The thirteenth season of American Idol, styled as American Idol XIII, premiered on the Fox television network on January 15, 2014.^[1] Ryan Seacrest returned as host for his thirteenth season. Keith Urban was the only judge from the twelfth season to return. Former judge Jennifer Lopez, who returned after a one-season absence, and Harry Connick Jr. both joined the judging panel following the departures of Mariah Carey, Randy Jackson, and Nicki Minaj, although Jackson remained as a mentor, replacing Jimmy Iovine.

On May 21, Caleb Johnson was announced the winner, with Jena Irene as the runner-up.

There were a number of major changes this season. On May 9, 2013, Randy Jackson announced that he would no longer serve as a judge.^[2] On May 30, 2013, Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj both also announced they would not return to the judging panel.^[3][4] On August 1, 2013, it was confirmed that Keith Urban would return as a judge for another season.^[5] Executive producers Nigel Lythgoe and Ken Warwick were succeeded by Per Blankens, previously of Idol, the Swedish version of American Idol.^[6] On June 25, 2013, it was confirmed that producers Jesse Ignjatovic and Evan Prager would join Blankens as executive producers of the show.^[7] Bill DeRonde replaced Warwick as the director of the audition episodes and Louis J. Horvitz also replaced Gregg Gelfand as a director of the live show.^[8] Fox television executive Mike Darnell, who helped launch American Idol in 2002, left as programming head of Fox, and Fox Sports executive David Hill was hired to oversee the series.^[9] Rickey Minor returned to the show as musical director after having left at the end of the ninth season.^[10]

In August 2013, it was reported that Jennifer Lopez would be returning as an American Idol judge.^[11] On August 22, 2013, it was reported that Jimmy Iovine would not return as the in-house mentor this season, and that he would be replaced by Randy Jackson.^[12] On August 30, 2013, The Hollywood Reporter wrote that Harry Connick Jr. had signed a deal to join the judges panel and that Simon Fuller had held a party the night before with all three judges to toast the forthcoming announcement.^[13] On September 3, 2013, Lopez and Connick Jr. were officially announced as judges for this season. It was also later reported that alumni Adam Lambert and Chris Daughtry would assist in mentoring the contestants.^[14]

In a rules change from past seasons, semifinalists from the twelfth season who had not made it into the top 10 would be eligible to audition again, provided they met all of the other requirements.^[15] This season, the viewers were also able to vote for their favorite contestants via Google Search. American Idol teamed up with Facebook to present "on-air visualizations" showing real-time East Coast voting developments, including live "demographic voting trends and relative contestant rankings."^[16] Voting could also start as soon as the performance shows began this season, and real time vote rankings were shown while the show is still in progress. Additionally, each contestant was assigned the same telephone number for the entire competition.

Auditions took place in the following cities:^[17]

In addition, special audition bus tours were held in Little Rock, Arkansas; Oxford, Mississippi; Tuscaloosa, Alabama; Knoxville, Tennessee; and Winston-Salem, North Carolina.^[25][26] Those chosen proceeded on to Salt Lake City to audition in front of the judges.

One audition this season was Tristen Langley, son of first season's third-placed finalist Nikki McKibbin, who made history as the first of the second-generation contestants on American Idol.^[27]

A new "Hollywood or Home" round was introduced this season where contestants could be eliminated soon after they had landed at LAX airport. 52 contestants performed solo in an airplane hangar, and of those, 32 were immediately sent back home.^[28] The 160 contestants left then proceeded to Hollywood and performed solo at the Dolby Theatre in groups of ten. After this round, 104 contestants remained and they performed in groups of three or four. 77 contestants went through to a solo round.

The Hollywood rounds ended with a top 30 being announced on February 12 and 13, 2014. However, a new twist was added where the judges only choose 15 female contestants and 14 male contestants, with the 15th man to be chosen by the public. The options were either Ben Briley or Neco Starr. The result was revealed at the end of the females' semifinals episode, and Briley was the selection.

The semifinals began on February 18. The three-day event was marketed as "Rush Week". In another twist, the judges were required to announce which ten out of the fifteen per each gender would be eligible to sing for votes, thereby eliminating five men and five women without permitting them to perform.^[29][30] Then, the top five men and the top five women, along with three assorted Wild Card contestants selected by the judges, advanced to the finals.^[31]

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Contestants are listed in the order they performed.

From left to right: Caleb Johnson, Jena Irene, Alex Preston, Jessica Meuse, Sam Woolf, C.J. Harris, Majesty Rose, and MK Nobilette

• Caleb Johnson (born April 23, 1991^[33]) was from Asheville, North Carolina. He had previously auditioned in the tenth and eleventh seasons, but he was cut during the selection of the top 25. He auditioned in Atlanta, where he performed an original song, "Into the Void." In Hollywood, he first performed "Sympathy for the Devil," followed by "Too Close" in a group that included C. J. Harris, and he performed "Radioactive" as his last solo.

• Jena Irene (born July 13, 1996^[34]) was from Farmington Hills, Michigan. She auditioned in Detroit with Adele's "Rolling in the Deep." She performed "Video Games" in Hollywood as her first solo, Alex Clare's "Too Close" in the group performance, and her own composition, "Unbreakable Me," in the Wild Card round.

• Alex Preston (born May 6, 1993^[35]) was from Mont Vernon, New Hampshire. He performed an original song, "Fairytales," for his audition. In Hollywood, he performed "Scream & Shout" as his first solo and "Fairytales" as his final solo.

• Jessica Meuse (born October 19, 1990, in Round Rock, Texas^[36][37]) was from Slapout, Alabama. She auditioned in Atlanta with one of her own songs, "Blue-Eyed Lie." She performed another original, "Done," in Hollywood.

• Sam Woolf (born April 19, 1996^[38]) was from Bradenton, Florida. He auditioned in Boston with "Lego House" by Ed Sheeran. He sang "Waiting on the World to Change" and his original composition, "I Tried," in Hollywood.

• C. J. Harris (born January 28, 1991^[39]) was from Jasper, Alabama. He auditioned in Salt Lake City, where he sang "Soulshine." He performed "Trouble" in Hollywood, and was in a group with fellow finalist Caleb Johnson, where they performed Alex Clare's "Too Close." For his final solo, he performed "Bring It On Home to Me."

• Dexter Roberts (born July 12, 1991^[40]) was from Fayette, Alabama. He performed "Drive" for his audition. He performed "I Want It That Way" as part of a group with fellow finalist Ben Briley, For his final solo, he performed an original song: "Farmer's Grandson."

• Malaya Watson (born September 24, 1997^[41]) was from Southfield, Michigan. She auditioned in Detroit with Aretha Franklin's "Ain't No Way." In Hollywood, she sang "Brand New Me" by Alicia Keys, and then performed "I Believe" as her final solo.

• Majesty Rose (born February 29, 1992^[42]) was from Goldsboro, North Carolina. She auditioned in Atlanta, where she sang Coldplay's "Violet Hill". In Hollywood, she performed "1234" and "Stars."

• MK Nobilette (born August 20, 1993^[43]) was from San Francisco, California, where she auditioned with "If I Were Your Woman."^[44] In Hollywood, she performed "Royals" in a group performance and "The A Team" by Ed Sheeran as her final solo.^[44]

• Ben Briley (born March 19, 1989^[45]) was from Gallatin, Tennessee. He auditioned in Atlanta, singing "Arms of a Woman." In Hollywood, he performed "I Want It That Way" in a group with fellow finalist Dexter Roberts, and "Stars" as his final solo.

• Emily Piriz (born January 28, 1996^[46]) was from Orlando, Florida. She auditioned in Atlanta, singing "Mamma Knows Best" by Jessie J. She sang "Nothing but the Water" as her first solo in Hollywood and "Stars" as her final solo.

• Kristen O'Connor (born April 19, 1989) was from Sebastian, Florida. She auditioned in Atlanta, singing "Good Morning Heartache". In Hollywood, she performed "Unconditionally" as a solo and "Treasure" in a group performance with fellow finalist, Sam Woolf.

There were thirteen weeks of finals with thirteen contestants competing. At least one contestant was eliminated every week based on the public's votes, although the judges could veto one elimination through the use of the "judges' save."

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• Music releases

• American Idols LIVE! Tour 2014