Kelly Clarkson won the competition, defeating Justin Guarini, who finished in second place.

Runner-up Justin Guarini also signed with RCA Records, eventually debuting an album in 2003 after the conclusion of the second season.

In addition to Clarkson and Guarini, Nikki McKibbin, Tamyra Gray, R. J. Helton, and Christina Christian also signed recording contracts.

After the finale, a special show in Las Vegas was also shown on September 23, 2002, where all 30 of the contestants who made the judges' initial cut performed in a two-hour concert.

In the last round, those who survived the first two stages are invited to sing in front of the judges, and this is the audition shown on television.

The Hollywood week rounds were held in the Pasadena Civic Center, where 121 contestants competed for a place in the finals.

The 65 singers who were selected to proceed on to the next round were then separated by gender and given a crash course to learn their next song overnight, which they were expected to perform the next day in small groups.

Before their performances, contestants took part in intensive music workshops, where they were given vocal coaching by Debra Byrd and advice by stylists.

Following another performance by each Wild Card contender, the judges selected one contestant to advance to the final group of ten.

Color key: It was revealed during the season that around 100 phone-phreak hackers with power-dialing hardware and software were able to place as many as 10,000 votes a night from a single phone line with the touch of a button.

Simon Cowell also insisted that Tamyra Gray's unexpected ouster from the show only strengthened the producers' contention that the voting was fair.

[14] Ken Warwick later said in the fifth season that equipment was put in place afterwards to address this issue, but it allegedly has never detected such a problem since.

[15] Controversy erupted when Kelly Clarkson was invited to sing "The Star-Spangled Banner" in a deal arranged by 19 Entertainment at a special commemoration for the first anniversary of September 11 attacks at Washington's Lincoln Memorial.

Some critics suggested that Clarkson's appearance would turn a somber occasion of national mourning into a "giant promotional opportunity".

Season one of American Idol was a surprise summer hit show of 2002 and had an average viewership of 12.7 million per episode.

The new episodes featured commentary from some of the first season's top 30, including Justin Guarini, Jim Verraros, Christina Christian, Nikki McKibbin, Angela Peel, and Kelli Glover.