American Idol - Wikipedia. American Idol is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle. Media North America and 1.

Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle. Media North America. It began airing on Fox on June 1. April 7, 2. 01. 6. In 2. 01. 8, the show will make its debut on ABC.[3] It started off as an addition to the Idols format based on the British series Pop Idol, and became one of the most successful shows in the history of American television.

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The concept of the series involves discovering recording stars from unsigned singing talents, with the winner determined by the viewers in America through telephones, Internet, and SMS text voting. Winners chosen by viewers in its fifteen seasons were Kelly Clarkson, Ruben Studdard, Fantasia, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Hicks, Jordin Sparks, David Cook, Kris Allen, Lee De.

Wyze, Scotty Mc. Creery, Phillip Phillips, Candice Glover, Caleb Johnson, Nick Fradiani, and Trent Harmon. American Idol employed a panel of judges who critiqued the contestants' performances.

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The original judges were record producer and music manager Randy Jackson, pop singer and choreographer Paula Abdul and music executive and manager Simon Cowell. The judging panel for the final seasons on Fox consisted of country singer Keith Urban, singer and actress Jennifer Lopez, and jazz singer Harry Connick, Jr.[4] The first season was hosted by radio personality Ryan Seacrest and comedian Brian Dunkleman, with Seacrest as the sole master of ceremonies for the rest of the series. The success of American Idol has been described as "unparalleled in broadcasting history".[5] The series was also said by a rival TV executive to be "the most impactful show in the history of television".[6] It became a recognized springboard for launching the career of many artists as bona fide stars. According to Billboard magazine, in its first ten years, "Idol has spawned 3. Billboard chart- toppers and a platoon of pop idols, including Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Katharine Mc. Phee, Chris Daughtry, Fantasia, Ruben Studdard, Jennifer Hudson, Clay Aiken, Adam Lambert and Jordin Sparks while remaining a TV ratings juggernaut."[7]For an unprecedented eight consecutive years, from the 2. U. S. television ratings.[8]History[edit]American Idol was based on the British show Pop Idol created by Simon Fuller, which was in turn inspired by the New Zealand television singing competition Popstars.

Television producer Nigel Lythgoe saw a version in Australia and helped bring it over to Britain.[9] Fuller was inspired by the idea from Popstars of employing a panel of judges to select singers in audition. He then added other elements, including telephone voting by the viewing public (which, at the time, was already in use in shows, such as the Eurovision Song Contest), the drama of backstories, and real- life soap opera unfolding in real time.[1. The show debuted in Britain in 2.

Lythgoe as showrunner‍—‌the executive producer and production leader‍—‌and Simon Cowell as one of the judges, and was successful with the viewing public.[1. In 2. 00. 1, Fuller, Cowell, and TV producer Simon Jones attempted to sell the Pop Idol format to the United States, but the idea was initially met with poor responses from the Fox television network.[1. However, Rupert Murdoch, head of Fox's parent company, was later persuaded to buy the series by his daughter, Elisabeth, who was a fan of the British show.[1. The show was renamed American Idol: The Search for a Superstar and debuted in the summer of 2. Cowell was initially offered the job of showrunner, but turned down the offer; Lythgoe then took over that position. Much to Cowell's surprise, it became one of the biggest shows of the summer.[1.

The show grew into a phenomenon largely due to its personal engagement of the contestants, thereby prompting viewers to vote, and the presence of the acid- tongued Cowell as a judge. By 2. 00. 4, it had become the most- watched show on U. Watch Allegiance Of Powers Online Hitfix.

S. television, a position it then held for seven consecutive seasons.[1. However, after a few years of sharp declining ratings, the network announced that the fifteenth season would be its last, ending its run in April 2. In May 2. 01. 7, however, ABC acquired the rights to the series and announced that the program would return for the 2. Judges and hosts[edit]The show had originally planned on having four judges following the Pop Idol format; however, only three judges had been found by the time of the audition round in the first season, namely Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell.[1.

A fourth judge, radio DJ Stryker, was originally chosen but he dropped out citing "image concerns".[1. In the second season, New York radio personality Angie Martinez had been hired as a fourth judge but withdrew only after a few days of auditions due to not being comfortable with giving out criticism.[1. The show decided to continue with the three judges format until season eight. All three original judges stayed on the judging panel for eight seasons. In season eight, Latin Grammy Award- nominated singer- songwriter and record producer Kara Dio.

Guardi was added as a fourth judge. She stayed for two seasons and left the show before season ten.[2. Paula Abdul left the show before season nine after failing to agree terms with the show producers.[2. Emmy Award- winning talk show host Ellen De. Generes replaced Paula Abdul for that season, but left after just one season.[2. On January 1. 1, 2.

Simon Cowell announced that he was leaving the show to pursue introducing the American version of his show The X Factor to the USA for 2. Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler joined the judging panel in season ten,[2.

They were replaced by three new judges, Mariah Carey, Nicki Minaj and Keith Urban, who joined Randy Jackson in season 1. However both Carey and Minaj left after one season,[2. Randy Jackson also announced that he would depart the show after twelve seasons as a judge but would return as a mentor.[2. Urban was the only judge from season 1. He was joined by previous judge Jennifer Lopez and former mentor Harry Connick, Jr.[4] Lopez, Urban and Connick, Jr.

On May 1. 6, 2. 01. Katy Perry was the first to be chosen as a judge for the revival series.[3.

On September 2. 4, 2. Luke Bryan was announced as the second judge to take the panel.[3. On September 2. 9, 2. Lionel Richie would be taking the third and final seat on the judges panel.[3.

Guest judges may occasionally be introduced. In season two, guest judges such as Lionel Richie and Robin Gibb were used, and in season three Donna Summer, Quentin Tarantino and some of the mentors also joined as judges to critique the performances in the final rounds. Guest judges were used in the audition rounds for seasons four, six, nine, and fourteen such as Gene Simmons and LL Cool J in season four, Jewel and Olivia Newton- John in season six, Shania Twain in season eight, Neil Patrick Harris, Avril Lavigne and Katy Perry in season nine, and season eight runner- up, Adam Lambert, in season fourteen. The first season was co- hosted by Ryan Seacrest and Brian Dunkleman following the format of Pop Idol of using two presenters.

Dunkleman quit thereafter,[3. Seacrest the sole emcee of the show starting with season two. Dunkleman did, however, return in the series finale. Seacrest will also be returning for Season 1. The Wiggles Go Bananas! Movie Watch Online.

Selection process[edit]In a series of steps, the show selected the eventual winner out of many tens of thousands of contestants. Contestant eligibility[edit]The eligible age- range for contestants was fifteen to twenty- eight years old. The initial age limit was sixteen to twenty- four in the first three seasons, but the upper limit was raised to twenty- eight in season four, and the lower limit was reduced to fifteen in season ten. The contestants had to be legal U.

Magic: The Gathering - Wikipedia. Magic: The Gathering is a trading card game created by Richard Garfield. First published in 1. Wizards of the Coast, Magic was the first trading card game produced and it continues to thrive, with approximately twenty million players as of 2. Magic can be played by two or more players in various formats, which fall into one of two categories: constructed or limited.

Limited formats involve players building a deck spontaneously out of a pool of random cards with a minimum deck size of 4. The other major category of formats is constructed. In constructed, players created decks from cards they own, usually 6. Magic is played in person with printed cards, or using a deck of virtual cards through the Internet- based Magic: The Gathering Online, or on a smartphone or tablet, or through other programs. Each game represents a battle between wizards known as "planeswalkers", who employ spells, artifacts, and creatures depicted on individual Magic cards to defeat their opponents. Although the original concept of the game drew heavily from the motifs of traditional fantasyrole- playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons, the gameplay of Magic bears little similarity to pencil- and- paper adventure games, while having substantially more cards and more complex rules than many other card games. New cards are released on a regular basis through expansion sets.

An organized tournament system played at an international level and a worldwide community of professional Magic players has developed, as well as a substantial secondary market for Magic cards. Certain Magic cards can be valuable due to their rarity and utility in game play, with prices ranging from a few cents to thousands of dollars. History[edit]Richard Garfield was a doctoral candidate at University of Pennsylvania when he first started to design the game. During his free time he worked with local volunteer playtesters to help refine the game.

He had been brought on as an adjunct professor at Whitman College in 1. Peter Adkison (then CEO of Wizards of the Coast games company) first met with Garfield to discuss Garfield's new game Robo. Rally. Adkison saw the game as very promising, but decided that Wizards of the Coast lacked the resources to produce it at that point. He did like Garfield's ideas and mentioned that he was looking for a portable game that could be played in the downtime that frequently occurs at gaming conventions. Garfield returned and presented the general outline of the concept of a trading card game.

Adkison immediately saw the potential of this idea and agreed to produce it.[4]Magic: The Gathering underwent a general release on August 5, 1. While the game was simply called Magic through most of playtesting, when the game had to be officially named a lawyer informed them that the name Magic was too generic to be trademarked. Mana Clash was instead chosen to be the name used in the first solicitation of the game, however, everybody involved with the game continued to refer to it as Magic.

After further consultation with the lawyer, it was decided to rename the game Magic: The Gathering, thus enabling the name to be trademarked.[6]A patent was granted to Wizards of the Coast in 1. Magic's elements in combination, including concepts such as changing orientation of a game component to indicate use (referred to in the Magic and Vampire: The Eternal Struggle rules as "tapping") and constructing a deck by selecting cards from a larger pool.[7] The patent has aroused criticism from some observers, who believe some of its claims to be invalid.[8] In 2. Wizards of the Coast and Nintendo, regarding trade secrets related to Nintendo's Pokémon Trading Card Game. The legal action was settled out of court, and its terms were not disclosed.[9]Magic was an immediate success for Wizards of the Coast.[1. Early on they were even reluctant to advertise the game because they were unable to keep pace with existing demand.[1.

Initially Magic attracted many Dungeons & Dragons players,[1. The success of the game quickly led to the creation of similar games by other companies as well as Wizards of the Coast themselves. Companion Games produced the Galactic Empires CCG (the first science fiction trading card game), which allowed players to pay for and design their own promotional cards, while TSR created the Spellfire game, which eventually included five editions in six languages, plus twelve expansion sets. Wizards of the Coast produced Jyhad (now called Vampire: The Eternal Struggle), a game about modern- day vampires. Other similar games included trading card games based on Star Trek and Star Wars.[1. Magic is often cited as an example of a 1. The success of the initial edition prompted a reissue later in 1.

Arabian Nights was released as the first expansion in December 1. New expansions and revisions of the base game ("Core Sets") have since been released on a regular basis, amounting to four releases a year. By the end of 1. 99. Until the release of Mirage in 1. Beginning in 2. 00.

This system was revised in 2. Core Set being eliminated and blocks now consisting of two sets, released biannually. While the essence of the game has always stayed the same, the rules of Magic have undergone three major revisions with the release of the Revised Edition in 1. Classic Edition in 1. Magic 2. 01. 0 in July 2. With the release of the Eighth Edition in 2.

Magic also received a major visual redesign. In 1. 99. 6, Wizards of the Coast established the "Pro Tour",[1. In 2. 00. 9 the top prize at a single tournament was US$4. Sanctioned through the DCI, the tournaments added an element of prestige to the game by virtue of the cash payouts and media coverage from within the community. For a brief period of time, ESPN2 televised the tournaments.[1. In 1. 99. 9, Wizards of The Coast was acquired by Hasbro for $3. Magic a Hasbro game.[1.

While unofficial methods of online play existed previously,[note 1]Magic Online ("MTGO" or "Modo"), an official online version of the game, was released in 2. A new, updated version of Magic Online was released in April 2. In January 2. 01. Hasbro announced a franchise film deal with 2. Century Fox for Magic: The Gathering, saying that they wanted "to launch a massive franchise on the scale of Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings." Simon Kinberg was to serve as a producer for the project.[2. In June 2. 01. 4, Fox hired screenwriter Bryan Cogman to write the script for the film.[2.

As of 2. 01. 7, no film has entered production. Reception[edit]A 2. USA Today suggested that playing Magic might help improve the social and mental skills of some of the players. The article interviewed players' parents who believe that the game, similar to sports, teaches children how to more gracefully win and lose. Magic also contains a great amount of strategy and vocabulary that children may not be exposed to on a regular basis. Parents also claimed that playing Magic helped keep their children out of trouble, such as using illegal drugs or joining criminal gangs.

On the other hand, the article also briefly mentions that Magic can be highly addictive, leading to parents worried about their children's Magic obsession.[2. In addition, until 2. Jordan Weisman, an American game designer and entrepreneur, commented, "I love games that challenge and change our definition of adventure gaming, and Magic: The Gathering is definitely one of a very short list of titles that has accomplished that elusive goal. By combining the collecting and trading elements of baseball cards with the fantasy play dynamics of roleplaying games, Magic created a whole new genre of product that changed our industry forever."[2. In addition several individuals including Richard Garfield and Donato Giancola won personal awards for their contributions to Magic.[2. Gameplay[edit]A game of Magic involves two or more players who are engaged in a battle acting as powerful wizards called planeswalkers.