American Idol season 11

Template:Infobox reality music competition The eleventh season of American Idol premiered on Fox on January 18, 2012. The show airs on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 8/7c. Ryan Seacrest returns as host, while Randy Jackson, Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez all return as judges. Interscope Records Chairman Jimmy Iovine, a songwriter and producer, also returns as an in-house mentor to work with the contestants on a weekly basis. No other major changes in the judging panel were planned this season. This season will follow the same format as season 10, although a new title screen and logo has been created, with a different font.

Selection process

Auditions

Auditions took place in the following cities:

Episode air date	Audition city	Date	Venue	Callback date	Callback venue	Golden tickets
January 18, 2012	North Charleston, South Carolina	July 22, 2011	North Charleston Coliseum	August 17-18, 2011	Hyatt Regency, Savannah, Georgia	42
January 19, 2012	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	July 15, 2011	Heinz Field	September 28-29, 2011	David L. Lawrence Convention Center	38
January 22, 2012	San Diego, California	July 8, 2011	Petco Park	October 9-10, 2011	USS Midway Aircraft Carrier	53
January 25, 2012	Denver, Colorado	July 29, 2011	Invesco Field	October 5-6, 2011	Doerr-Hosier Center, Aspen	31
January 26, 2012	Houston, Texas	August 26, 2011	Reliant Arena	August 30-31, 2011	Galveston Island Convention Center	55
February 1, 2012	Portland, Oregon	July 2, 2011	Rose Garden	October 1-2, 2011	Red Lion Hotel	45
February 2, 2012	St. Louis, Missouri	June 28, 2011	Scottrade Center	September 2-3, 2011	Hilton St. Louis at the Ballpark	46
— a	East Rutherford, New Jersey	September 22, 2011	IZOD Center	September 24-25, 2011	—	—
Total number of tickets to Hollywood						310

A helicopter view of American Idol auditions at Petco Park, San Diego, July 8, 2011

• ^Note a The New Jersey audition episode was not aired due to scheduling changes.

The New Jersey audition was a late addition to the schedule, the audition was held although the attendance was reportedly low. However, the audition episode was not shown, the first time that a scheduled audition that had taken place was not shown. Contestants known to have auditioned in New Jersey were listed as having auditioned elsewhere on the official American Idol website, for example Alex Wong who auditioned in New Jersey has San Diego listed as his audition city on the official website.

Hollywood week

The Hollywood rounds of auditions were held at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium starting December 12, 2011. There were 309 contestants at the start of Hollywood Week. The contestants performed solo for the first round, and 185 survived after this round. Amongst those cut included actor comedian Jim Carrey's daughter, Jane Carrey. Another contestant, Symone Black, collapsed and fell off on stage, but was eliminated during the next round. During the group round, a number of contestants became ill; some of whom collapsed in the auditorium. 98 contestants survived the group round, and proceeded on to the next solo round where they performed accompanied by a band or instrument. The contestants were then separated into four rooms, with one room of contestants being eliminated; the other rooms of contestants advanced in the competition. The remaining 70 contestants made it through to the Las Vegas round.

Vegas rounds

After the Hollywood rounds, the contestants went to Las Vegas for a challenge round where they performed traditional late 1950s song in groups with Elvis Presley "Viva, Elvis!" show as the backdrop. This was then followed by a solo Sing-For-Your-Life round as in Season 10. The 42 contestants who made it thus far performed solo accompanied by an instrument at the stage for Le Rêve at the Wynn Las Vegas.

Semi-finalists

After the 42 remaining contestants sang their last solo at the Wynn Las Vegas hotel, they were called one by one to hear the final judgement. The first 14 semi-finalists were announced on the February 22 episode. The other 10 contestants were announced on the February 23 episode.

At the end of the episode revealing the top twenty-four, it was announced that the judges planned to add one more male semifinalist, resulting in a top thirteen boys. The four possibilities were Jermaine Jones, Richie Law, Johnny Keyser and David Leathers Jr. After the other twelve performances on February 28, it was announced that Jermaine Jones was the thirteenth male semi-finalist.

The following is a list of semi-finalists who failed to reach the finals:

Females Contestant Age Date of Birth Hometown Audition Location Baylie Brown 22 January 6, 1990 Krum, Texas Houston, Texas Hallie Day 24 April 6, 1987 Baltimore, Maryland Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Jen Hirsh 25 June 25, 1986 Agoura Hills, California Houston, Texas Haley Johnsen 23 January 3, 1989 Beaverton, Oregon Portland, Oregon Chelsea Sorrell 23 June 30, 1988 Stokesdale, North Carolina Charleston, South Carolina Brielle Von Hugel 17 May 4, 1994 Staten Island, New York Rutherford, New Jersey

Males Contestant Age Date of Birth Hometown Audition Location Adam Brock 27 May 29, 1984 Washington, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Creighton Fraker 28 May 12, 1983 Queens, New York Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Eben Franckewitz 15 June 13, 1996 Loveland, Ohio Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Reed Grimm 26 April 12, 1985 Ellsworth, Wisconsin Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Chase Likens 21 February 15, 1991 Point Pleasant, West Virginia Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Aaron Marcellus 27 July 25, 1984 Atlanta, Georgia Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Semi-finals

The semi-finals round started on February 28. Below are the two semi-final groups (males and females) with contestants listed in their performance order. The top five males and top five females, along with the three wild card choices by the judges, advanced to the finals. There were twenty-five semifinalists, twelve females and thirteen males because the judges decided to add one more male semifinalist, resulting in a top thirteen boys. The males started the semifinal round, and the females continued on following night's episode, the contestants perform songs of their choice (there was no particular theme).

Males

Order	Contestant	Song (original artist)	Result
1	Reed Grimm	"Moves Like Jagger" (Maroon 5 ft. Christina Aguilera)	Wild Card
2	Adam Brock	"Think" (Aretha Franklin)	Eliminated
3	Deandre Brackensick	"Reasons" (Earth, Wind & Fire)	Wild Card
4	Colton Dixon	"Decode" (Paramore)	Advanced
5	Jeremy Rosado	"Gravity" (Sara Bareilles)	Wild Card
6	Aaron Marcellus	"Never Can Say Goodbye" (The Jackson 5)	Eliminated
7	Chase Likens	"Storm Warning" (Hunter Hayes)	Eliminated
8	Creighton Fraker	"True Colors" (Cyndi Lauper)	Eliminated
9	Phillip Phillips	"In the Air Tonight" (Phil Collins)	Advanced
10	Eben Franckewitz	"Set Fire to the Rain" (Adele)	Eliminated
11	Heejun Han	"Angels" (Robbie Williams)	Advanced
12	Joshua Ledet	"You Pulled Me Through" (Jennifer Hudson)	Advanced
13	Jermaine Jones	"Dance with My Father" (Luther Vandross)	Advanced

Females

Order	Contestant	Song (original artist)	Result
1	Chelsea Sorrell	"Cowboy Casanova" (Carrie Underwood)	Eliminated
2	Erika Van Pelt	"What About Love" (Toronto)	Wild Card
3	Jen Hirsh	"One and Only" (Adele)	Wild Card
4	Brielle Von Hugel	"(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" (Otis Redding)	Wild Card
5	Hallie Day	"Feeling Good" (Cy Grant)	Eliminated
6	Skylar Laine	"Stay with Me" (Faces)	Advanced
7	Baylie Brown	"Amazed" (Lonestar)	Eliminated
8	Hollie Cavanagh	"Reflection" (Christina Aguilera)	Advanced
9	Haley Johnsen	"Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" (Eurythmics)	Eliminated
10	Shannon Magrane	"Go Light Your World" (Kathy Troccoli)	Advanced
11	Jessica Sanchez	"Love You I Do" (Jennifer Hudson)	Advanced
12	Elise Testone	"One and Only" (Adele)	Advanced

Wild Card round

Following those ten singers advancing on Thursday, March 1, six of the remaining 15 semi-finalists were selected by the judges to compete in the Wild Card round. The Wild Card round immediately began, following the announcement of the ten finalists. Following another performance by each Wild Card contender, the judges then selected three contestants to advance to the final group of 13.

Order	Contestant	Song (original artist)	Result
1	Jen Hirsh	"Oh! Darling" (The Beatles)	Eliminated
2	Jeremy Rosado	"I Know You Won't" (Carrie Underwood)	Advanced
3	Brielle Von Hugel	"Someone Like You" (Adele)	Eliminated
4	Deandre Brackensick	"Georgia on My Mind" (Hoagy Carmichael and His Orchestra)	Advanced
5	Erika Van Pelt	"The Edge of Glory" (Lady Gaga)	Advanced
6	Reed Grimm	"Use Me" (Bill Withers)	Eliminated

Finalists

• Deandre Brackensick (born October 21, 1994) is from San Jose, California, and is 17 years old. He auditioned in San Diego, California. He originally auditioned for American Idol season 10, but he was cut in the green mile round. He is an active participant in Oak Grove High School's Theater Arts program and is the president of the school's Polynesian Club.

• Hollie Cavanagh (born July 5, 1993) is from McKinney, Texas, and is 18 years old. She was born in Liverpool, Merseyside, England to Lorraine and Peter Cavanagh and hailed from the Liverpudlian suburb Allerton, in England, and moved to the United States in 2002. She originally auditioned for season 10, but she was cut in the green mile round and was told by Jennifer Lopez that she thinks that she can win the whole thing next time by practicing and improving her singing. Months later she got a second chance for season 11 and auditioned in Houston, Texas, but she was not given a lot of screen time compared to her screen time in season 10. She was only shown in the green mile round with fellow American Idol contestants, Shelby Tweten and Ariel Sprague. She sang "Change" by American Idol season 4 contestant Carrie Underwood in Sing for Your Life and was given nice feedback by the judges.

• Colton Dixon (born October 19, 1991) is from Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and is 20 years old. He auditioned in North Charleston, South Carolina with his younger sister, Schyler, who was cut in the Las Vegas round. He originally auditioned for season 10 along with Schyler in the Nashville, Tennessee, auditions, but she was cut in the Las Vegas round and then he was cut in the green mile round. Dixon returned in season 11, however he did not plan to audition, initially planning to merely accompany his sister Schyler to her audition. The judges implored Dixon to audition as well, where he sang David Cook's "Permanent". In Las Vegas, Schyler was cut again, which brought him to tears. He performed The "5" Royales' "Dedicated to the One I Love" with Chase Likens, Cari Quoyeser and Skylar Laine. For his final solo he performed Coldplay' song "Fix You", and he dedicated to his sister, Shyler, who was eliminated.

• Heejun Han (born April 20, 1989) was born in Anyang, Gyeonggi, South Korea. He is from Flushing, New York, and is 22 years old. He and his family migrated to Queens, New York when he was a child and then moved to Flushing, Queens, New York during his teenage years. Before American Idol, he was a non-profit organizer, working with children with special needs. He has spoken of suffering from emotional depression and credited the children that he worked with for helping him to recover from his illness. He has also said that the children motivated him to audition for American Idol. He auditioned in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with the song "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You" by Laura Branigan. His audition brought Jennifer Lopez to tears, and Steven Tyler stated "I think you are really great. I think you could be the American Idol". He is the first Korean American to make the finals on American Idol.

• Skylar Laine (born February 1, 1994) is from Brandon, Mississippi, and is 18 years old. She is the second finalist to hail from Mississippi, with the previous one being Jasmine Murray from season 8. She auditioned in Houston, Texas, singing "Hell on Heels" by Pistol Annies. Her musical influences include George Jones, Waylon Jennings, and Miranda Lambert. After the competition, she plans to move to Nashville, Tennessee.

• Joshua Ledet (born April 9, 1992) is from Westlake, Louisiana, and is 19 years old. He writes songs and lyrics for and attends the House of Prayer Holiness Church. He auditioned in Houston, Texas. He originally auditioned for American Idol season 10, but he did not make it past the audition stage. He was dubbed "Mantasia" (as being the male version of American Idol season 3 contestant Fantasia Barrino) during the semi-finals. His musical influences are Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Fantasia Barrino, James Brown, Luther Vandross, Stevie Wonder and Elton John.

• Phillip Phillips (born September 20, 1990) is from Leesburg, Georgia, and is 21 years old. He attended Lee County High School. He graduated Albany Technical College, but had to miss the graduation ceremony due to being on American Idol. He auditioned in North Charleston, South Carolina, by singing "Superstition" by Stevie Wonder. The judges then asked him to audition with his guitar where he performed Michael Jackson's "Thriller." Many people have compared his vocal style similar to Dave Matthews who he also has an influence on.

• Jessica Sanchez (born August 4, 1995) is a Filipino-Mexican-American from San Diego, California, and is 16 years old. She was born in Chula Vista, California. Her father Gilbert Sanchez is a Mexican-American U.S. Navy veteran and originally from Texas and fought in the War in Iraq. Her mother Editha Sanchez is Filipina and originally from Bataan province in the Philippines. Sanchez auditioned in San Diego, California. Before Idol, she was first known for her appearance on the first season of America's Got Talent where she was brought back by judge Brandy during the show's wildcard round. Sanchez also participated in the YouTube edition of "We Are the World" along with 56 other YouTube artists, including American Idol season 10 finalist Thia Megia.

• Elise Testone (born July 29, 1983) is from Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, and is 28 years old. She auditioned in North Charleston, South Carolina, with the song "Get It While You Can" by Janis Joplin. Prior to Idol, she was a voice instructor in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, and she performed regularly, either solo or with one of several bands, in Charleston, South Carolina. In 2011, her band, the Freeloaders, won the Funk/Soul/R&B Artist of the Year award in the Charleston City Paper’s Music issue. Testone received additional recognition from the Charleston City Paper in 2011, winning the staff pick for Best Tribute for Elise Testone’s James Brown Dance Party. She has performed as an opening act for various other artists, including Snoop Dogg, Nappy Roots, Seven Mary Three, and Kevin Costner’s band, Modern West.

• Erika Van Pelt (born December 12, 1985) is from South Kingstown, Rhode Island, and is 26 years old. She auditioned in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with song "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" by The Shirelles. She draws her influences anywhere from Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan, Joss Stone, Jill Scott, and Kim Burrell. She has a passion for rhythm and blues, soul, country, jazz, rock and classical. She was eliminated on March 22, 2012 and came in 10th place.

• Shannon Magrane (born October 21, 1995) is from Tampa, Florida, and is 16 years old. She is the daughter of Tampa Bay Rays broadcaster and former St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Joe Magrane. She auditioned in North Charleston, South Carolina, with the song "Something's Got a Hold on Me" by Etta James. She was eliminated on March 15, 2012 and came in 11th place.

• Jermaine Jones (born November 3, 1986), born to Katrice Cornett, is from Pine Hill, New Jersey, and is 25 years old. He auditioned in Portland, Oregon. He attended Overbrook High School. Before Idol, he worked as a vocal instructor at Highest Praise Performing Arts Center. In Las Vegas, he performed "Make it Easy on Yourself" with Richie Law and the judges advanced both to the green mile round, but Richie Law was cut in that round. He was not originally chosen for the semi-finals, but he was called back after the top 24 selection filming, making him the 25th semi-finalist and thirteenth male semi-finalist. Standing 6 feet 8 and a half inches tall, he has been dubbed on the show as "The Gentle Giant." On March 13, 2012, he was kicked off the show due to a hidden criminal past. He is the second American Idol contestant to be disqualified during the finals, after the same thing happened to Corey Clark in the second season.

• Jeremy Rosado (born March 24, 1992) is from Valrico, Florida, and is 19 years old. Rosado previously auditioned for American Idol four times. He was eliminated on March 8, 2012 and came in 13th place. He is the fourth wild card finalist and first male one to be the eliminated first in the finals, with his female predecessors being Leah LaBelle (season 3), Jasmine Murray (season 8), and Ashthon Jones (season 10). His musical influences are Francesca Battistelli, Kirk Franklin, and Israel Houghton.

Finals

In this season, maintaining the previous season's format, there are originally 12 weeks (later reduced to 11 weeks after Jermaine Jones got disqualified) of the finals and 13 finalists, with one finalist eliminated per week, with the exception of Top 12 week whereby two finalists were eliminated as Jermaine Jones was disqualified from the competition and Shannon Magrane receiving the lowest number of votes for that week. Previous season's winner Scotty McCreery recorded the Tim McGraw song "Please Remember Me" as the send-off song played when a contestant is eliminated.

Top 13 – Whitney Houston & Stevie Wonder

• Mentor: Mary J. Blige

On March 7, 2012, the women performed Whitney Houston songs and the men performed Stevie Wonder songs. Ryan Seacrest stated that it will be a competition between the male and female contestants. As a result, the bottom 3 of each gender, as well as the male and female contestant who received the lowest number of votes amongst their gender, were announced the next night, and the judges chose who will go home. Between Jeremy Rosado and Elise Testone, each of whom received the lowest number of votes for their respective gender groups, the judges chose to eliminate Rosado from the competition.

Order	Contestant	Song (original artist if applicable)	Result
1	Joshua Ledet	"I Wish"	Bottom 3 (M)
2	Elise Testone	"I'm Your Baby Tonight"	Saved
3	Jermaine Jones	"Knocks Me Off My Feet"	Bottom 3 (M)
4	Erika Van Pelt	"I Believe in You and Me" (Four Tops)	Bottom 3 (F)
5	Colton Dixon	"Lately"	Safe
6	Shannon Magrane	"I Have Nothing"	Bottom 3 (F)
7	Deandre Brackensick	"Master Blaster (Jammin')"	Safe
8	Skylar Laine	"Where Do Broken Hearts Go"	Safe
9	Heejun Han	"All in Love Is Fair"	Safe
10	Hollie Cavanagh	"All the Man That I Need" (Linda Clifford)	Safe
11	Jeremy Rosado	"Ribbon in the Sky"	Eliminated
12	Jessica Sanchez	"I Will Always Love You" (Dolly Parton)	Safe
13	Phillip Phillips	"Superstition"	Safe

• Group performance: "As" (Stevie Wonder)

Top 11 – Year They Were Born

• Mentor: will.i.am

Due to a hidden criminal past, Jermaine Jones was disqualified prior to the Wednesday performance show. Footage of executive producers Nigel Lythgoe and Ken Warwick confronting Jones was shown in what would have been his performance slot, in between Van Pelt's and Laine's performances. A clip of his rehearsal, singing "Somewhere Out There", was shown after his removal from the competition. Voting continued as scheduled with the remaining 11 contestants, following the procedure of the season 2 disqualification of Corey Clark.

Order	Contestant	Song (original artist)	Year	Result
1	Phillip Phillips	"Hard to Handle" (Otis Redding)	1990	Safe
2	Jessica Sanchez	"Turn the Beat Around" (Vicki Sue Robinson)	1995	Safe
3	Heejun Han	"Right Here Waiting" (Richard Marx)	1989	Safe
4	Elise Testone	"Let's Stay Together" (Al Green)	1983	Bottom 3
5	Deandre Brackensick	"Endless Love" (Lionel Richie & Diana Ross)	1994	Safe
6	Shannon Magrane	"One Sweet Day" (Mariah Carey & Boyz II Men)	1995	Eliminated
7	Colton Dixon	"Broken Heart" (White Lion)	1991	Safe
8	Erika Van Pelt	"Heaven" (Bryan Adams)	1985	Bottom 3
9	Skylar Laine	"Love Sneakin' Up on You" (Bonnie Raitt)	1994	Safe
10	Joshua Ledet	"When a Man Loves a Woman" (Percy Sledge)	1992	Safe
11	Hollie Cavanagh	"The Power of Love" (Jennifer Rush)	1993	Safe

Top 10 – Billy Joel

• Mentor: Diddy

Order	Contestant	Song	Result
1	Deandre Brackensick	"Only the Good Die Young"	Bottom 3
2	Erika Van Pelt	"New York State of Mind"	Eliminated
3	Joshua Ledet	"She's Got a Way"	Safe
4	Skylar Laine	"Shameless"	Safe
5	Elise Testone	"Vienna"	Safe
6	Phillip Phillips	"Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)"	Safe
7	Hollie Cavanagh	"Honesty"	Safe
8	Heejun Han	"My Life"	Bottom 3
9	Jessica Sanchez	"Everybody Has a Dream"	Safe
10	Colton Dixon	"Piano Man"	Safe

• Group performance: "The Longest Time"
• Joe Perry with group: "Happy Birthday to You" (to Steven Tyler)

Top 9 – Their Personal Idols

• Mentor: Stevie Nicks

Order	Contestant	Song (original artist)	Personal Idol	Result
1	Colton Dixon	"Everything" (Lifehouse)	Lifehouse	Safe
2	Skylar Laine	"Gunpowder & Lead" (Miranda Lambert)	Miranda Lambert	Bottom 3
3	Heejun Han	"A Song for You" (Leon Russell)	Donny Hathaway	Bottom 3
4	Hollie Cavanagh	"Jesus, Take the Wheel" (Carrie Underwood)	Carrie Underwood	Bottom 3
5	Deandre Brackensick	"Sometimes I Cry" (Eric Benet)	Eric Benet	Safe
6	Jessica Sanchez	"Sweet Dreams" (Beyonce)	Beyonce	Safe
7	Phillip Phillips	"Still Rainin'" (Jonny Lang)	Jonny Lang	Safe
8	Joshua Ledet	"Without You" (Nilsson)	Mariah Carey	Safe
9	Elise Testone	"Whole Lotta Love" (Led Zeppelin)	Led Zeppelin	Safe

On performance night:

• Colton Dixon, Elise Testone and Phillip Phillips: "Landslide" / "Edge of Seventeen" / "Don't Stop" (Fleetwood Mac/Stevie Nicks Medley)
• Deandre Brackensick, Heejun Han and Joshua Ledet: "Lady In My Life"/"Rock With You"/"P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" (Michael Jackson medley)
• Hollie Cavanagh,Skylar Laine and Jessica Sanchez: "Like a Prayer"/"Borderline"/"Express Yourself" (Madonna medley)

On results night:

Elimination chart

Females

Males

Top 25

Wild Card

Top 13

Winner

Did Not Perform

Safe

Safe First

Safe Last

Eliminated

Disqualified

Top 13 Save

Judges' Save

Stage:		Semi-Finals	Wild Card	Finals
Week:		3/1		3/81	3/15	3/22	3/29	4/5	4/12	4/19	4/26	5/3	5/10	5/17	5/23
Place	Contestant	Result
	Deandre Brackensick	Wild Card	Top 13			Bottom 3
	Hollie Cavanagh	Top 13					Bottom 3
	Colton Dixon	Top 13
	Heejun Han	Top 13				Bottom 3	Bottom 3
	Skylar Laine	Top 13					Bottom 3
	Joshua Ledet	Top 13		Bottom 3 (M)
	Phillip Phillips	Top 13
	Jessica Sanchez	Top 13
	Elise Testone	Top 13		Saved	Bottom 3
10	Erika Van Pelt	Wild Card	Top 13	Bottom 3 (F)	Bottom 3	Elim
11	Shannon Magrane	Top 13		Bottom 3 (F)	Elim
12	Jermaine Jones	Top 13		Bottom 3 (M)	DQ2
13	Jeremy Rosado	Wild Card	Top 13	Elim
14-16	Reed Grimm	Wild Card	Elim
	Jen Hirsh	Wild Card
	Brielle Von Hugel	Wild Card
17-25	Adam Brock	Elim
	Baylie Brown
	Hallie Day
	Creighton Fraker
	Eben Franckewitz
	Haley Johnsen
	Chase Likens
	Aaron Marcellus
	Chelsea Sorrell

^Note 1 : The Top 13 results featured individual 'Bottom 3' groups per each gender, with Elise Testone and Jeremy Rosado receiving the least votes amongst their respective genders. The judges subsequently opted to save Testone, thereby eliminating Rosado from the competition.
^Note 2 : Jermaine Jones was disqualified for failing to disclose his full criminal history prior to the voting rounds commencing.

Results show performances

Week	Performer(s)	Title	Hot 100 reaction	Digital sales reaction	Performance type
St. Louis Auditions	Madonna feat. Nicki Minaj & M.I.A.	"Give Me All Your Luvin'"	#13 (debut)	115,000	music video teaser
Top 13	Lauren Alaina	"Georgia Peaches"	failed to chart	12,000 (+64%)	live performance
	Mary J. Blige	"Why"	failed to chart	TBA	live performance
Top 11	Demi Lovato	"Give Your Heart a Break"	failed to chart	TBA	live performance
	Daughtry	"Outta My Head"	#129	24,000 (debut)	live performance
Top 10	Lana Del Rey	"Video Games"	failed to chart	TBA	pre-recorded performance
	Haley Reinhart	"Free"	#104	35,000 (debut)	live performance
Top 9	Nicki Minaj	"Starships"	TBA	TBA	live performance
	Scotty McCreery	"Water Tower Town"	TBA	TBA	live performance
Top 8	Jennifer Lopez	"Dance Again"	TBA	TBA	music video premiere
	The Wanted	Glad You Came"	TBA	TBA	TBA
Top 7	James Durbin	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA
Top 6	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA
Top 5	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA
Top 4	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA
Top 3	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA
Finale	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA

Controversies

Disqualification of Jermaine Jones

On March 14, the finalist Jermaine Jones was disqualified for concealing arrests and outstanding warrants. Jones, however, denied that he had concealed his previous arrests, as he admitted his arrests when he signed up for Idol. A police official in a New Jersey town where he was the target of two arrest warrants said that "the case wasn't big enough to merit going after him", and that for the show "to expose, embarrass and interrogate a young man without an attorney in front of 40 million viewers was an outrage". Critics suggested that the show may have staged the disqualification to boost ratings. When asked about speculations that producers had prior knowledge of his criminal past and that the producers were simply out to exploit him on-air, Jones replied that "I haven’t even taken my mind into that and why they did what they did, because then I’ll drive myself crazy".

U.S. Nielsen ratings

The premiere was watched by 21.93 million viewers. While at the time it drew the second largest audience of any entertainment program in the television season, it was down 16 percent from the previous year's premiere, which was watched by 26.23 million viewers.

Episode list

Show Episode Air date Rating Share Rating/share 18-49 Viewers (millions) Weekly rank Note 1 "Savannah Auditions" January 18, 2012 12.3 19 7.4/19 21.93 3 2 "Pittsburgh Auditions" January 19, 2012 10.3 16 5.7/15 18.02 4 3 "San Diego Auditions"a January 22, 2012 N/A N/A 7.9/21 19.70 N/Ab 4 "Aspen Auditions" January 25, 2012 11.1 17 6.5/18 19.67 1 5 "Houston/Galveston Auditions" January 26, 2012 10.0 16 5.5/16 17.14 2 6 "Portland Auditions" February 1, 2012 10.6 17 6.0/17 18.48 4 7 "St. Louis Auditions" February 2, 2012 10.2 16 5.5/15 17.41 5 8 "Hollywood Week, Part 1" February 8, 2012 11.0 17 6.1/17 19.32 3 9 "Hollywood Week, Part 2" February 9, 2012 10.5 17 5.8/16 18.13 4 10 "Hollywood Week, Part 3" February 15, 2012 10.8 17 6.1/16 18.89 2 11 "Las Vegas Round" February 16, 2012 9.8 15 5.1/14 16.71 3 12 "Final Judgement Part 1" February 22, 2012 9.3 15 5.1/14 16.10 6 13 "Final Judgement Part 2" February 23, 2012 9.3 15 4.5/13 15.64 8 14 "Semifinalists Boys Perform" February 28, 2012 9.4 14 5.1/13 16.11 4 15 "Semifinalists Girls Perform" February 29, 2012 10.1 16 5.0/13 17.23 3 16 "Wildcard Results/Finalists Chosen" March 1, 2012 10.8 17 5.4/15 18.27 1 17 "Top 13 Perform" March 7, 2012 10.9 17 5.7/16 18.69 1 18 "Top 13 Results" March 8, 2012 10.2 16 4.9/14 17.27 2 19 "Top 11 Perform" March 14, 2012 10.7 17 5.4/16 18.38 1 20 "Top 11 Results" March 15, 2012 9.4 16 4.6/14 16.02 2 21 "Top 10 Perform" March 21, 2012 10.4 17 5.1/15 17.21 3 22 "Top 10 Results" March 22, 2012 9.3 15 4.2/13 15.58 5 23 "Top 9 Perform" March 28, 2012 24 "Top 9 Results" March 29, 2012

• ^Note a Episode was repeated on Tuesday, January 24, 2012 with ratings of 5.7/9 overall and 3.4/9 for the 18/49 demographic. Overall, the episode averaged 9.64 million viewers.
• ^Note b Episode was bumped out of primetime due to the NFC Championship Game going into overtime, therefore it was not included in the weekly rankings.

References