American Juniors was a reality television show broadcast on the Fox Network as a spin-off of the wildly popular American Idol. The first and only season of American Juniors aired in the summer of 2003.Around 2,000 children and teenagers auditioned for the show; from these twenty were chosen as contestants. Throughout the season, this number was narrowed down to five through several rounds of voting. Like American Idol, voting was done by the show's viewers via telephone. Unlike Idol, to prevent hurt feelings the contestants were voted into the group, as opposed to being voted off the show. Idol host Ryan Seacrest repeated this duty for most of the shows. Idol judges did not appear; the principal Juniors judges were Gladys Knight (who also hosted when Seacrest was absent) and Deborah Gibson. A number of Idol alumni, such as Ruben Studdard and Christina Christian, made guest performances.The five contestants who remained at the end of the season were formed into a group also named the American Juniors. They were Lucy Hale, Tori Thompson, Taylor Thompson, Chauncey Matthews, and Danielle White.Seeing children and young adolescents competing gave many viewers a sour taste as the show had many "stage parents" in the wings. For this reason, as well as many others, the show was never as successful as American Idol and did not return for a second installment.The American Juniors made a brief appearance on the December 2003 American Idol Christmas special. Their debut album was released on October 26, 2004 after a year's delay from its original scheduled date.It seems unlikely that the American Juniors group still exists in any form. The members seem to be pursuing individual efforts and there is no publicity about them as a group. Their website became inactive in April 2005. In May 2005 the Thompson twins' website announced they were now out on their own.
