Season 1

•Viewers question the phone voting system's validity when the popular Tamyra Gray is voted off before Nikki McKibbin.

•Semi-finalist Delano Cagnolatti lied about his age after making the finals (he was 29, not 23 as claimed) and is disqualified

•After being voted off the show, finalist Jim Verraros claims that, while a contestant, producers told him to shut down his website, which revealed that he is gay.

Season 2

•Some 1,100 people complain about the voting system when Clay Aiken loses to Ruben Studdard by fewer than 140,000 votes out of some 24 million votes cast.

•Judge Simon Cowell alleges that Clay Aiken saw the results card backstage prior to the show, and therefore knew in advance he had not won -- host Ryan Seacrest now holds a blank card when announcing the winner.

•Ruben Studdard sues clothing company 205 Flava for using his image; 205 Flava said it had secretly paid Studdard to wear their sports jerseys on the show. The lawsuit is settled out of court.

•Semifinalist Frenchie Davis is kicked off the show after news surfaces that she once posed nude for an Internet porn site. Davis had been pegged as one of the program's leading contenders.

•Corey Clark makes it to the final 10 before being disqualified for not revealing his police record to the show's producers.

•The judges advance Jaered Andrews to the final 32, but kick him off when FOX learns of his arrest on assault charges in connection with a bar fight that ended with a man's death.

Season 3

•After Jennifer Hudson and LaToya London are eliminated, Elton John, a guest judge this season, said he found the voting by the national viewing audience "incredibly racist."

•Controversy over the legitimacy of the contest increased as rocker Jon Peter Lewis and young crooner John Stevens stayed afloat while others were unexpectedly eliminated.

Season 4

•Season 2 contestant Corey Clark claims he had a secret affair with Paula Abdul while competing two years ago, and that she provided him with stage and wardrobe advice. An internal investigation clears Abdul.

•Finalist Mario Vasquez mysteriously drops out of the competition, citing “personal reasons”; it is later reported he had been a guest vocalist on Argentinian guitarist Cesar Marrol's 2004 album Worlds of Change, a probable violation of his Idol contract.

•Smokinggun.com reveals Scott Savol had a domestic dispute with his live-in girlfriend on Valentine's Day 2001.

•It is revealed that finalist Bo Bice was arrested in 2001 for cocaine and marijuana possession.

•Paula Abdul is fined and put on probation for two years, after pleading no contest to a hit and run charge, following a 2004 traffic accident.

Season 5

•Early in the competition, Taylor Hicks is derided by judge Simon Cowell, as like a "drunken father singing at a wedding."

•Court TV uncovers that Bucky Covington once tried to switch places with his twin brother to help him avoid criminal prosecution.

•Katharine McPhee faces rumors about her absence from the 'Idol' summer tour. Though she claimed it was due to bronchitis and laryngitis, some Web sites suggest she was really making a movie and trying to distance herself from the show. In an interview with People magazine, McPhee reveals that she struggled with severe bulimia for five year.

•Taylor Hicks sues a Tennessee music producer to halt the online distribution of songs Hicks recorded five years before winning on “Idol,” charging that William Smith sold three of his songs via Apple's iTunes music store.

•Identical twins from Memphis, Derrell and Terrell Brittenum, wow the judges, though no one knew they had outstanding criminal warrants. Both were charged in Georgia with forgery, theft by deception and identity fraud for allegedly using another man's identity to buy a car. A lawyer for the brothers said they were "uninvited" from the show.

•During a stint as a co-host for "Live with Regis and Kelly," former finalist Clay Aiken upsets hostess Kelly Ripa, after putting his hand over Ripa's mouth while they interviewed "Dancing with the Stars" winners Emmitt Smith and Cheryl Burke.

Season 6

•Simon Cowell criticizes Season 1 winner Kelly Clarkson, after it became known she had refused to sign licensing papers allowing "Idol" to use her music during the current competition; Clarkson relents, and agrees to let contestants on the show sing her songs.

•Suggestive photos purported to be semifinalist Antonella Barba hit the Web shortly after being named to the Top 24, but is allowed to remain on the show. The View”’s Rosie O'Donnell calls the decision "racist," since second season semifinalist Frenchie Davis was disqualified. Idol responded by revoking the ABC talk show's permission to air “Idol” video clips.

•Cowell insults audition contestant Kenneth Briggs by likening his physical appearance to a "bush baby."

•Cowell blasts Jennifer Hudson after she calls American Idol "a stepping stone," accusing her of failing to appreciate the "big opportunity" her appearance on the show offered her. Hudson replies, "If I'd been any better at my job when I was at Burger King in my middle teens I wouldn't be here either, so should I thank them too?"

•Video clips of Paula Abdul emerge on the Internet showing her squirming in her seat and slurring her words during promotional appearances for the new season of the show. Abdul’s publicist said she was simply exhausted after three hours of interviews, while Abdul herself maintained, "I'm not under the influence of anything."

•Radio host Howard Stern of Sirius Satellite Radio launches a vocal campaign urging listeners to vote for contestant Sanjaya Malakar, aligning himself with the web site Vote for the Worst. The site was launched in 2004 to encourage voters to get behind the worst singers.

•Critics attack Cowell after an episode shows him seemingly rolling his eyes as contestant Chris Richardson gave a message of encouragement to friends concerning the Virginia Tech massacre. Cowell insisted his actions were directed at fellow judge Paula Abdul, with whom he was having a conversation.

•Vivid Entertainment claims that in May 2007 it will release a sex tape featuring Olivia Mojica, 22, a contestant who reached the semifinals in Season 2. Called "Hardcore Idol," the 40-minute DVD’s tagline reads, "Here’s what the judges didn’t see."

•Magdaleno Olmos, a former accountant for Fremantle, the company which produces “Idol,” files a lawsuit accusing former finalist Mario Vazquez of attempting to masturbate in front of him. Olmos claims the singer "sexually harassed" after following him to a toilet.

[Note: Taylor Hicks, Bo Bice, Bucky Covington, Trenyce (aka Lashundra Cobbins), and Scott Savol were not disqualified for their various brushes with the law, as their records were disclosed to “American Idol” producers at the start of the competition; third-place finisher Nikki McKibbin was never reprimanded for working as a stripper before the show]

(Sources: AOL Television: http://television.aol.com/americanidol/photos/scandals_gallery; New York Post: LIAR, LIAR - IDOL' BOOTS AGE CHEAT (HE'S 29); 3 July 2002; VH1: '205' Jersey Makers Say They Secretly Paid Ruben Studdard; 08.06.2003; http://www.vh1.com/news/articles/1475912/20030806/studdard_ruben.jhtml; VH1: 'American Idol' Steps Up Screening Process For Contestants; 2/4/04; http://www.vh1.com/news/articles/1484799/02032004/id_0.jhtml; AP: `American Idol' gets its first big controversy of season; 7 March 2007; UPI: Kelly Clarkson settles 'American Idol' song use dispute; 01/19/2006; Entertainment Weekly: A Closet Case American Idol's gay jokes hit a sour note; 25 April 2003; WSJ: Sanjaya’s Surprise: Behind the ‘Idol’ Vote; April 11, 2007; http://blogs.wsj.com/numbersguy/2007/04/11/sanjayas-surprise-behind-the-idol-vote/; Philadelphia Daily News: 'Idol' producer explains Simon's eye roll; April 19, 2007; http://www.philly.com/dailynews/features/20070419_Ellen_Gray___Idol_producer_explains_Simons_eye_roll.html; Entertainment Weekly: Monitor; 27 April 2007; Variety: Idol faces porn scandal; April 13, 2007; http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117963091.html?categoryid=14&cs=1&query=%22american+idol%22+)