Among those who benefited from this new rule were Constantine Maroulis, Bo Bice, Scott Savol, and Nadia Turner.

They were split into two groups and performed on separate days at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles.

They were separated into groups of males and females, but they performed solo with piano accompaniment and back-up singers.

The songs for the groups were Four Tops's "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)," The Temptations' "Get Ready," Barry Manilow's "Jump Shout Boogie," The Marvelettes's "Please Mr. Postman," and The Supremes' "Where Did Our Love Go."

At the Pasadena Civic Center, each contestant took the elevator from their holding room to the floor above to see the judges, who then revealed their fate.

The rules for this season's semifinal round were changed so as to result in an equal number of male and female finalists.

Each contestant performed two songs: one written by songwriting duo Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, and one from the Billboard current chart.

Simon Cowell believed that Bo Bice would have won had he able to save his a cappella rendering of "In a Dream" for his final performance.

Color key: During the season, Corey Clark, a second season contestant who was disqualified for having an undisclosed arrest record, alleged in an interview on ABC's Primetime Live that he had had an affair with Paula Abdul while on the show.

[10] During the top 11 competition show, three of the contestants had their voting telephone numbers improperly displayed.

[11] Scott Savol was also revealed to have been convicted of a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct for domestic violence.