American Idol (season 11)

American Idol
Season 11
Hosted byRyan Seacrest
Judges
WinnerPhillip Phillips
Runner-upJessica Sanchez
Finals venueNokia Theatre L.A. Live
Release
Original networkFox
Original releaseJanuary 18 (2012-01-18) –
May 23, 2012 (2012-05-23)
Season chronology
← Previous
Season 10
Next →
Season 12
List of episodes

The eleventh season of American Idol premiered on Fox on January 18, 2012, and concluded on May 23, 2012. Ryan Seacrest returned as host, while Randy Jackson, Jennifer Lopez, and Steven Tyler all returned as judges. Interscope Records chairman Jimmy Iovine, a songwriter and producer, also returned as an in-house mentor to work with the contestants on a weekly basis. This season followed the same format as the tenth season. Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler both announced that they would be leaving the show two months after the finale, although Lopez later returned as a judge for the show's thirteenth season.

The season set a record when 132 million votes were received for the finale. On May 23, 2012, Phillip Phillips became the winner of the eleventh season of American Idol, beating Jessica Sanchez, who was the runner-up.

Changes from previous seasons

This season, long-time vocal coach Debra Byrd was replaced by Jimmy Iovine's own team. Additionally, fashion designers Tommy Hilfiger and Soyon An were employed as image advisers for the top 13 finalists.

Regional auditions

Auditions took place in the following cities:

American Idol (season 10) – regional auditions
City Preliminary date Preliminary venue Filming date(s) Filming venue Golden tickets
St. Louis, Missouri June 28, 2011 Scottrade Center September 2–3, 2011 Hilton St. Louis at the Ballpark 46
Portland, Oregon July 2, 2011 Rose Garden October 1–2, 2011 Red Lion Hotel 45
San Diego, California July 8, 2011 Petco Park October 9–10, 2011 USS Midway 53
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania July 15, 2011 Heinz Field September 28–29, 2011 David L. Lawrence Convention Center 38
North Charleston, South Carolina July 22, 2011 North Charleston Coliseum August 17–18, 2011 Hyatt Regency, Savannah, Georgia 42
Denver, Colorado July 29, 2011 Invesco Field October 5–6, 2011 Doerr-Hosier Center, Aspen, Colorado 31
Houston, Texas August 26, 2011 Reliant Arena August 30–31, 2011 Galveston Island Convention Center 55
East Rutherford, New Jersey September 22, 2011 IZOD Center September 24–25, 2011 Unknown Unknown
Total number of tickets to Hollywood 310
  1. ^ a b The audition episode in East Rutherford was not aired.
A helicopter view of American Idol auditions at Petco Park, San Diego, July 8, 2011

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

Hollywood week

The Hollywood rounds were held at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium starting December 12, 2011. The 309 contestants performed solo for the first round, and 185 made the cut. Amongst those sent home included Jim Carrey's daughter, Jane Carrey. The second round involved group performances, and a number of contestants became ill and collapsed in the auditorium. 98 contestants moved on to the third and final round: solo performances accompanied by a band or an instrument. The contestants were then separated into four rooms, where one room of 28 contestants were all eliminated, while the 70 contestants in the other three rooms all advanced to the Las Vegas round.

In Las Vegas, the contestants performed traditional 1950s songs in groups with Elvis Presley's "Viva, Elvis!" show as the backdrop. 28 of the 70 contestants were eliminated. Next came a solo round accompanied by an instrument at the stage for Le Rêve at the Wynn Las Vegas. After the 42 remaining contestants sang their last solo, they were summoned one-by-one to appear before the judges. Twelve men and twelve women were initially announced as the semifinalists; however, the judges announced plans to add Jermaine Jones as a thirteenth semifinalist.

Semifinals

The semifinals began on February 28. The males and females competed on back-to-back nights, and the top five from each group, along with the judges' three Wild Card choices, advanced to the finals.

Color key:

 This contestant was chosen by the public and moved on to the live shows.
 This contestant was not chosen by the public and was left to perform again for the judges in the Wild Card round.
 This contestant was eliminated.

Top 24

Contestants are listed in the order they performed.

Top 24 - Male contestants (February 28)
Contestant Song Result
Reed Grimm "Moves like Jagger" Wild Card
Adam Brock "Think" Eliminated
DeAndre Brackensick "Reasons" Wild Card
Colton Dixon "Decode" Advanced
Jeremy Rosado "Gravity" Wild Card
Aaron Marcellus "Never Can Say Goodbye" Eliminated
Chase Likens "Storm Warning" Eliminated
Creighton Fraker "True Colors" Eliminated
Phillip Phillips "In the Air Tonight" Advanced
Eben Franckewitz "Set Fire to the Rain" Eliminated
Heejun Han "Angels" Advanced
Joshua Ledet "You Pulled Me Through" Advanced
Jermaine Jones "Dance with My Father" Advanced
Top 24 - Female contestants (February 29)
Contestant Song Result
Chelsea Sorrell "Cowboy Casanova" Eliminated
Erika Van Pelt "What About Love" Wild Card
Jen Hirsh "One and Only" Wild Card
Brielle Von Hugel "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" Wild Card
Hallie Day "Feeling Good" Eliminated
Skylar Laine "Stay with Me" Advanced
Baylie Brown "Amazed" Eliminated
Hollie Cavanagh "Reflection" Advanced
Haley Johnsen "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" Eliminated
Shannon Magrane "Go Light Your World" Advanced
Jessica Sanchez "Love You I Do" Advanced
Elise Testone "One and Only" Advanced

Wild Card round

Following the ten singers who advanced on Thursday, March 1, six of the remaining semifinalists were selected by the judges to compete in the Wild Card round. The judges selected three contestants to advance to the final group of 13. Contestants are listed in the order they performed.

Contestant Song Result
Jen Hirsh "Oh! Darling" Eliminated
Jeremy Rosado "I Know You Won't" Advanced
Brielle Von Hugel "Someone like You" Eliminated
DeAndre Brackensick "Georgia on My Mind" Advanced
Erika Van Pelt "The Edge of Glory" Advanced
Reed Grimm "Use Me" Eliminated

Top 13 finalists

  • Colton Dixon (born October 19, 1991) was from Murfreesboro, Tennessee. He auditioned in North Charleston with his younger sister, Schyler. He and Schyler had originally auditioned for the tenth season, but were both cut before the semifinals. Dixon returned in the eleventh season; however he did not plan to audition, and was simply accompanying his sister to her audition. The judges implored Dixon to audition as well, where he sang David Cook's "Permanent". Colton performed "Dedicated to the One I Love" with Skylar Laine, Chase Likens, and Cari Qouyeser in Las Vegas. In Las Vegas, Schyler was eliminated, bringing Colton to tears. He performed the Coldplay song "Fix You", and dedicated it to his sister.
  • Jermaine Jones (born November 18, 1986) was from Pine Hill, New Jersey. He auditioned in Portland. Jones was not originally chosen for the semifinals, but was called back after the top 24 had been selected. On March 13, he was disqualified for having concealed prior arrests and outstanding warrants.

Finals

There were twelve weeks of finals with thirteen contestants competing. At least one contestant was eliminated every week based on the public's votes, although the judges could veto one elimination through the use of the "judges' save". On March 15, 2012, during what would have been the top 11, it was announced that Jermaine Jones had been disqualified.

Color key:

 This contestant was saved by America's vote.
 This contestant was in the bottom two or three, but was saved by America's vote.
 This contestant was saved from elimination by the judges.
 This contestant was eliminated.
 This contestant won American Idol.
 This contestant was the runner-up.

Top 13 – Whitney Houston & Stevie Wonder

Mary J. Blige served as a guest mentor this week. This week, all of the ladies performed one song from the Whitney Houston discography and all of the men performed one song from the Stevie Wonder discography. In a twist, the bottom three from each group were announced the next night. The man and the woman who each received the fewest votes faced the judges, who had to decide which contestant would be saved and which would be eliminated. Contestants are listed in the order they performed.

Contestant Whitney Houston or
Stevie Wonder song
Result
Joshua Ledet "I Wish" Bottom three
Elise Testone "I'm Your Baby Tonight" Saved by the judges
Jermaine Jones "Knocks Me Off My Feet" Bottom two
Erika Van Pelt "I Believe in You and Me" Bottom three
Colton Dixon "Lately" Safe
Shannon Magrane "I Have Nothing" Bottom two
DeAndre Brackensick "Master Blaster (Jammin')" Safe
Skylar Laine "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" Safe
Heejun Han "All in Love Is Fair" Safe
Hollie Cavanagh "All the Man That I Need" Safe
Jeremy Rosado "Ribbon in the Sky" Eliminated
Jessica Sanchez "I Will Always Love You" Safe
Phillip Phillips "Superstition" Safe
Non-competition performance
Performers Song
Top 13 "As"
Lauren Alaina "Georgia Peaches"
Mary J. Blige "Why"

Top 11 – Contestants' birth year

Jermaine Jones was disqualified prior to the performance show for failing to disclose his criminal past. Footage of executive producers Nigel Lythgoe and Ken Warwick confronting Jones was shown during what would have been his performance slot, and he was not replaced in the competition.

will.i.am served as a guest mentor this week. Contestants each performed one song from the year they were born, and are listed in the order they performed.

Contestant Song Birth year Result
Phillip Phillips "Hard to Handle" 1990 Safe
Jessica Sanchez "Turn the Beat Around" 1995 Safe
Heejun Han "Right Here Waiting" 1989 Safe
Elise Testone "Let's Stay Together" 1983 Bottom three
DeAndre Brackensick "Endless Love" 1994 Safe
Shannon Magrane "One Sweet Day" 1995 Eliminated
Colton Dixon "Broken Heart" 1991 Safe
Erika Van Pelt "Heaven" 1985 Bottom three
Skylar Laine "Love Sneakin' Up On You" 1994 Safe
Joshua Ledet "When a Man Loves a Woman" 1992 Safe
Hollie Cavanagh "The Power of Love" 1993 Safe
Non-competition performance
Performers Song
Demi Lovato "Give Your Heart a Break"
Daughtry "Outta My Head"

Top 10 – Billy Joel

P. Diddy served as a guest mentor this week. Each contestant performed one song from the Billy Joel discography, and are listed in the order they performed.

During the results show, the top 10 contestants performed "Happy Birthday to You" along with Joe Perry to celebrate the birthday of judge Steven Tyler.

Contestant Billy Joel song Result
DeAndre Brackensick "Only the Good Die Young" Bottom three
Erika Van Pelt "New York State of Mind" Eliminated
Joshua Ledet "She's Got a Way" Safe
Skylar Laine "Shameless" Safe
Elise Testone "Vienna" Safe
Phillip Phillips "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)" Safe
Hollie Cavanagh "Honesty" Safe
Heejun Han "My Life" Bottom three
Jessica Sanchez "Everybody Has a Dream" Safe
Colton Dixon "Piano Man" Safe
Non-competition performance
Performers Song
Top 10 "The Longest Time"
Top 10
with Joe Perry
"Happy Birthday to You"
Lana Del Rey "Video Games"
Haley Reinhart "Free"

Top 9 – Personal idols

Stevie Nicks served as a guest mentor this week. Contestants performed two songs each from their own personal idols: one solo and one trio with two fellow contestants. Contestants are listed in the order they performed.

Contestant Order Song Personal idol Result
Colton Dixon 1 "Everything" Lifehouse Safe
Skylar Laine 2 "Gunpowder & Lead" Miranda Lambert Bottom three
Heejun Han 4 "A Song for You" Donny Hathaway Eliminated
Hollie Cavanagh 5 "Jesus, Take the Wheel" Carrie Underwood Bottom three
DeAndre Brackensick 6 "Sometimes I Cry" Eric Benét Safe
Jessica Sanchez 7 "Sweet Dreams" Beyoncé Safe
Phillip Phillips 9 "Still Rainin'" Jonny Lang Safe
Joshua Ledet 10 "Without You" Mariah Carey Safe
Elise Testone 12 "Whole Lotta Love" Led Zeppelin Safe
Colton Dixon,
Phillip Phillips
& Elise Testone
3 "Landslide"
"Edge of Seventeen"
"Don't Stop"
Fleetwood Mac
& Stevie Nicks
DeAndre Brackensick,
Heejun Han &
Joshua Ledet
8 "The Lady in My Life"
"Rock with You"
"P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)"
Michael Jackson
Hollie Cavanagh,
Skylar Laine &
Jessica Sanchez
11 "Like a Prayer"
"Borderline"
"Express Yourself"
Madonna
Non-competition performance
Performers Song
Nicki Minaj "Starships"
Scotty McCreery "Water Tower Town"

Top 8 – Music from the 1980s

Gwen Stefani and Tony Kanal served as guest mentors this week. Each contestant performed two songs: one solo and one duet with a fellow contestant. Contestants are listed in the order they performed.

Contestant Order 1980s song Result
DeAndre Brackensick 1 "I Like It" Eliminated
Elise Testone 2 "I Want to Know What Love Is" Bottom three
Phillip Phillips 4 "That's All" Safe
Joshua Ledet 6 "If You Don't Know Me by Now" Safe
Jessica Sanchez 7 "How Will I Know" Safe
Hollie Cavanagh 9 "Flashdance... What a Feeling" Bottom three
Colton Dixon 11 "Time After Time" Safe
Skylar Laine 12 "Wind Beneath My Wings" Safe
Colton Dixon
& Skylar Laine
3 "Islands in the Stream"
DeAndre Brackensick
& Hollie Cavanagh
5 "I'm So Excited"
Phillip Phillips
& Elise Testone
8 "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around"
Joshua Ledet &
Jessica Sanchez
10 "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)"
Non-competition performance
Performers Song
Jennifer Lopez, featuring Pitbull "Dance Again"
The Wanted "Glad You Came"
Kellie Pickler "Where's Tammy Wynette"

Top 7 (April 12) – Music from the 2010s

Akon served as a guest mentor this week. Each contestant performed two songs: one solo and either one duet with a fellow contestant or one trio with two fellow contestants. Contestants are listed in the order they performed. The judges chose to use their "judges' save" when Jessica Sanchez was announced as the performer to be eliminated. As a result, no one was eliminated this week.

Contestant Order 2010s song Result
Skylar Laine 1 "Didn't You Know How Much I Loved You" Safe
Colton Dixon 2 "Love the Way You Lie" Safe
Jessica Sanchez 4 "Stuttering" Saved by the judges
Joshua Ledet 5 "Runaway Baby" Bottom three
Hollie Cavanagh 7 "Fuckin' Perfect" Safe
Phillip Phillips 8 "Give a Little More" Safe
Elise Testone 10 "You and I" Bottom three
Phillip Phillips
& Elise Testone
3 "Somebody That I Used to Know"
Colton Dixon
& Skylar Laine
6 "Don't You Wanna Stay"
Hollie Cavanagh,
Joshua Ledet &
Jessica Sanchez
9 "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)"
Non-competition performance
Performers Song
Top 7 "Raise Your Glass"
James Durbin "Higher Than Heaven"
Jennifer Hudson & Ne-Yo "Think Like a Man"

Top 7 (April 19) – Music from now & then

Each contestant performed two songs: one Billboard number one hit from the 21st century and one song from the classic soul era. Contestants are listed in the order they performed.

Contestant Order Song Result
Hollie Cavanagh 1 "Rolling in the Deep" Bottom three
8 "Son of a Preacher Man"
Colton Dixon 2 "Bad Romance" Eliminated
9 "September"
Elise Testone 3 "No One" Bottom three
10 "Let's Get It On"
Phillip Phillips 4 "U Got It Bad" Safe
11 "In the Midnight Hour"
Jessica Sanchez 5 "Fallin'" Safe
12 "Try a Little Tenderness"
Skylar Laine 6 "Born This Way" Safe
13 "I Heard It Through the Grapevine"
Joshua Ledet 7 "I Believe" Safe
14 "A Change Is Gonna Come"
Non-competition performance
Performers Song
Top 7 "Dancing in the Street"
Kris Allen "The Vision of Love"
LMFAO "Sorry for Party Rocking"

Top 6 – Queen

Each contestant performed two songs, one of which was from the Queen discography. Contestants are listed in the order they performed.

Contestant Order Song Result
Jessica Sanchez 1 "Bohemian Rhapsody" Safe
7 "Dance with My Father"
Skylar Laine 2 "The Show Must Go On" Bottom three
8 "Tattoos on This Town"
Joshua Ledet 3 "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" Safe
9 "Ready for Love"
Elise Testone 4 "I Want It All" Eliminated
10 "Bold as Love"
Phillip Phillips 5 "Fat Bottomed Girls" Safe
11 "The Stone"
Hollie Cavanagh 6 "Save Me" Bottom two
12 "The Climb"
Non-competition performance
Performers Song
Top 6
with Brian May & Roger Taylor
Queen medley:
"Fat Bottomed Girls"
"Another One Bites the Dust"
"We Will Rock You"
"We Are the Champions"
Queen Extravaganza "Somebody to Love"
Stefano Langone "I'm on a Roll"
Katy Perry "Part of Me"

Top 5 – Music from the 1960s & British pop

Steven Van Zandt served as a guest mentor this week. Each contestant performed two songs: one solo and either one duet with a fellow contestant or one trio with two fellow contestants. Contestants are listed in the order they performed.

Contestant Order Song Result
Hollie Cavanagh 1 "River Deep – Mountain High" Bottom two
7 "Bleeding Love"
Phillip Phillips 2 "The Letter" Safe
8 "Time of the Season"
Skylar Laine 3 "Fortunate Son" Eliminated
10 "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me"
Jessica Sanchez 5 "Proud Mary" Safe
11 "You Are So Beautiful"
Joshua Ledet 6 "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" Safe
12 "To Love Somebody"
Joshua Ledet &
Phillip Phillips
4 "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'"
Hollie Cavanagh,
Skylar Laine &
Jessica Sanchez
9 "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher"
Non-competition performance
Performers Song
Coldplay "Paradise"
Carrie Underwood "Blown Away"
Coldplay "Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall"

Top 4 – Music of California & songs the contestants wish they'd written

Each contestant performed three songs: one solo, one duet with a fellow contestant, and one song with all four contestants. Contestants are listed in the order they performed.

Contestant Order Song Result
Phillip Phillips 1 "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?" Safe
8 "Volcano"
Hollie Cavanagh 2 "Faithfully" Eliminated
9 "I Can't Make You Love Me"
Joshua Ledet 3 "You Raise Me Up" Safe
10 "It's a Man's Man's Man's World"
Jessica Sanchez 4 "Steal Away" Safe
11 "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going"
Joshua Ledet &
Phillip Phillips
5 "This Love"
Hollie Cavanagh
& Jessica Sanchez
6 "Eternal Flame"
Hollie Cavanagh, Joshua Ledet,
Phillip Phillips & Jessica Sanchez
7 "Waiting for a Girl Like You"
Non-competition performance
Performers Song
Top 4 "California Dreamin'"
David Cook "The Last Song I'll Write for You"
Jennifer Lopez "Dance Again"

Top 3

Each contestant performed three songs: one chosen by one of the judges, one chosen by the contestant, and one chosen by mentor Jimmy Iovine. Contestants are listed in the order they performed.

Contestant Order Song Result
Joshua Ledet 1 "I'd Rather Go Blind" Eliminated
4 "Imagine"
7 "No More Drama"
Jessica Sanchez 2 "My All" Safe
5 "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing"
8 "I'll Be There"
Phillip Phillips 3 "Beggin'" Safe
6 "Disease"
9 "We've Got Tonite"
Non-competition performance
Performers Song
Top 3 "Got to Get You into My Life"
Lisa Marie Presley "You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet
Adam Lambert "Never Close Our Eyes"
  1. ^ Song chosen by Randy Jackson.
  2. ^ a b c Song chosen by Jimmy Iovine.
  3. ^ Song chosen by Jennifer Lopez.
  4. ^ Song chosen by Steven Tyler.

Top 2 – Finale

Each contestant performed three songs, one of which was chosen by producer Simon Fuller, and are listed in the order they performed.

Contestant Order Song Result
Jessica Sanchez 1 "I Have Nothing" Runner-up
3 "The Prayer"
5 "Change Nothing"
Phillip Phillips 2 "Stand by Me" Winner
4 "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)"
6 "Home"
  1. ^ a b Song chosen by Simon Fuller.
Non-competition performance
Performers Song
Jason Derulo "Undefeated"
Scotty McCreery "Please Remember Me"
Top 12 "Runaway Baby"
Phillip Phillips
with John Fogerty
"Have You Ever Seen the Rain?"
"Bad Moon Rising"
Joshua Ledet
with Fantasia Barrino
"Take Me to the Pilot"
Shannon Magrane, Erika Van Pelt,
Elise Testone, Skylar Laine,
Hollie Cavanagh & Jessica Sanchez
with Chaka Khan
Chaka Khan medley:
"Ain't Nobody"
"Through the Fire"
"I'm Every Woman"
Rihanna "Where Have You Been"
Skylar Laine
with Reba McEntire
"Turn On the Radio"
Jessica Sanchez "I Will Always Love You"
Jeremy Rosado, Heejun Han,
DeAndre Brackensick, Colton Dixon,
& Joshua Ledet
with Neil Diamond
Neil Diamond medley:
"America"
"Cracklin' Rosie"
"I'm a Believer"
"Sweet Caroline"
Jennifer Lopez,
Lil Jon & Flo Rida
"Goin' In"
Jennifer Lopez & Wisin & Yandel "Follow the Leader"
Hollie Cavanagh
with Jordin Sparks
"You'll Never Walk Alone"
Jeremy Rosado, Heejun Han,
DeAndre Brackensick, Colton Dixon,
& Joshua Ledet
Bee Gees medley:
"Words"
"How Deep Is Your Love"
"How Can You Mend a Broken Heart"
"To Love Somebody"
Jessica Sanchez
with Jennifer Holliday
"And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going"
Aerosmith "Legendary Child"
"Walk This Way"
Phillip Phillips & Jessica Sanchez "Up Where We Belong"
Phillip Phillips "Home"
  1. ^ a b Performed on the May 22 episode.
  2. ^ Jermaine Jones, Phillip Phillips, and Jessica Sanchez were not a part of this group performance.

Elimination chart

Color key:

 Winner
 Runner-up
 Did not perform
 Saved by the public
 Saved by the judges
 Bottom two or three
 Disqualified
 Eliminated
American Idol (season 11) - Eliminations
Contestant Pl. Semifinals Wild Card Top 13 Top 11 Top 10 Top 9 Top 8 Top 7 Top 6 Top 5 Top 4 Top 3 Finale
2/28 2/29 3/1 3/8 3/15 3/22 3/29 4/5 4/12 4/19 4/26 5/3 5/10 5/17 5/23
Phillip Phillips 1 Safe N/A N/A Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Winner
Jessica Sanchez 2 N/A Safe N/A Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Saved Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Runner-up
Joshua Ledet 3 Safe N/A N/A Bottom three Safe Safe Safe Safe Bottom three Safe Safe Safe Safe Eliminated
Hollie Cavanagh 4 N/A Safe N/A Safe Safe Safe Bottom three Bottom three Safe Bottom three Bottom two Bottom two Eliminated
Skylar Laine 5 N/A Safe N/A Safe Safe Safe Bottom three Safe Safe Safe Bottom three Eliminated
Elise Testone 6 N/A Safe N/A Saved Bottom three Safe Safe Bottom three Bottom three Bottom three Eliminated
Colton Dixon 7 Safe N/A N/A Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe Eliminated
DeAndre Brackensick 8 Wild Card N/A Saved Safe Safe Bottom three Safe Eliminated
Heejun Han 9 Safe N/A N/A Safe Safe Bottom three Eliminated
Erika Van Pelt 10 N/A Wild Card Saved Bottom three Bottom three Eliminated
Shannon Magrane 11 N/A Safe N/A Bottom two Eliminated
Jermaine Jones 12 Safe N/A N/A Bottom two Disqualified
Jeremy Rosado 13 Wild Card N/A Saved Eliminated
Reed Grimm Wild Card N/A Eliminated
Jen Hirsh N/A Wild Card
Brielle Von Hugel N/A Wild Card
Baylie Brown N/A Eliminated
Hallie Day N/A
Haley Johnsen N/A
Chelsea Sorrell N/A
Adam Brock Eliminated
Creighton Fraker
Eben Franckewitz
Chase Likens
Aaron Marcellus
  1. ^ The bottom men and the bottom women were announced this week. The one man and the one woman who received the fewest votes faced the judges, who had to decide which contestant would be saved and which would be eliminated.
  2. ^ Because the judges used their one "judges' save" to save Jessica Sanchez, the top 7 remained intact for another week.

Compilation album

American Idol Season 11 Duets and Trios Highlights, a compilation album by the top 6 finalists, was released on July 3, 2012. It consisted of the following songs:

Controversies

On March 14, finalist Jermaine Jones was disqualified for concealing arrests and outstanding warrants. Jones, however, denied that he had concealed his previous arrests and had admitted his arrests when he signed up for Idol. A police official where he was the target of two arrest warrants said that "the case wasn't big enough to merit going after him in California," and a New Jersey legislator commented 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 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. After seven consecutive years as the most watched program on primetime television (eight years in the 18/49 demo), the eleventh season of American Idol came in second place to NBC Sunday Night Football in total viewers, as well as in the 18/49 demo.

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 10.5 17 5.3/15 17.87 3
24 "Top 9 Results" March 29, 2012 9.6 16 4.4/13 15.87 5
25 "Top 8 Perform" April 4, 2012 10.2 17 4.9/14 17.09 2
26 "Top 8 Results" April 5, 2012 8.8 15 3.9/13 14.34 5
27 "Top 7 Perform" April 11, 2012 10.0 18 5.0/14 16.81 2
28 "Top 7 Results" April 12, 2012 9.7 16 4.3/13 15.81 4
29 "Top 7 Redux Perform" April 18, 2012 10.7 16 4.8/14 16.89 2
30 "Top 7 Redux Results" April 19, 2012 9.2 16 4.0/13 14.99 4
31 "Top 6 Perform" April 25, 2012 10.2 16 4.8/14 16.87 2
32 "Top 6 Results" April 26, 2012 9.1 15 4.0/12 14.87 3
33 "Top 5 Perform" May 2, 2012 10.2 16 4.7/14 16.66 2
34 "Top 5 Results" May 3, 2012 9.4 16 4.0/13 15.56 4
35 "Top 4 Perform" May 9, 2012 10.0 16 4.5/13 16.46 2
36 "Top 4 Results" May 10, 2012 9.5 16 4.0/13 15.62 4
37 "Top 3 Perform" May 16, 2012 10.5 17 4.9/14 17.68 2
38 "Top 3 Results" May 17, 2012 9.8 17 4.4/15 16.40 3
39 "Top 2 Perform" May 22, 2012 8.7 14 4.4/14 14.85 4
40 "Finale" May 23, 2012 12.2 20 6.4/18 21.49 1
  • ^Note a This episode was shown on Sunday, January 22, 2012, after the NFC Championship Game, but 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.

See also


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