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American Idol is an American singing competition that began its first series in June 2002. Part of the Idol series, it originated from the UK show Pop Idol, a singing contest to determine the best singer in the UK. American Idol has become arguably the most highly publicized music competition in the country. The format features three celebrity judges who critique the performance of the contestants in order to facilitate the public voting. The judges currently are: record producer and legendary bass player Randy Jackson, former pop star Paula Abdul, and producer and manager Simon Cowell. American Idol is screened on the Fox Network in the United States and on CTV in Canada. It was created by Simon Fuller (manager of the Spice Girls and S Club 7) and developed by Simon Jones of Thames Television. The directors are Bruce Gowers (director of Queen's original "Bohemian Rhapsody" video), Nigel Lythgoe (a judge on So You Think You Can Dance), Simon Fuller (creator) and Ken Warwick (Gladiators and Grudge Match).