PEOPLE The Best of American Idol: Farewell to TV's Greatest Talent Search

By The Editors of PEOPLE

As American Idol prepares to exit the airwaves after 15 seasons of innovation and inspiration, PEOPLE takes a look back at the show that shattered records, and reinvented the television competition.

Highlights of this musical special edition include:

• Exclusive interviews with the contestants and judges - the ones we loved and the ones we loved to hate


• A review of the most memorable moments, from William Hung's "She Bangs" to Fantasia's powerhouse performances


• A section that reveals what contestants have been up to since their time on Idol


• A peek at the biggest successes to come out of the Idol machine, from Adam Lambert to Carrie Underwood

• Language: English
• Publisher: People
• Release date: Mar 4, 2016
• ISBN: 9781618931955

Book preview

Simon.

Kelly Clarkson

SHE BEAT JUSTIN GUARINI ON THE STRENGTH OF HER POWERHOUSE PIPES AND UNVARNISHED CHARM—THEN BUILT AN A-LIST CAREER THAT CATAPULTED AMERICAN IDOL FROM TALENT SHOW TO POP-CULTURE JUGGERNAUT

No one could have dreamed up a more perfect first American Idol winner than Kelly Clarkson. Her voice had pure, to-the-rafters power, and viewers totally related to the Burleson, Texas, cocktail waitress striving to make it big. From her first moments onscreen, she was poised to become a rags-to-riches story—literally!—when she turned up in a strapless audition outfit she’d made from an old pair of pants. But what’s been crucial to Idol’s star-making cred is everything she’s done since. She’s scored three No. 1 hits: A Moment Like This, Since U Been Gone and Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You); three Grammys; five platinum or multiplatinum albums and lucrative endorsements from Toyota and Citizen watches. With an annual income of $8 million, Clarkson, 33, has remained her lovably blunt self, speaking her mind on everything from gay rumors (I get hit on by the hottest girls ever . . . if I were a lesbian, I would be so in luck, she told Cosmopolitan in 2013) to body-shamers (I’m never going to live up to anyone’s expectations, so why try?). These days she’s focused on her happy home life with husband and best friend Brandon Blackstock, 39 (Reba McEntire’s stepson and Blake Shelton’s manager), and their kids: daughters River, 1, and Savannah, 13, and son Seth, 8 (she’s stepmom to the latter two). I love the challenge of helping mold someone’s life, Clarkson, who’s pregnant and due this spring, tells People. We want the kids to find their own niche. They don’t need to look far for their perfect role model. Kelly was this little Texas girl with a big dream, and it all came true, says Idol creator Simon Fuller. "America got it—and it was the start of something extra