Monday, July 02, 2018

Your Turn

I spent most of my Friday night discussing this with a group of six or seven people. What was supposed to be just a quick go around the table thing turned into a huge debate. The trick here is you can only have 3. The top 3 all time American Idol contestants.

Now, if you just blurt out names thinking record sales you probably will come up with Carrie Underwood, Kelly Clarkson and then pause on a third. You then might say Adam Lambert or Chris Daughtry. But, wait. Isn't an Oscar win better than what Adam or Chris have accomplished? Where does Jennifer Hudson fit into this equation? 90% of Daughtry's sales were from his first two records, the most recent of which was released almost a decade ago. If you went by that measure, then Clay Aiken should be near the top. Adam Lambert, who is previously mentioned actually is in 13th place in American Idol record sales, but that Queen gig pushes him higher. If that is the case, then do you need to look at someone like Kellie Pickler. She is actually in 8th place in record sales. She has multiple songwriting awards for multiple songs and, if not for a brand new on the scene Taylor Swift, would likely have won multiple awards in categories where her only competition was Taylor. Kellie won Dancing With The Stars, had her own reality show and is now a talk show host.

What about Katharine McPhee? Not in the top 20 in sales, but starred on a middling network show and now has been on a hit network show for multiple years. She stars on Broadway and is willing to have sex with a guy who could be her grandfather.

So, who are your top 3 American Idol contestants?

47 comments:

notthisagain said...

that one lady that was the worst audition ever. she had a short blonde pixie cut and was convinced she had the best singing voice in the world

notthisagain said...

I guess her name was Mary

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1KuhJKBBbM

sandybrook said...

Carrie, Kelly, Jennifer Hudson

andrea said...

Never watched idol but the guy that did She Bangs was pretty good. William Hung

Sara, Making It Work said...

This would be more interesting if including all reality singing shows into the mix.
Pentatonix would probably get the top spot, or definitely top 3.

LooksLikeCRicci said...

Carrie Underwood
Kelly Clarkson
Chris Daughtry


Not sure if they were "the best" in terms of record sales, etc., but I'd argue they were certainly the most talented.

Silkprint said...

Where is William Hung on this damn list??

Cindy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Silkprint said...

Right Andrea ? Your comment didn't show when I wrote that :)

Cindy said...

Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Jennifer Hudson.

Katherine McPhee should not be ranked because she sleeps with the old record producer.

Guesser said...

I called in votes for Mandisa and Chris Daughtry,I picked Kelly Clarkson as the winner early on. She can sing a y type of song, so she that is why she lasted.

Just a mom said...

Personally my favorite idol is David Cook.

Farmgirl said...

Based on who will still haave a career in 20 yrs:
Kelly
Carrie
Scotty

Betsy said...

I like Justin Guarini for this, if only because he plays Little Sweet in those Dr. Pepper commercials.

mooshki said...

Haley Reinhart. Because she has the best voice, and Postmodern Jukebox is wonderful.

-B said...

Sanjaya

BestMan said...

Amazing voice and taste.

joshg g said...

David Cook- his dark versions of Hello and Billie Jean were perfect.
Adam Lambert- great voice especially on Mad Mad World and Tears of a Clown.
Latoya London- great vocals, no appeal to voters.

LooksLikeCRicci said...

^^Eff. I forgot about Latoya London. I voted for that girl multiple times, too!

pkelly491 said...

Most successful:
1. Clarkson
2. Underwood
3. Hudson
4. Lambert
5. McCreery

Most talented:
1. Haley Reinhart
2. Lambert
3. Clarkson
4. Hudson
5. Clay Aiken

Unknown said...

All AI "winners" are ass hats, period. Once you sign away your soul in blood, you lose all credibility in addition to your soul. If you win, you actually lose, for eternity.

mannyv said...

They're all fucking winners, man. They all are.

summer said...

I hate AI. but scotty mccreery has some great songs if you're into country, which i know most people aren't. Adam lambert also found a lot of success. I think he's one of the most talented from the show.

Brayson87 said...

Animal
Vegetable
Mineral

Newbomb said...

High Pitch Eric as Kelly Clarkson. #1

Jon said...

Is that a TV show?

https://youtu.be/1UPaT6ltDs4

@mannyv LMAO

Truthseeker said...

I picked Carrie Underwood the minute she nailed a perfect Heart Song, So hard to do, i even made my husband come out of the office to listen.
I was not a fan of Kelly, I loved Chris, and knew he would go somewhere. I also really liked Adam Lambert. Never was a fan of Jennifer Hudson, I do not like many female voices, the pitch hurts my ears. P!nk is an exception and the real Shania, not the one they have stuffed and is out now.. )lol)
My all time favorite performance on the old AI was Jason Castro, i still love listening to him, I admit i do not listen to any of the others I mentioned anymore.
If you can add this year, I have to say Cade, he has an old soul rocker vibe, similar to the Greta Van Fleet boys.

Unknown said...

Carrie, Justin Guarrini, William James Hung- the infamous "she bang, she bang" singer.

Wendy said...

Carrie, Kelly, Jennifer, in that order. Kelly having The Voice, though, may end up eclipsing Carrie soon. Just my opinions though.

Wendy said...

And I'm going off how famous I think they are, not vocal ability.

Little Miss Sunshine said...

1. Sanjay Malakar
2. Alan Ritchson
3. my personal favorite William Hung

Chris said...

Soa random thing. I was cleaning out my desk drawers a few months ago, and I came across the playbill for Wicked when it was at the Pantages in Hollywood. I'm just casually scanning the names and I see Adam Lambert, complete with a headshot that is definitely him. Not a big deal, but was pretty impressed to have seen american idol royalty on stage before he was american idol royalty!

Little Miss Sunshine said...

@Chris - that's cool. I have seen a picture of Adam Lambert on a barber shop glass window in a rural city in India.

Sara, Making It Work said...

Probably wouldn't crack the top 10, but I did love Constantine Maroulis.
He's had some success in theatre and done some TV.

JL said...

But he ripped off other artists he'd found on iTunes for those versions. After him the show started to announce whose version was bing sung.

JL said...

Cheesy as it is: the only one I still listen to, Jason Castro.

HeatherBee said...

When I was a bartender in Nashville, I met Kelly Clarkson and Pickler, and Carrie Underwood. They were all lovely ladies, so they would have my vote for top 3

OKay said...

3. Taylor Hicks
2. William Hung
1. Sanjaya

Not even kidding. I don't watch Idol and am proud and thrilled that I even know these names at all. And what exactly defines "top three" anyway? Sanjaya's hair was AMAZING. These three were interesting enough to me to even be aware that they existed.

a beautiful virago named hope said...

Kelly, Carrie and Jennifer with Clay getting honorable mention.

Unknown said...

I'd pick Kelly, Clay and Hailey Reinhart.

Zeroh Tollrants said...

Bo Bice, Daughtery, Clarkson

Sara, Making It Work said...

I liked Bo Bice, too.
He does alright, better than he would have if not for Idol, that's for sure. He does festival and state fair type venues as vocalist for Blood, Sweat & Tears. I saw them last year. His voice is perfect for it and I think he raised their profile as well.

redfishbluefish said...

Aside from the obvious mentions (Kelly, Carrie) with which I agree, for me, it's always been David Cook. I'm not sure he ever got the credit he deserved for his singing voice and musicality. He got lumped into the post-Daughtry "WGWG" (white guy with guitar) group that included Kris Allen, Lee whatshisface and one or two others. But note for note, Daughtry might've had the more powerful voice, but David's range, songwriting and arranging abilities, and musicianship are miles above many others who competed. He's one of the scant few who competed in this shit show but were true musicians in a sea of karaoke singers.

And just for fun, contestants not mentioned that I either think are talented or I enjoyed for the hell of it -- Brooke White, George Huff

Orville said...

Jennifer Hudson is definitely one of the top 3 she won an OSCAR that is going to down in history. And Jennifer is still working she was in Hairspray the musical recently. Kelly Clarkson is another one she is still relevant and the third I would say is Carrie Underwood or Adam Lambert for a tie. Those four seem to be the only ones who are still relevant.

Andrea Dujardin-Flexhaug said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
#TEAMGEELJIRE CLASSIC said...

How the fuck am I supposed to know?

Itttt said...

1. William Hung and nobody else comes close...okay maybe throw that Constantine DOOOOooOOOOOoOSH up there for that classic kick -> slip n fall

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