--- title: American Idol Finale: What Critics Said About the 1st Season description: The franchise is wrapping its 15-season run Thursday canonical: https://time.com/4284412/american-idol-finale-critics/ author: ashley Ross article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-04-07T12:00:15.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:55:57.178Z article:section: History og:title: Here’s What TIME Said About the First Season of 'American Idol' og:description: The franchise is wrapping its 15-season run Thursday og:url: https://time.com/4284412/american-idol-finale-critics/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf5500f512d4c33fe/69888dc3cd1bba3c197001a5/kelly-clarkson.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: American Idol- American Idol og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here’s What TIME Said About the First Season of 'American Idol' twitter:description: The franchise is wrapping its 15-season run Thursday twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf5500f512d4c33fe/69888dc3cd1bba3c197001a5/kelly-clarkson.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here’s What TIME Said About the First Season of _American Idol_ ## Video: "American Idol" By the Numbers [Watch (HLS stream): "American Idol" By the Numbers](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/eOnT6UnN.m3u8) (1:30)  _Published 2016-04-06. MONEY takes a look at what "American Idol" has made over 15 years on the air._ by [ashley Ross](https://time.com/author/ashley-ross/) ## ashley Ross Apr 7, 2016 12:00 PM UTC  Kelly Clarkson is kissed by an audience member at FOX TV's "American Idol", in Los Angeles, on July 16, 2002. Kelly Clarkson is kissed by an audience member at FOX TV's "American Idol", in Los Angeles, on July 16, 2002.Kevin Winter—Getty Images by [ashley Ross](https://time.com/author/ashley-ross/) ## ashley Ross Apr 7, 2016 12:00 PM UTC When _American Idol_ premiered back in 2002, it was an original—despite the fact that it was technically just a remake of the British series _Pop Idol_. Over the course of its long run, which will end on Thursday, the show discovered a trove of musical treasures, like Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood and Jordin Sparks, to name a few. It also [reimagined reality TV](http://time.com/4283634/american-idol-last-episode-legacy/) by shoring up the competition genre on American airwaves. But it wasn’t always clear that the singers or even the format would be the winner. Initially, the [critical focus of _Idol_ was on its judges](http://time.com/vault/issue/2002-07-01/page/63/), one in particular, in fact. TIME’s first review of the show—which ran on July 1, 2002, shortly after the show premiered—described Simon Cowell as the “British BMG Records executive” who “eviscerate\[d\] wannabe divas with insults that would make one reconsider singing in the shower, let alone in public.” [_Get your history fix in one place: sign up for the weekly TIME History newsletter_](http://time.com/newsletter) TIME’s critic pointed out that _Idol_ was, at heart, “an ordinary music contest: hopeful talent, shattered dreams,” but it was the “full-contact judging of Cowell” that “made it America’s new favorite source of schadenfreude.” It was Cowell’s harshness that gave _Idol_ its edge. The magic of _Idol_ was in its “British headmasterly discipline running smack into the preternatural sense of self-esteem—often inversely proportional to talent—that Americans have hardwired into them from the womb.” **_Read the full review from 2002, here in the TIME Vault:_** [Rhyme and Punishment](http://time.com/vault/issue/2002-07-01/page/63/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4284412/american-idol-finale-critics/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4284412/american-idol-finale-critics/"},"headline":"Here’s What TIME Said About the First Season of American Idol","datePublished":"2016-04-07T12:00:15.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:55:57.178Z","description":"The franchise is wrapping its 15-season run Thursday","url":"https://time.com/4284412/american-idol-finale-critics/","keywords":["Television","Music"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf5500f512d4c33fe/69888dc3cd1bba3c197001a5/kelly-clarkson.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"ashley Ross","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ashley-ross/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf5500f512d4c33fe/69888dc3cd1bba3c197001a5/kelly-clarkson.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"American Idol- American Idol","caption":"American Idol- American Idol","creditText":"Kevin Winter—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4284412/american-idol-finale-critics/","name":"Here’s What TIME Said About the First Season of American Idol"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"\"American Idol\" By the Numbers","description":"MONEY takes a look at what \"American Idol\" has made over 15 years on the air.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/eOnT6UnN/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-04-06T16:30:33.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/eOnT6UnN.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4284412/american-idol-finale-critics/","duration":"PT1M30S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4284412/american-idol-finale-critics/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```