• Report: FOX looking to add another Brit as fourth 'American Idol' judge

  November 23, 2003
  Is FOX once again looking to add a fourth American Idol judge? According to a recent report in The Sun newspaper, Pete Waterman, who along with Simon Cowell, Nicki Chapman, and Neil Fox function as the four-person judging panel for the UK's Pop Idol, is "in talks" with FOX to join Cowell, Paula Abdul, and Randy Jackson as a judge for this January's third edition of American Idol.

• Third season of 'American Idol to premiere January 20 and 21

  November 17, 2003
  FOX has announced that its hit American Idol series will make its highly anticipated third-season debut on Tuesday, January 20 and Wednesday, January 21. The series’ special two-part premiere will kick off with a two-hour episode from 8-10 PM ET/PT on Tuesday followed by a special one-hour episode on Wednesday from 8-9 PM ET/PT on FOX.

• Strategy shift: RCA to release commercial CD of Clay Aiken's "Invisible" single

  November 15, 2003
  RCA should have listened to us in the first place. When you have an artist who only gets respect at the cash register, make use of it.

• 'World Idol' competition planned for holiday season, with eleven 'Idols' and world-wide voting

  November 13, 2003
  Pop Idol creator Simon Fuller has finally achieved his dream: a one-night face-off among winners of Pop Idol versions from around the world, to be called World Idol.

• 'Cupid' couple Hank Stepleton and Lisa Shannon visit Culver Academy as a couple

  November 10, 2003
  After Lisa Shannon and Hank Stepleton chose NOT to get married in the finale of CBS's Cupid, thereby passing up a chance at winning $1 million, many viewers probably assumed that their days as a couple were numbered. Not true.

• 'Canadian Idol' winner Ryan Malcolm logs second week with #1 single in Canada

  October 20, 2003
  The Pop Idol franchise contiunues to produce national hits for BMG Music Group. The latest success belongs to Ryan Malcolm, the winner of CTV's Canadian Idol, whose single "Something More" on BMG's Canadian-only ViK. label has now spent two weeks at #1 on the Nielsen SoundScan Canadian Single Sales charts.

• Simon Cowell proposes hybrid scripted-reality performance show to Fox

  October 8, 2003
  You have to admire the chutzpah of Simon Cowell, American Idol judge and Cupid executive producer. As part of Cowell's new contract, Fox gets first look at the next three show ideas from Cowell and his production company, simcow Ltd. The first one looks extremely familiar.

• Clay Aiken fights to keep sexual "edge" out of 'Measure of a Man' CD - and wins

  October 7, 2003
  Time magazine reports that American Idol runner-up Clay Aiken and his record label, RCA Records, battled continually during the making of his debut CD Measure of a Man over both content and career direction. Clay’s goal, to produce an album free from both sexual innuendo and “edge,” was strongly resisted by RCA executives led by label chairman and music industry legend Clive Davis. However, Clay's CD, scheduled for release on October 14, ultimately came out "clean" -- the way that Clay wanted it.

• Ryan Malcolm wins first 'Canadian Idol' title

  September 18, 2003
  The Toronto Sun reports that, as expected, Ryan Malcolm from Kingston, Ontario was selected by viewers as the winner of CTV's Canadian Idol. Malcolm, known by the derogatory moniker "Waiter Boy" -- a reference to his real-life job prior to Idol, defeated Nova Scotian Gary Beals in the final showdown.

• No wedding? 'Cupid' ends not with a bang, but a whimper

  September 17, 2003
  The idea was good -- offer a $1 million cash prize so that CBS's Cupid would end with a wedding, not with a short-lived romance like most other dating reality shows. So what went wrong?

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