| Concert Tour Name: | American Idols Live! Tour 2006 |
| Landscape: | yes |
| Artist: | American Idol |
| Start Date: | July 5, 2006 |
| End Date: | September 24, 2006 |
| Number Of Shows: | 60 |
| Gross: | million |
| Last Tour: | American Idols Live! Tour 2005 (2005) |
| This Tour: | American Idols Live! Tour 2006 (2006) |
| Next Tour: | American Idols Live! Tour 2007 (2007) |
American Idols Live! Tour 2006 was a summer concert tour in the United States featuring the top 10 contestants of the fifth season of American Idol, which aired in 2006. It was sponsored by Kellogg Pop-Tarts. The tour started on July 5 and ended on September 24 covering 60 dates, the biggest tour thus far.[1] Initially 39 dates were planned,[2] but 21 extra dates were later added due to demand.[3] It followed in the tradition of other American Idol summer tours following the completion of each season in May.
Runner-up Katharine McPhee missed the first 17 shows of the tour due to severe bronchitis and laryngitis,[4] She also missed her first rescheduled show on July 27 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania due to cancelled flight caused by bad weather. At the concert in Charlotte, North Carolina, McPhee tripped backstage before going on, and a hair-line fracture to her left foot was later discovered when she was taken to a hospital after the show.
Bucky Covington was absent from the August 13 performance at the Savvis Center in St. Louis due to an illness. Kellie Pickler was absent from the first Atlanta show on August 3.
| Top 10 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Taylor Hicks (winner) | Katharine McPhee (2nd place) | |
| Elliott Yamin (3rd place) | Chris Daughtry (4th place) | |
| Paris Bennett (5th place) | Kellie Pickler (6th place) | |
| Ace Young (7th place) | Bucky Covington (8th place) | |
| Mandisa (9th place) | Lisa Tucker (10th place) | |
The show featured a series of individual performances with each contestant performing a set of songs. Many also performed a duet with the next performer in the transition between the sets of songs. In the first half the contestants performed in random order, in the second half the last four performed in elimination order, starting with Chris Daughtry and ending with Taylor Hicks. The second half also featured a number of group songs, with a traditional group performance ending the show. Some changes were made in the earlier shows due to the absence of Katharine McPhee.
Intermission
| Date | City (All U.S.) | Venue | Attendance[6] | Gross | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sales | Capacity | Percentage | |||||
| July 5, 2006 | Verizon Wireless Arena | 18,937 | 18,937 | 100% | $1,099,302 | ||
| July 6, 2006 | |||||||
| July 7, 2006 | Worcester | 20,863 | 20,863 | 100% | $1,202,620 | ||
| July 8, 2006 | |||||||
| July 9, 2006 | Hartford | 12,029 | 12,029 | 100% | $654,494 | ||
| July 11, 2006 | Albany | 11,716 | 11,716 | 100% | $594,356 | ||
| July 12, 2006 | Hershey | 8,866 | 10,500 | 84.4% | $499,058 | ||
| July 13, 2006 | East Rutherford | 29,332 | 29,332 | 100% | $1,576,419 | ||
| July 14, 2006 | |||||||
| July 15, 2006 | Uniondale | 25,332 | 25,332 | 100% | $1,413,926 | ||
| July 16, 2006 | |||||||
| July 18, 2006 | Wilkes-Barre | 7,732 | 7,732 | 100% | $460,112 | ||
| July 19, 2006 | Cleveland | 10,127 | 10,127 | 100% | $554,523 | ||
| July 21, 2006 | Rochester | 10,786 | 10,786 | 100% | $579,479 | ||
| July 22, 2006 | Philadelphia | 14,839 | 15,499 | 95.7% | $791,159 | ||
| July 23, 2006 | Atlantic City | 12,343 | 12,343 | 100% | $720,068 | ||
| July 25, 2006 | Bridgeport | 8,125 | 8,125 | 100% | $516,109 | ||
| July 27, 2006 | Pittsburgh | 11,750 | 12,359 | 95.1% | $593,595 | ||
| July 28, 2006 | Washington, D.C. | 14,180 | 14,484 | 97.9% | $763,248 | ||
| July 29, 2006 | Richmond | 9,935 | 9,935 | 100% | $595,551 | ||
| July 30, 2006 | Greensboro | 15,337 | 15,337 | 100% | $773,655 | ||
| August 1, 2006 | Charlotte | 12,556 | 14,190 | 88.5% | $632,566 | ||
| August 2, 2006 | Columbia | 11,373 | 12,079 | 94.2% | $615,051 | ||
| August 3, 2006 | Duluth | 10,156 | 10,529 | 96.5% | $587,466 | ||
| August 5, 2006 | Sunrise | 12,950 | 13,284 | 97.5% | $729,962 | ||
| August 6, 2006 | Tampa | 13,989 | 14,322 | 97.7% | $728,473 | ||
| August 8, 2006 | Birmingham | 13,041 | 13,334 | 97.8% | $694,363 | ||
| August 10, 2006 | Nashville | 12,889 | 14,345 | 89.9% | $675,515 | ||
| August 11, 2006 | Columbus | 12,641 | 13,299 | 95.1% | $657,118 | ||
| August 12, 2006 | Milwaukee | 11,746 | 13,151 | 89.3% | $631,857 | ||
| August 13, 2006 | St. Louis | 14,297 | 14,939 | 95.7% | $761,603 | ||
| August 15, 2006 | Grand Rapids | 11,413 | 11,663 | 97.9% | $619,256 | ||
| August 16, 2006 | Detroit | 14,081 | 14,969 | 94.1%A | $733,732 | ||
| August 17, 2006 | Indianapolis | 10,582 | 10,582 | 100% | $564,314 | ||
| August 18, 2006 | Louisville | 14,056 | 14,056 | 100% | $580,980 | ||
| August 19, 2006 | Rosemont | 13,390 | 13,697 | 97.8% | $745,107 | ||
| August 20, 2006 | Peoria | 8,536 | 9,825 | 86.9% | $476,008 | ||
| August 22, 2006 | Saint Paul | 14,933 | 15,466 | 96.6% | $758,311 | ||
| August 25, 2006 | San Diego | 10,624 | 11,176 | 95.1% | $582,441 | ||
| August 26, 2006 | Los Angeles | 13,427 | 14,115 | 95.1% | $680,394 | ||
| August 27, 2006 | Anaheim | 11,522 | 12,217 | 94.3% | $642,245 | ||
| August 29, 2006 | Sacramento | 12,666 | 13,200 | 96.0% | $678,120 | ||
| August 30, 2006 | San Jose | 12,802 | 13,524 | 94.7% | $674,043 | ||
| September 1, 2006 | Portland | 9,564 | 92% | $506,054 | |||
| September 2, 2006 | Tacoma | Tacoma Dome | 12,804 | 14,424 | 88.8% | $686,214 | |
| September 5, 2006 | Denver | 10,891 | 13,024 | 83.6% | $561,170 | ||
| September 7, 2006 | Grand Prairie | 12,094 | 12,290 | 98.4% | $729,172 | ||
| September 8, 2006 | |||||||
| September 9, 2006 | Houston | 7,088 | 10,845 | 98% | $431,949 | ||
| September 10, 2006 | Austin | 8,679 | 10,845 | 80.0% | $447,256 | ||
| September 12, 2006 | Duluth | Arena at Gwinnett Center | 10,605 | 10,945 | 96.9% | $598,353 | |
| September 14, 2006 | Huntington | 7,552 | 7,552 | 100% | $434,145 | ||
| September 15, 2006 | Norfolk | Constant Convocation Center | 6,738 | $377,389 | |||
| September 16, 2006 | Reading | 6,987 | 7,240 | 96.5% | $408,589 | ||
| September 17, 2006 | Syracuse | 6,048 | 94% | $357,758 | |||
| September 19, 2006 | Hershey | Giant Center | 8,842 | 10,038 | 8.1% | $495,755 | |
| September 21, 2006 | Portland | 6,074 | 6,275 | 96.8% | $368,552 | ||
| September 22, 2006 | Providence | 9,717 | 9,992 | 97.3% | $555,038 | ||
| September 23, 2006 | Bridgeport | Arena at Harbor Yard | 8,780 | 8,829 | 99.5% | $538,263 | |
| September 24, 2006 | Wilkes-Barre | Wachovia Arena | 8,188 | 8,519 | 96.1% | $479,558 | |
The 2006 tour was a huge success, with an average attendance of 96.1% capacity,[7] and 20 of its shows sold out. It ranked as the thirteenth biggest grossing tour of 2006 in the Billboard year end chart, with a gross of $35,291,883 that doubled the previous season's revenue, and 646,996 tickets sold as totalled from the 59 shows reported to Billboard.[8] It is still the most successful Idol tour yet.