Curtis Finch, Jr.

The twelfth season of American Idol premiered on January 16, 2013, as part of the mid-season of the 2012–13 network television season. Ryan Seacrest returned to host. Randy Jackson returned for his twelfth season as judge and was joined by new judges Mariah Carey, Nicki Minaj and Keith Urban, who replaced Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler.

On May 16, 2013, Candice Glover was announced the winner of the twelfth season of American Idol, making Kree Harrison the runner-up. Glover also became the third African-American female behind Fantasia Barrino and Jordin Sparks to win the show. Glover was also the last female contestant to win the competition in the show's run on Fox. In a series first, Glover's debut album, Music Speaks, was available for pre-order immediately following the finale broadcast. This was the only season to feature Carey and Minaj as judges, who both decided to leave the show in May 2013 to focus on their music careers.

Producer Nigel Lythgoe indicated on January 9, 2013, that during the Hollywood rounds, the girls and boys would perform on separate weeks. The separation of the sexes would continue in the Vegas round right up until the Top 10. There would not be a Top 12 or wild cards. This was the first season to introduce the "Sudden death" round in which the top 40 already had to perform in front of a live audience. The judges picked five out of the ten contestants per show to proceed to the top 20. The number of finalists was limited to ten which happened last in the inaugural season.

For the first time, the Hollywood rounds were held in the Valley Performance Arts Center in Northridge, California. The contestants were separated by gender, with the male contestants performing in the first week, and the female the next. There were three rounds in each week – the a cappella, the group, and the solo rounds. Unlike previous seasons, the groups in the group round were chosen by the producers, although each group was able to select a song from a list of twenty songs to perform. The males performed February 6 and 7 and the females performed February 13 and 14. The contestants sang a cappella solos in groups of eight and the judges chose only a few of them to move on to group round that same night and for the first time, the producers picked the groups. On the second night, the contestants performed solos. They were then divided into groups of eight, and only a few of them moved on. The judges picked 20 males and 20 females to perform in front of a live studio audience at The Beatles Love by Cirque De Soleil at The Mirage. Five were eliminated, while five advanced.

All of season 12's finalists participated in the American Idols LIVE! Tour 2013. Semifinalist Aubrey Cleland participated in the tour.

The contestants performed a song that a previous American Idol winner performed while on the show, including their coronation songs, or a song they recorded in their post-Idol career. Two more acts were presented on the Top 10 results show, for one last spot in the Idol tour 2013. They were Aubrey Cleland and Charlie Askew, who were the sixth-place finishers for each respective gender group. The results were announced the next episode.

Each contestant performed a hit song of 2013 and a song from the Great American Songbook standards.

A video was leaked to TMZ in October 2012 which showed Nicki Minaj erupting in a tirade against Mariah Carey during the audition in Charlotte, North Carolina. It was also claimed that Minaj was heard saying off-camera, "If I had a gun, I would shoot that bitch." Minaj however denied that she had made the threat. Ryan Seacrest said that the dispute "went a little too far", while Keith Urban jokingly said "I was the UN", and the feud elicited a comment from President Barack Obama that Carey and Minaj will "sort it out". In an interview with Barbara Walters on The View aired on January 7, 2013, Carey said that, due to Minaj's threats, it "felt like an unsafe work environment," and claimed that she had boosted her personal security. Minaj has stated that Barbara Walters never attempted to contact her for comment regarding her side of the story. Carey also said that she has since made up with Minaj. Carey's then husband Nick Cannon claimed that the feud was used by American Idol producers to generate interest and ratings. Producer Nigel Lythgoe however denied that he was responsible for leaking the video or that it was a publicity stunt, and said that he had no plans to use the footage in advance of or during the season. Fox executive Mike Darnell described the buzz due to the feud as being great. The aired episode of the Charlotte audition did not show the tirade and what was shown appeared to have no real linear connection with the leaked footage.

In April 2013, Carey noted during an episode of American Idol that Minaj had not had a number one song on the US Billboard Hot 100. The following day, Minaj took to Twitter to post what have been described as "extremely harsh" insults against Carey. She labelled the singer as "insecure" and "bitter", while also referencing a widely spread rumor that the producers of American Idol wanted to bring Jennifer Lopez back to the panel after a significant decline in ratings this season; "All dem #1s but JLo phone ringin? Lol. I guess having a personality, being a secure woman, and giving genuine critique still trumps that", Minaj tweeted. In November 2013, Carey stated that "American Idol was like going to work everyday in hell with Satan".

After a sharp drop in ratings during the eleventh season, Fox entertainment president Kevin Reilly announced that the show would undergo "some creative tweaking" for the following season. After two seasons, judges Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez announced their exits from the series on July 12 and 13, 2012, respectively. On July 23, Mariah Carey was announced as a judge for the twelfth season. On September 16, returning judge Randy Jackson and new hires Nicki Minaj and Keith Urban were confirmed to be serving on the panel. On December 31, 2012, it was announced that Ryan Seacrest has signed on to remain the host for at least two more seasons.

In an attempt to refresh the show's audition process, new ways to audition were announced. First is the "American Idol Small Town Audition Bus Tour", a ten town nationwide tour that will give hopefuls who couldn't make it to one of the large audition cities a chance to try out. The cities are Idaho Falls, Idaho; Billings, Montana; Casper, Wyoming; Rock Rapids, Iowa; Iowa City, Iowa; Bowling Green, Kentucky; Clarksdale, Mississippi; Joplin, Missouri; Dodge City, Kansas and Grand Junction, Colorado. Idol is also starting the "Nominate an Idol" program, which will let friends and family of individuals they think could be the next American Idol nominate said person in secret by filling out an online form and existing video or URL of their nominee—they must be singing solo and a cappella. The chosen auditions will then be surprised on location by a film crew and given an opportunity to advance to the next round. Finally, online auditions for season 12 were open from August 1 to 14, 2012, and October 12 to November 4, 2012. Auditions took place in the following cities: