American Idol Winners: The Hot And The Not
After 14 seasons of the once highly popular American Idol it was announced that Season 15 would be the last. We have come along way since seeing Kelly Clarkson being crowned as the winner of the very first season back in 2002. We have had some phenomenal winners and some forgettable ones.
Here is my personal ranking of the 14 American Idol winners.
#14 Candice Glover An underwhelming season producing an underwhelming winner. I was hoping that the show got cancelled after this one but thanks to my #1 I'm ultimately glad it didn't.
#13 Ruben Studdard
Ruben has released 5 studio albums and was nominated for a Grammy Award. I still cannot recall a single performance of his during Season 2. I’m not saying that he isn’t worthy of the success that he has achieved – just that it has all quietly passed me by.
#12 Caleb Johnson Although Caleb had quite a fan club going during his season I don't believe he is relevant enough to make an impact on the market. Old school rock is long dead and buried. I would have given the win to Alex - a true artist in every sense of the word.
#11 Fantasia Barrino
Barrino has sold more than 3 million albums in the USA alone. She is a Grammy Award winner and a seemingly hard worker. I am not a fan of Hip Hop Soul and Gospel music and can therefore not rank her any higher than #11
#10 Taylor Hicks
Taylor was the Season 5 winner right? Apparently he has released 2 albums since his win in 2006 but I am as unfamiliar with his post-Idol work as I am with his in-show performances.
#9 Jordin Sparks
Jordin has obtained a lot of publicity both due to her singing career and her significant weight loss. Sadly for her big-voiced divas are a dime a dozen and she is going to have to work all that much harder to remain viable amongst her peers.
#8 Scotty McCreery I have only grown to appreciate Country Music in the last year or so but there is absolutely no denying that Scotty is a very endearing young man with an amazing talent.
#7 Carrie Underwood
A Beautiful girl with a beautiful voice, but just not my cup of tea. She has firmly cemented her place in a very competitive music industry and has achieved a high degree of success of which she deserves every ounce.
#6 Kelly Clarkson My favorite female winner by quite a margin. Kellly set the bar extremely high when she won the first season of American Idol in 2002 and has continued to pump out award winning tracks ever since.
#5 Phillip Phillips It took very long for Phillip to grow on me. I simply didn't share the fascination people had with him during the show. He does have a good voice and is pretty good on guitar as well so he did eventually score the necessary brownie points to make the Top 5 on my list.
#4 Kris Allen
Kris has a hauntingly beautiful voice which captivated young and old alike. He did not rise to instant stardom right after his win but has persevered in his efforts to make a career out of his passion. Kris is not only an accomplished musician but also a philanthropist who has been involved in many international humanitarian projects.
#3 David Cook I have to be honest, I did not take much notice of David until a good couple of months after his win but once I became a fan I never looked back. When you find you Dave, come back to me.
#2 Lee Dewyze Lee was my winner right from the onset of Season 9. His rendition of 'Hallelujah' remains one of my favorite Idols performances of all time. I'm a bit disappointed that he hasn't achieved the stardom I wished upon him but it has not influenced my appreciation for his artistry.
#1 Nick Fradiani I have never been so emotionally invested in a contestant before. Nick is a class act - both as a human being and as a musician. Those eyes, that smile, that voice! I enjoyed a record breaking amount of eargasms during season 14 - thank you Nick! His winning single “Beautiful Life” has become my favourite Idols anthem of all times and perfectly reflects the amazing musician that he is.
