As American Idol comes to the end of its final season, I decided to consider who are the top ten stars that the show created. These are the artists who had fame beyond the show. I am ranking them in the order from most to least fame. Strictly my opinion, share your thoughts in the comments.
- Carrie Underwood –Carrie was the winner of the season before my family started watching the show. She has had more success in the music industry than any other contestant. I don’t listen to that much country music so I only hear her music in rare doses. She is a great talent and the contestant that I consider to be American Idol’s biggest star.
- Kelly Clarkson – We didn’t watch American Idol during that first season. It wasn’t the type of show that that I would typically watch. The success she had in the music business gave the show a lot of the creditability it needed to last as long as it did. She was as important to the show as it was to her.
- Jennifer Hudson – Jennifer was another contestant during a season before I started watching the show. It seems like all of the biggest stars came before I started watching. Jennifer makes number three on my list because of her Oscar win. There may be other American Idol contestants that have sold more albums or won more Grammys than her, but they give Grammys in more categories than Oscars. Oscars are just harder to get. An Oscar pushes her to the number three spot on my list.
- William Hung – William Hung was the star that brought American Idol it’s second wave of fans. He is the reason that I watch American Idol. While I didn’t watch that season, I had heard about his version of “She Bangs”. If YouTube had been around at that time, a video of that performance would have been one of its first to go viral. I happen to be at a party one night where one of the audition episodes was showing. This is where I first saw a clip of William Hung. Seeing Simon Cowell’s reaction to him I understood that the show was different from what I had thought it was. I had thought it was just another talent contest like Star Search. It was at that point that I realized that it was more like the Gong Show with Simon Cowell instead of a gong. William Hung’s fame transcended the music business. He became known to people who would never watch this type of show. I would be one of the few people that would purchase all three of his CDs including his Christmas release, “Hung for the Holidays”. His fame was more of the 5-minute variety. If anyone got rich from his fame, it wasn’t him.
- Katharine McPhee – I wanted Katharine to win the first season of the show that I watched. This is not the reason that I pick her as my number five celebrity on the list. I select her because she has had a moderately successful acting career along with a moderately successful music career. Her music career started early enough in the program that artists like her could still sell CDs. She was attractive enough and talented enough to make a smart move to acting. She doesn’t do the kind of music that I listen to and I don’t watch any of the shows she has been on. But she has made her mark in the entertainment industry.
- Clay Aiken – Another artist that I would really never listen to. He makes my list because he’s done Broadway and run for political office. His American Idol ties gave him the name recognition for politics and gives him celebrity that a short stint on Broadway like several other Idol alumni have had doesn’t give you.