Auditions were done in major cities in the United States. The judges patiently listened to each of the hundreds of contestants to choose who will go to Hollywood for further eliminations.

Due to many on-line votes, the judges chose 36 instead of 32. From there, 13 were chosen, they sang Michael Jackson songs. Many celebrities like Stevie Wonder , Lady Gaga, David Cook, Frankie Avalon, Flo Rida, Kellie Pecker, David Archuleta came to add glitter to the elimination rounds.

At one point the audience saved Matt Giraud by chanting: “save, save, save”! The semi-finalists performed various kinds of songs like country music, movie themes and disco songs. 2 of them celebrated their birthday in the show, Allison Iraheta and Danny Gokey. Then there were only 4 left, who sang rock songs, Adam Albert and Allison each sang solo while Danny and Kris Allen did a duet which turned bad with each trying to outdo the other.

The Paula Abdul performance eased the tension which was slowly building up. Finally it was down to the top 2, Kris Allen and Adam Lambert. Kris Allen was chosen AMERICAN IDOL after 3 grueling elimination rounds.