Ultimate Idol (Season 1)

The first season of Ultimate Idol premiered at the end of March 2013. It is the debut season of the franchise. The season sets out to find a solo artist that has the whole package and can claim a gift at the end of the season. The competition is based on the format of ''American Idol/Pop Idol. ''

The judging line up for the first season consists of four very talented professionals who are experienced within the music industry. Thomas, who is the current head judge/mentor and excecutive producer on the show Janelle's X Factor, he is also the creator of the franchise. Janelle, a long-term trusted friend and collegue of Thomas' she is the creator of Janelle's X Factor and has been a judge on it for four seasons. Katia, the host and creator of a similar music based competition Idol: Tengaged Edition which is on its second season. Finally, Ryder is a experienced judge on another music based competition Tengaged (Karaoke) Idol which is in it's eigth season. The four experienced judges will help the season debut.

Ashley, was added as a mentor to the finalists to help them with their song choice on certain themes and also gave critical opinions in the results show on the finalists. Ashley gives one-on-one mentoring with the finalists.

From the Top 11 onwards, there were only 3 judges as Katia was removed from the panel. Therefore towards the end of the season, the panel consisted of Thomas, Janelle and Ryder. During week 2 of the Live shows Davy replaced Janelle on the panel. Davy is also set to return during season 2.

Regional auditions
Auditions were held in Atlanta, Chicago,, Dallas, Miami, New York City and Seattle in March/April of 2013.

At each audition date ten contestants will audition in front of the judges and try to impress them. The contestants need the majority of the judges to say 'YES' in order to receive their goldeon tickets to Hollywood. However, if the judges do not say 'YES' as a majority the contestant will go no further. There may be a possible 'call back' date added depending on how many contestants receive a golden ticket to Hollywood.

Hollywood week
This stage of the competition takes place in Hollywood. The number of contestants that get through to this round is dependent on the amount the judges put through in the auditions stage. The contestants will be tested in a certain area to see how well they work with it and their versatility, The judges will score each act out of 10, without commenting on them. The 14 highest scoring contestants will be able to advance straight to the semi-finals, the next 20 are sent to Las Vegas for one more chance to get into the semi-finals while the rest are cut from the competition and will not advance no more.

Task 1: '45 seconds to impress'
The 42 contestants that made it through auditions and into Hollywood were all called on stage for their first task of Hollywood. They were told that they could perform whatever song they wanted, but it had to impress the judges right of the mark as each contestant only had a 45 second time frame to perform. The judges would then each score the contestants out of 10. It was then revealed that the 10 highest scoring contestants this round would advance straight into the semi-finals.

At the results, the contestants were called onto the stage. It was announced that Chris Brown, Toby Keith and Ke$ha were to be immediately cut from the show. Nickleback were also disqualified for being a band. Ten people then auto-advanced into the semi-finals, Christina Aguilera, Cascada, Carrie Underwood, Kelly Clarkson, Beyonce, Olly Murs, Shakira, Mariah Carey, Bruno Mars and '''Whitney Houston. '''The remaining 28 contestants were sent to task 2, for another chance to get into the Semi-Finals.

Task 2: 'Judges Decision'
The 28 contestants that never auto-advanced to Hollywood, but never got cut were called back on stage for their second task at Hollywood. They were split into four groups of 7, and had to perform a solo song, a judge would 'head' each group and at the end send one of the contestants into the semi-finals (in total 4), however they would also need to cut two of them (in total 8). The other 4 (in total 16) will head to Las Vegas to battle it out for one last time. The selection of what happens to each contestant is down to the judge heading their group solely.

Las Vegas round
This stage of the competition takes place in Las Vegas. 16 contestants that never scored high enough to advance to Hollywood, but were too good to cut get one final chance to make it into the semi-finals. The contestants are given another task again, half will go home while the other half join the semi-finalist's.

Task: 'Groups'
The 16 contestants going to Las Vegas for a last chance of 10 spaces in the semi-finals were split into 4 random groups of four. They were told that they would have to perform a live song together, the judges would score the groups as a whole and then rank them alone from best to worst. The two groups that score the highest overall from the judges will all advance, then the highest rankers from the losing groups will also advance, making up ten.

Semi-finalists
The following is a list of semi-finalists who failed to reach the finals

Semi-finals
The Top 24 will perform in three groups over 3 days, eight per show. The public vote for their favorite and the three highest scoring from each show are revealed, along with six wildcards the day after the 3rd show.

Semi-Final Group 2 - Billboard Hot 100 hits
The Top 4 from group 2 advanced due to a tie for 3rd place, as a result only one wildcard was selected from this group.

Wild Card Round - 'Give Me A Second Chance'
Six contestants that didn't make it to the live shows (two from each group) are given a second chance to impress the judges, the act that impresses the judges the most joins the other nine to form the Top 10 finalists. Emile Sande failed to post and was therefore auto-elimiated by the judges. The judges ultimately decided to put P!nk through to the finals.

Top 11 Finalists
The Top 11 (originally planned to be the Top 10) were selected by the public to advance to the finals, apart from P!nk who was selected by the judges as a Wildcard after she failed to make it via the public polls.

P!nk, Rihanna and Taylor Swift all originally auditioned in ''Seattle, Washington. ''Taylor and Rihanna both received 4 Yes' from the judges, whereas P!nk only received 3 as Janelle gave her a No. All 3 failed to advance at Hollywood, Taylor and Rihanna both advanced together as part of a group, and P!nk advanced only as a result of her being the highest scorer of one of the losing groups. In the Semi-Finals Taylor advanced via the public polls in Group 2. Rihanna and P!nk both performed in Group 3, only Rihanna made it through via the public, P!nk was selected as one of the wildcards to perform again for the judges. P!nk advanced after impressing the judges the most at the wildcard show.

Kelly Clarkson and Leona Lewis both originally auditioned in ''Chicago, Illinois. ''Both received 4 Yes' from the judges and advanced to Hollywood. Both then advanced to the Semi-Finals from Hollywood, Kelly advanced in Task 1, scoring high points from the judges, while Leona made it through at task 2 where Ryder selected her to advance. Both Kelly and Leona went against eachother in the Semi-Finals (Group 3) and the public voted them to advance to the Finals.

Bruno Mars, Shakira and Cascada all originally auditioned in ''New York City, New York. ''Bruno recieved 4 Yes' from the judges, while Shakira received 3 due to Katia saying No, as did Cascada due to Janelle saying No. All 3 auto-advanced during task 1 at Hollywood where the judges gave them all high scores. Bruno and Shakira both advanced to the finals via the public in Semi-Final Group 1, while Cascada advanced via the public in Semi-Final Group 2.

Avril Lavigne is the only finalist that originally auditioned in ''Atlanta, Georgia. ''Avril received all 3 Yes' (as Katia was absent) and advanced to Hollywood. Avril failed to advance at the Hollywood stage and so moved onto Las Vegas for one last chance. She, along with her group scored the highest and so all advanced into the Semi-Finals. Avril then advanced into the finals via the public vote in Semi-Final Group 2.

Whitney Houston is the only finalist that originally auditioned in ''Dallas, Texas. ''Whitney received 4 Yes' from the judges and advanced to Hollywood. Whitney auto-advanced to the Semi-Finals at Task 1 in Hollywood after scoring high marks from the judges. Whitney was then voted into the finals via the public vote in Semi-Final Group 1.

Carrie Underwood is the only finalist that originally auditioned in ''Miami, Florida. ''Carrie received 4 Yes' from the judges and received her golden ticket to Hollywood. Carrie was one of the 10 contestants that auto-advanced in Task 1 at Hollywood. She then advanced into the finals via the public poll in Semi-Final Group 1.

Top 11 - Break Up Anthems
Mentor: Ashley

Top 9 - Dance Hits
Mentor: Ashley

Top 8 (First Week) - Life Changing Lyrics
Mentor: Ashley
 * Shakira and Whitney were announced 'safe' at the same time as the vote went to deadlock and Leona was sent home.


 * The Judges Save was used this week on Leona. As a result there will be a double elimination next week.

Top 8 (Second Week) - A Rocky Feeling
Mentor: Ryder

Elimination Chart

 * Did Not Perform
 * Safe
 * Top 3/Top 2
 * Safe First
 * Safe Last
 * Eliminated
 * Judges Save