East Tennessean

Issue date: 1/27/03 Section: LifeStyle

Media Credit: Photo courtesy of www.angelfire.com/tv2/american_idol Justin Guarini and Kelly Clarkson, last year’s famous ‘Idols’ perform during the final. This year’s show is sure to produce the same popularity and a new star.

They set up camp from New York to Nashville. They sang in the streets from Atlanta to Los Angeles. They laughed, cried, prayed and practiced but nothing could prepare them for what they were about to experience.
On Jan. 21, during prime-time television, America watched thousands of hopefuls from across the nation battle for spots in the semifinal round of the second season of Fox's American Idol.
For those who missed last year's show, where the hell were you last summer?
Fox broke viewing records with its interactive search for the next American pop star. Each week viewers called in and logged on to vote for their favorite contestants.
On the final and most intense episode, teary-eyed contestants Kelly Clarkson and Justin Guarini stood hand-in-hand awaiting the final elimination.
As the announcement was made and the tears and confetti fell, Clarkson gave an emotional performance of "A Moment Like This" in front of more than thirty million fans. The new star and her symbolic debut single broke records, jumping from No. 52 to No. 1 on the Billboard chart.
Shortly after, the final ten contestants launched a 40-day, 30-city tour and an "American Idol" CD was released featuring songs by them all.
Since then, fans of the show have been counting the days until the premier of season two.
From the looks of things, they won't be disappointed.
The 90-minute season premier kept 26.5 million viewers laughing and crying as celebrity judges Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell rejected one contestant after another.
The half-hour encore show, which aired the night after, was no different.
Host Ryan Seacrest and newly added correspondent Kristin Holt introduced America to hundreds of hopefuls and allowed the viewing audience to witness the post-audition emotional outbursts.
While the show consisted mainly of embarrassing failed attempts, several were chosen to go on to the next round in Hollywood, Calif.
Fans will tune in this week to see the last round of auditions from Nashville and Atlanta. Then it's on to Hollywood to begin the search for the next "American Idol."
Will you be glued to your television all season? Will you vote for your favorite contestant each Tuesday? Maybe. Maybe not. But you should consider it. It's going to be a great season.

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