Build Me Up Buttercup"
Katelyn Tarver performs: "I'll Never Fall In Love Again"
Chantel Kohl performs: "Open Arms"
Jordan McCoy performs: "More Today Than Yesterday"
Danielle White performs: "Colors of the Wind"
AJ Melendez performs: "I'll Be There"
Group performance: "Kids In America"
Danielle White's Encore performance: "Never Had a Dream Come True"
Chantel Kohl's Encore performance: "Sundown"
AJ Melendez's Encore performance: "Alive"
Official American Juniors group perform: "One Step Closer"
Concert Special (August 19)
American Juniors performs: "Reach"
Danielle White and the American Juniors performs: "Never Had a Dream Come True"
American Juniors performs: "Bring It All Back"
Debbie Gibson performs "Lost in Your Eyes"
Lucy Hale and the American Juniors performs: "Have You Ever"
Gladys Knight performs: "If I Could"
Gladys Knight and the American Juniors perform
American Juniors performs: "One Step Closer"
American Juniors performs: "(You Got to Have) Friends"
Ratings and aborted second season
American Juniors became one of the highest-rated television shows of the summer season, with approximately 11.9 million viewers on June 3, though the numbers dropped 40% toward the end of July. Nonetheless, the producers were satisfied of the strong teen demographic. A second season was planned for fall 2003, later postponed to the summer after the third season of American Idol, then called off.[1]
Following the show
Upon completion of the competition, the American Juniors group consisted of Taylor and Tori Thompson, Chauncey Matthews, Lucy Hale, and Danielle White. The group made a brief appearance on the December 2003 TV special An American Idol Christmas. Their debut album American Juniors was released on November 18, 2003.[2] The group disbanded in 2004, after having received relatively little publicity.
Almost 20 years after the TV series, Lucy Hale is now the most widely known contestant from American Juniors, having acted in a number of films and television shows, most notably the series Pretty Little Liars from 2010 to 2017. She returned to her musical roots in 2014, with the release of the country album Road Between on Disney Music Group's "Nashville" label.
Katelyn Tarver released her debut solo album, Wonderful Crazy, in 2005. From 2010 to 2013, she played Jo Taylor in the Nickelodeon TV series Big Time Rush. She has continued to act and release music. In 2019, she appeared on NBC's Songland.[3]
Jordan McCoy was signed to Diddy's label, Bad Boy Records, having only released demos. She was part of the late-2000s revival of the defunct girl group, Dream (also formed by Diddy).
In 2011, Tori and Taylor Thompson resurfaced on NBC's The Voice as a singing duo. They were selected and coached by Cee Lo Green but were voted off in the first live show.
In 2020, American Juniors semifinalist Grace Leer auditioned for season 18 of American Idol. She made it to Hollywood after singing "Crowded Table" by The Highwomen.[4] She eventually was eliminated at the Top 11.
