American Idol Betting

Welcome to our American Idol Betting guide. Unless you’ve been on a space mission to Mars, chances are you know what American Idol is. It is the biggest of all the reality television shows, a television singing competition that has completed a mammoth twelve seasons. As of 2012, it was the most watched TV series in the Nielsen Ratings and the only show to have been number one for eight consecutive seasons. By 2015 however, ratings were well down.

The show began airing in the US on June 11, 2002, after proving a ratings winner in the UK, where the format was designed by Simon Fuller and 19 Entertainment. The concept of the show is to find new recording solo artists with the winner being determined by the viewers. It has been announced at the 15th season, kicking off on Fox in January 2016 will be the last. Don’t worry though, there are still plenty of TV shows for you to bet on.

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Betting on American Idol

Contestants go through at least three sets of cuts. The first is a brief audition with a few other contestants in front of selectors which may include one of the show’s producers. The number of auditionees can exceed 10,000 people in each city, but only a few hundred in each city may make it past this round of preliminary auditions. Successful auditionees then sing in front of producers where more may be cut. Only then can they proceed to audition in front of the judges, which is the only audition stage shown on television.

Since the show’s inception in 2002, seven of the eleven Idol winners, including ithe first five, have come from the Southern United States. The three exceptions are: Jordin Sparks, who hails from Arizona; David Cook, hails from Missouri (which is considered part of the “Upland South” and was born in Houston and living in Tulsa at the time of his audition); and Lee DeWyze from Illinois.

In 2012, an analysis of the 131 contestants who have appeared in the finals of all seasons of the show up to that point found that 48% have some connection to the Southern United States.  Reasons for this have varied from regional pride, to strong southern musical identity, whatever the reason this is an important thing to note before betting on Idol.

The Judges stage is also a significant moment in the show where you can recognize stand out performers. Be careful though, front-running is generally not a successful strategy in reality shows. Viewers like to see someone come through the field and go on a journey. For an example you only need to look at when Adam Lambert, one of the most talented contestant in the entire history of the show, lost in the final.


Those selected by the judges are sent to Hollywood. Between 10–60 people in each city may make it to Hollywood. Once in Hollywood, the contestants perform individually or in groups in a series of rounds. At the end of this stage of the competition, 24 to 36 contestants are selected to move on to the semi-final stage.

From the semi-final onwards, the fate of the contestants is decided by public vote. The finals are broadcast in prime time from CBS in Los Angeles, in front of a live studio audience.

The contestant with the fewest votes is eliminated from the competition each week.

However, starting in season eight, the judges may overturn viewers’ decision with a “Judges’ Save” – they can save a contestant on a unanimous decision. The save can only be used once, and only before top five.

Hopefully armed with this knowledge you can get your betting on song.