American Idol is an American singing competition series created by
Simon Fuller and produced by
19 Entertainment, and is distributed by
FremantleMedia North America. It began airing on
Fox on June 11, 2002, as an addition to the
Idols format based on the British series
Pop Idol and has since become one of the most successful shows in the history of
American television. The concept of the series is to find new solo recording artists, with the winner being determined by the viewers in America. Winners chosen by viewers through telephone, Internet, and
SMS text voting were
Kelly Clarkson,
Ruben Studdard,
Fantasia Barrino,
Carrie Underwood,
Taylor Hicks,
Jordin Sparks,
David Cook,
Kris Allen,
Lee DeWyze,
Scotty McCreery,
Phillip Phillips,
Candice Glover,
Caleb Johnson, and
Nick Fradiani.