Games - American Idol

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	Games - American Idol

The fourth season of American Idol
premiered on January 18, 2005 and continued until May 25, 2005. It was won by Carrie Underwood
.

Auditions

Auditions were held in Washington, DC, St. Louis, Missouri, New Orleans, Louisiana, Las Vegas, Nevada, Cleveland, Ohio, Orlando, Florida and San Francisco, California. Auditions were held from August to October 2004. While in the past seasons celebrity guest judges have been invited to participate during the competition, this was the first season where guest judges were invited to participate in the auditions. The music celebrities featured were:

January 18, Mark McGrath of Sugar Ray
January 25, Gene Simmons of KISS
January 26, Kenny Loggins
February 1, LL Cool J
February 2, Brandy

It is also the first season in which the age limit was raised to 28, in order to increase variety. Among those who benefitted from this new rule were Constantine Maroulis and Bo Bice, considered to be the eldest (and most experienced) of Idol contestants. They were also constantly mentioned by Ryan Seacrest and in the media as "the two rockers", since their long hair and choice of songs made them stand out from conventional Idol standards.

Contestants

Early eliminations

The most notable contestant in the early episodes was Mary Roach, who auditioned in Washington D.C. Her rendition of Carole King's "I Feel The Earth Move", as well as her comments to the judges that followed her audition, brought considerable negative attention (including false rumors of mental illness) and comparisons to William Hung
.

Also noted was Leroy Wells from Grand Bay, Alabama who auditioned in New Orleans singing Ol' Dirty Bastard's "Got Your Money". He acquired mild fame by repeatedly yelling, "Can you dig it?" to the judges and for the inability of the judges (except for Jackson) to fully understand him. Wells did not seem to audition for the sake of singing, but to entertain the masses with his sense of humor and to appear on television. He does not speak proper English and instead speaks Crunk. An extended audition of Leroy Wells is also available on The Worst of American Idol DVD, in which he improvised "I Feel Good".

Joseph Land auditioned in Las Vegas and claimed that he was 28 years old, the maximum age allowed for the competition. All the judges, however, were skeptical of Land's claim, because he appeared to be much older than 28. The chyron graphics displaying his stats even showed his age as "28" (including the quote marks). After his audition received unanimous negative feedback from the judges, Land finally admitted to being 44 years old.

Eliminated in Hollywood

Eliminated Round One

A total of 193 contestants made it to Hollywood. 96 were cut at this point, a few of which include:

Regina Brooks was noted for selling an expensive engagement ring in order to afford the trip to the audition.
Briana Davis performed the theme of the Phantom of the Opera in the auditions, and stuck out by her blue hair.
Jeff Johnson
Rich Molfetta
Emily Neves first performed Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Want to Have Fun", and was commented by the judges for being highly energetic. She had to sing a second song, "Different Drum" before getting the green light to Hollywood.
Patrick Norman
Francisco Torres

Eliminated Round Two

97 contestants remained at this point, where the contestants were put into groups. 22 were cut, including:

Lamar Jefferson
Aaron Kelly was one of the boys portrayed as a rocker in his group.
Nicholas Kolbosky
Elizabeth Pha (nee Chandara), born in Cambodia, entered the audition wearing a fishnet and surprised the judges. She has since released an independent album.

Eliminated Round Three

75 contestants remained at this point (including Marlea Stroman who left the competition, see below). 30 were cut, including:

Larry Ellis
Sharon Galvez was known as a cocktail waitress who had plenty of experience in the clubs in Las Vegas.
Angel Higgs was a music teacher from Knoxville, Tennessee.
Aa'Shia Jackson
Rashida Johnson lost her voice early in the Hollywood round and struggled with it; but managed to perservere.
Michael Liuzza
Sean McNeill
Dezmond Meeks was known for his acrobatic moves in the audition and split the judges. He sang "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)".
Kurtis Parks
Jennifer Todd
Shunta Warthen was shown having got on the wrong bus when the 193 Hollywood contestants split up on the first day in Hollywood; she had to find every which way back - which she did.
Ross Williams became well known as one of several crooners in Season 4.
Carrie Zaruba

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for American Idol (Season 4) ]