The third season of American Idol premiered on Monday, January 19, 2004, and continued until May 26, 2004. The third season was won by Fantasia Barrino, who defeated Diana DeGarmo by an approximate margin of 2% (1.3 million votes); the vote total (65 million votes) was then the highest recorded vote total in the show's history. This season also featured future EGOT winner Jennifer Hudson, who finished seventh in the competition.
Both Fantasia and Diana DeGarmo released a single after the finale. Fantasia's first single, released in June 2004 on the RCA record label, entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number one, making Fantasia the first artist in the history of Billboard to debut at number one with their first single. In addition to Fantasia and Diana DeGarmo, Jasmine Trias, LaToya London, George Huff, Jennifer Hudson, and Camile Velasco all released albums since the season ended. The season is also, to date, the only season in the show's history to produce multiple Grammy Award winners, courtesy of Fantasia (in 2011) and Hudson (in 2009 and 2017), as well as produce an Academy Award and Tony Award winner, courtesy of Hudson (in 2007 and 2022, respectively).
Unlike previous seasons, the semifinalists for this season performed in front of a small studio audience with orchestral accompaniment on a backing tape. This was also the first season to feature two guest judges in one week: the duo Ashford & Simpson appeared during the top 10 week.
Auditions were held in the summer of 2003 in the following cities:
In this season, over 80,000 attended the auditions in 6 cities. A prominent audition was William Hung, a University of California, Berkeley student, who became a surprise cult figure following his tuneless rendition of Ricky Martin's "She Bangs" at the San Francisco audition. He was later invited back to perform on a special edition "Uncut, Uncensored and Untalented." His appearance on the show landed him a record deal with Koch Records and he released an album soon afterwards.
There were 117 contestants in the first Hollywood round which was held at the Pasadena Civic Center in Pasadena, California. The contestants first came onto the stage in groups, but each performed solo. They were also asked to write original lyrics and melody for one of ten song titles given and perform their song the next day. After their performances, they were divided into four groups and one group was eliminated.
In the next round, the remaining 87 contestants performed in groups in three. The men and the ladies were separate and they were each given three different songs to choose: the ladies had The Supremes' "You Can't Hurry Love," Vonda Shepard's "Tell Him," or Candi Staton's "Young Hearts Run Free"; the men had Billy Joel's "Tell Her About It," Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up," or The Drifters's "Up on the Roof." 30 contestants were cut and 57 then advanced to the next stage where they performed solo. The contestants were then divided into three groups and placed in separate rooms, with one group sent home. 32 contestants remained for the semifinals.
George Huff replaced Donnie Williams after the latter was disqualified, following a DUI arrest.
Unlike previous seasons, the contestants this season performed in front of a small studio audience with orchestral accompaniment on a backing tape. As with the second season, two performers from each group were selected by public vote to proceed on to the top 12, and those who failed at any of the previous stages were given a second chance in the Wild Card round. During the Wild Card round, twelve contestants were invited back to participate. However, after being evaluated during the week in rehearsals, only eight were chosen by the judges to perform that night. One performer was chosen by public vote, and one performer was chosen by each of the three judges.
Four contestants in the wildcard round were eliminated by the judges before they had the chance to sing: Lisa Leuschner, Eric Yoder, Tiara Purifoy, and Marque Lynche were those contestants.
Color key:
Contestants are listed in the order they performed.
Contestants are listed in the order they performed.
This season, guests were introduced as celebrity judges and often also served as mentors for the week they appeared.
Color key:
Contestants are listed in the order they performed.
Contestants are listed in the order they performed.
Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson served as mentors and guest judges. Contestants are listed in the order they performed.
Elton John served as a mentor and guest judge. Contestants performed songs from Elton John's discography and are listed in the order they performed.
Quentin Tarantino served as a mentor and guest judge. Contestants chose songs featured in movies and are listed in the order they performed.
Barry Manilow served as a mentor and guest judge. Contestants performed songs from his discography and are listed in the order they performed.
Gloria Estefan served as a mentor and guest judge. Contestants performed songs from her discography and are listed in the order they performed.
Contestants performed two songs each and are listed in the order they performed.
Donna Summer served as a mentor and guest judge. Contestants performed two songs each and are listed in the order they performed.
Clive Davis served as a mentor and guest judge. Contestants performed three songs each: one chosen by themselves, one chosen by one of the judges, and one chosen by Clive Davis. Contestants are listed in the order they performed.
The two finalists performed three songs each, and are listed in the order they performed.
After a nationwide vote of more than 65 million votes â more than the first two seasons combined â Fantasia Barrino won American Idol over Diana DeGarmo.
Kelly Clarkson is quoted in the June 14, 2004 People magazine as saying she voted for Fantasia: "I just hit redial, redial."
Prior to the results show, the governors of Georgia and North CarolinaâÂÂthe home states of DeGarmo and Barrino, respectivelyâ announced a friendly bet between them over which state's resident would prevail, with each wagering a VIP NASCAR ticket package and a shipment of his state's signature fruit. The bet participants were Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue and North Carolina Governor Mike Easley.
Color key:
Both Jennifer Hudson and LaToya London, part of the final 12, were eliminated, despite high praises from the judges. After Hudson was eliminated, Elton John, who was a mentor for that season, criticized the vote as being "incredibly racist" in a press conference.
The elimination of both Hudson and London has been pointed out as a classic demonstration of vote-splitting in American Idol, in which the presence of similar choices reduces the votes for each of the similar choices. Hudson, London, and Barrino (who eventually won the competition) were all female, African-American, highly complimented singersâÂÂall appealing to the same demographic bloc of voters. All three of these previously popular singers ended up in the "bottom three" the night Hudson was eliminated, having the lowest individual vote counts.
Live + same day ratings
This season the show was ranked second overall in total viewer for the 2003âÂÂ2004 TV seasons, with its Tuesday episodes taking the top spot, averaging 25.73 million viewers, while the Wednesday episodes ranked third with 24.31 million. It became the top-rated show for the 18-49 demographic for the season, a position it has held for all subsequent years up to and including 2011.
Note 1: The Top 8 shows were shifted to Wednesday and Thursday due to a presidential address on Tuesday.
Live + 7 day (DVR) ratings
Home for the Holidays: Kelly, Ruben & Fantasia aired in November 2004.
Re-edited episodes of the third season were shown in syndication as American Idol Rewind, paired with season 4. The season could not be syndicated in full for reasons beyond control (citing its unfair voting allegations) and is the only season to be edited for those reasons.