•“American Idol" originated in Great Britain as "Pop Idol," and was brought to the U.S. by creator Simon Fuller

•“Idol” shows are broadcast in more than 150 countries around the world

•“Idol” has an estimated global audience of 200 million

•The “Idol” brand has 79 series in 34 territories throughout the world

•In Season 6, some 110 women and 60 men were selected to make it through to Hollywood

•Debuted under the full title “American Idol: The Search For A Superstar”

•The first season was co-hosted by Ryan Seacrest and Brian Dunkleman, who left the show after one season.

•Kelly Clarkson broke a record held by the Beatles when her hit single "A Moment Like This" jumped from No. 52 to No. 1, the biggest jump in Billboard history.

•Season 1 is the only year the runner-up did not release a single following the show's finale.

•Clay Aiken became the first American Idol contestant to have a No. 1 song on the Hot 100 with “This is The Night”

•Audition reject William Hung has old-sold out former contestants Kimberly Locke, Diana DeGarmo and Justin Guarini.

•Winners to have never landed in the bottom two or three: Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood and Taylor Hicks

•Clarkson and Underwood are the only Idols to win at all three of the major music awards shows (Grammy, American Music, Billboard)

•Pop culture reference: Steve Carell's character in "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" yells Clarkson’s name while having his chest hair waxed.

•Alabama has produced three Top 12 finalists (Top 10 in Season 1), compared with five a piece for North Carolina and Georgia.

•Of those three, two (Ruben Studdard and Taylor Hicks) won the season title and the other (Bo Bice) was a runner-up.

•California leads all states with eight finalists, but has yet to produce a winner.

•Bo Bice was the first rocker to spring from "Idol," and was the first "American Idol" contestant to perform a cappella

•Bucky Covington's birth name is William Joel Covington

•At age 16, Diana DeGarmo was the youngest “Idol” finalist

•At age 29, Taylor Hicks was the oldest person to win “American Idol.”

•Nearly 64 million votes were cast for the 2006 final for Taylor Hicks --- nearly as many as were cast in the 2002 congressional elections, and more votes than George W. Bush got in 2004. (BRAINROOM NOTE: More votes than Bush got, but not more votes than were cast in the election.)

•That finale was the third-most-watched television event of 2006, after the Super Bowl and the Academy Awards

•Hip-hop artist and radio DJ Angie Martinez had been signed as a fourth judge for Season 2, but quit after taking part in the first few days of auditions, deciding she had a hard time telling people they weren't good enough for the show.

•According to Entertainment Weekly, judge Simon Cowell earns $263,000 per episode

•Between his salary and royalties from his record label at Sony BMG, Cowell reportedly earns more than $30 million a year.

•Daniel Powter, whose Warner Bros. single "Bad Day" played as the exit song on "Idol," had the No. 1 digital song of the year in 2006, with 2 million downloads.

•In 2007, Powter’s "Bad Day" was replaced as the exit song by Chris Daughtry's "Home"

•Songwriter Diane Warren, who has composed songs with nearly every "Idol" winner, sat in on Season 2 as a guest judge during while the competition featured her songs

•“Idol” led the 2005-2006 reality TV Emmy Awards nomination field is Fox's American Idol, with eight nominations from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

•“Idol” has now been nominated 22 times, but the show does not yet have a single Emmy Award win to its credit

(Sources: Entertainment Weekly: Cents & Sensibility, March 30, 2007; #927; Variety: The money tree: Everyone seems to be joining the 'Idol' rich; March 7, 2007; http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117942693.html?categoryid=14&cs=1; Entertainment Marketing Letter: TV tie-ins boost 2006 music; 15 January 2007; Contra Costa Times: Blockbuster 'American Idol' returns; 18 January 2007; Buffalo News: 10 things you should know about 'American Idol'; 11 April 2007; E! Entertainment Online: Idol Bucky's Breakup; 2/13/07; http://www.eonline.com/news/article/index.jsp?uuid=09db415a-8b8d-45fd-b9ad-f9ed737c8401&entry=index; The Washington Post, "Why Not Dial-In Democracy, Too?," 28 May 2006; E! Entertainment: Idol Back for Round Six; 6 Nov 2006 02:43:11 PM PST)