Top 20 'Idol' Contestants of All Time - The Complete List
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- January
- 15
I spent hours coming up with my list of the Top 20 “American Idol” Contestants of All Time, and I have to say I’m very happy with how it turned out.
I agonized over quite a few, with three of the longest deliberations involving:
-Should No. 2 be Carrie Underwood or Chris Daughtry? (Underwood; she’s sold more total albums and has a longer career.)
-Should No. 9 be Blake Lewis or Tamyra Gray? (Lewis; far more memorable and original.)
-Should No. 20 be Lisa Leuschner or Justin Guarini? (Leuschner; I have much more to say about her and she was only on briefly.)
One thing I realized just yesterday: The Top 10 are people who are instruments of change.
Kelly Clarkson turned a reality TV show into a vehicle for new talent and established talent looking for a new audience; Underwood became a country superstar; Daughtry broke rock sales records; Jennifer Hudson won a freakin’ Oscar, for cryin’ out loud; Sanjaya Malakar was a one-man wrecking crew of an antihero; William Hung became the standard by which all auditioning contestants are measured; Clay Aiken was first to prove the “Idol” title was in name only; Fantasia Barrino was the first and best American Dream story; Blake Lewis made every arrangement and beatboxing moment his own (dawg); and Tamyra Gray was the show’s first double-threat.
And, no, of course I don’t think either William Hung or Sanjaya Malakar is a better singer than Clay Aiken or Taylor Hicks. (Translation to those rabid fanbases: Please don’t kill me.) I just think Hung and Malakar had a bigger quantitative impact on both the show and pop culture at large.
Whether or not you agree with the list—and obviously a lot of Claymates and Soul Patrollers don’t—I’m appreciative that so many of you read and posted comments as it unfolded over the last six days. Perhaps a few contestants from Season 7 (debuting tonight at 8 p.m. EST on Fox) will be bumped down a few notches—and if Simon Cowell is right about this year’s crop, that’s a likelihood—or in a shocker, someone low or off the list will come out of nowhere to rise, Jennifer Hudson-style, toward the top.
After the break is the complete list and links to my analysis, in case you missed any or want to relive the magic.
-No. 1: Kelly Clarkson
-No. 2: Carrie Underwood
-No. 3: Chris Daughtry
-No. 4: Jennifer Hudson
-No. 5: Sanjaya Malakar
-No. 6: William Hung
-No. 7: Clay Aiken
-No. 8: Fantasia Barrino
-No. 9: Blake Lewis
-No. 10: Tamyra Gray
-No. 11: Jordin Sparks
-No. 12: Melinda Doolittle
-No. 13: Bo Bice
-No. 14: Elliott Yamin
-No. 15: Ruben Studdard
-No. 16: Katharine McPhee
-No. 17: Taylor Hicks
-No. 18: Diana DeGarmo
-No. 19: Frenchie Davis
-No. 20: Lisa Leuschner
-Honorable Mentions (Nos. 21-31):
No. 21. Justin Guarini
No. 22. Kimberley Locke
No. 23. Antonella Barba
No. 24. Corey Clark
Nos. 25 and 26. Jonathan Jayne and Kenneth Briggs
No. 27. Kellie Pickler
No. 28. Nikko Smith
No. 29. Anwar Robinson
No. 30. Ryan Starr
No. 31. Mario Vasquez
(Photo by Kevin Winter/FOX.)
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, January 15th, 2008 at 4:00 pm by Chris Serico.
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Is Kevin Winter someone important. I hope not,this list is so wrong.Do a little home work Kevin, you can do better than this.
Kevin Winter is a photographer whose picture I have permission from Fox to use.
I'm the author of the post and I did lots of homework. Leave Mr. Winter out of this.
In what universe William Hung is more important than Fantasia? I want some of what you're smoking.
I didn't even read one sentence of this blog. Don't you think that there are more important things happening in our world? It is the year of a presidental election, there is a war, a mortgage crisis and geocide in Darfur.
Wake up, please.
That list is totally wrong. Clay and fantasia deserve to be in the top five because judging by your top three, you clearly based it on record sales and clay by far has outdone daughtry. It should be Kelly, Carrie, Clay, Chris, Fantasia and the rest can fall where they may be. I also disagree with placing Jennifer far up on that list. I'm sorry, but winning an Oscar should not be given priority on the list. She is #10 at best. This list is truely flawd. thumbs down
The list and the criteria is all wrong. Flunk!
I'm a huge fan of Clay's and I like some of the other Idols very much. I can see where you're coming from. You are meaning I think the impact the artist has had, and certainly Sanjaya and William Hung had huge impacts during their seasons on Idol. Clay & Ruben from season 2 were amazing at the time and have gone on to become successful, but with everything else we move on and and others become just as noteworthy. Thanks for all the time you put into this.
this wasn't a list of the top 20 artists that came out of american idol, it was a list of the top 20 CONTESTANTS. William Hung and Sanjaya have the right to be on that list, and the author said in the first post that it was mostly about what he likes, impact in general, and record sales of course. I think the list is correct, because when you look back, which are the contestants that come to your mind inmediatly? The best and the worse.
Great list, I agree 100% with what you say about kelly.
another useless list
that is ass backwards .
Journalists?
Please Please do your homework
SOBER.
Another useless list—only one person's view. What have you been smoking?
This really is a ridiculous list. Kelly Clarkson is in fact one of the worst singers. She oversings, has absolutely NO breath control and is too stupid to figure out how to perform without breathing into the microphone. Ruben and Clay had a huge impact on the show. Without them, there would have been no Season 2. Clay is actually the best voice, best peformer. The reason he hasn't progressed further in the industries opinion is he won't go the popstar route. Ruben is like a Vandross wannabe. We already had one.
Ooops I meant there would have been no subsequent seasons of American Idol at all without the Ruben-Clay debate. And Fantasia did way too many yeah yeah yeah's and isn't a very good singer but her performance of Summertime was a great performance. But she obviously cannot handle Broadway, she doesn't come like she's supposed to…...
kelly was a one hit wonder I honestly think carrie will outsell with in this year and carrie has had more number ones than kelly so carrie should be number one
ummm wtf is Clay number 7?
seriously?
You didn't even put him in the top 5? wtf?
Kelly was a one hit wonder? LMAO. Good luck proving that.
Good list. I don't necessarily agree with all of it, but you definitely made some good points.
I have watched all season's of American Idol. I thought Constantine Maroulis of season 4 was amazing..I loved that
he was versatile and such a good performer…I have seen him in concert and he is so talented …off stage a little
shy but we found that endearing. I also liked Kelly Clarkson and Katharine McPhee.
Elliott # 14? How you can place William Hung and Sanjaya Malakar in the Top 10 makes no sense to me at all.
As Simon Cowell said, Elliott was the best male vocalist Idol has ever had—-you would think that and the fact he broke a Soundscan record for # of copies of independent CD sold in first week that would put him in the Top 10.
Constantine left off the list? Can't believe it. I see from your recent poll, he's number four..behind Clay, Kelly and Carrie.
You've completely missed the fabulous ways (many of them) in which Clay used Idol as a springboard for his HUGE amounts of charity works. He's also got the best voice Idol's ever heard or will hear. The best of the rest can't touch him for either.
My teacher says he was in american idol season 1 and i dont beileve him. His name is Matt Cummings has anyone herd of him?!?!?
i think constantine should have been on the list. i remember when he sang bohemian rhapsody and simon said it was the best idol performance ever. This list is accurate though as to who has gotten the most publicity and fame. KELLY WAS NOT A ONE HIT WONDER! maybe a one CD wonder, but literally 10 of the 12 songs on that CD were #1's.(billboard). Carries had 2 #1s and that is Before he cheats and Jesus Take the Wheel. So with kelly's 10 #1's from her second CD and 2 #1's from her first CD, I would say 12 is bigger than 2 and thus kelly deserves to be number one. Not to mention she was the first idol, and not to mention kelly's a pop artist, which makes way more money than a country artist.
ps THEATER SINGER, no one in the recording industry sings correctly. You probably don't sing correctly. Broadway singers don't sing correctly, because if it was correct, they would sound like opera/classical singers. I can think of only a few people on broadway now that sound like that. Broadway singers are taught to sing so that their voice can last, but not so that it can last forever, like classical singers.