American Idol

Pop Idol was a British music competition television series which ran on ITV from 2001 to 2003.

The show has become an international TV franchise since, spawning multiple Idol series worldwide. In the meantime, a legal dispute arose with the makers of "Popstars", which eventually led to the word "pop" being excluded from the titles of all the spin-offs, such as American Idol, Australian Idol, Arab Idol, Canadian Idol, etc.

Fourth season-winner Carrie Underwood currently holds the record for the highest-selling album sales in the United States, with more than 13 million copies.

"American Idol" initially aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to April 7, 2016, for 15 seasons. It was on hiatus for two years until March 11, 2018, when a revival of the series began airing on ABC.

The eligible age-range for contestants is fifteen to twenty-eight years old. The initial age limit was sixteen to twenty-four in the first three seasons, but the upper limit was raised to twenty-eight in the fourth season, and the lower limit was reduced to fifteen in the tenth season. 

The contestants have to be legal U.S. residents, can not have advanced to particular stages of the competition in previous seasons, and must not have held a current recording or talent representation contract by the semi-final stage.

Chris Daughtry's album "Daughtry" sold more than one million copies within five weeks of its release on November 21st, 2006. Despite placing fourth he became the most successful recording artist from the fifth season.