Music Throughout the Ages

The ‘Idol’ shows began in the UK when former manager of the spice girls Simon Fuller showcased best vocal talents vying against each other for the number one spot of being the top Idol. Outspoken judges give their comments in constructive criticism or encouragement to each contestant and public viewers ultimately choose the winner. Although these vocalists have had certain success, some may feel that Idol stars are not as talented as other vocalist who made their way to stardom in the traditional way. But what does their ‘track record’ show.

American Idol Winners!

Season 1

Kelly  Clarkson made her debut under RCA Records after she won the first season of the television series American Idol in 2002. She was originally marketed as a pop musician with her debut album Thankful (2003). With the release of her multi-platinum second album Breakaway (2004), Clarkson moved to a more pop rock-oriented style of music.

Clarkson won the first season competition of American Idol on September 4, 2002, earning 58% of the audience vote over Justin Guarini. Clarkson performed the ballad “A Moment Like This”, the song written for the winner of American Idol, which would subsequently appear on her debut album Thankful. The song’s music video was filmed at Pantages Theater in Hollywood, and incorporated short scenes of Clarkson performing on Idol.

When released as a single in October 2002, it set a then record on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart when it rose from number fifty-two to number one. This achievement was largely due to the impact from Idol as the CD single managed to sell 236,000 copies in its first week of sales in the U.S.; it spent five weeks at number one in Canada.

Clarkson’s third album, entitled My December, was released on June 26, 2007. Her fourth album is due in fall 2008. Clarkson has sold over 19 million albums worldwide. Clarkson is the most successful American Idol alumna, with eight of her singles becoming Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100. In 2008, she joined Vh1’s list of 10 sexiest women of the new millennium at #8. She also hit #28 on Vh1’s Top 30 Hottest Rock Front Women.

Season 2

Christopher Ruben Studdard rose to fame as winner of the second season of American Idol. “A lot of people don’t realize how hard I was trying to get into the business before American Idol,” Studdard related several years later. “I was making demos and just working so hard.” A back-up singer from Just a Few Cats asked him to accompany her to Nashville, Tennessee for an audition on the 2003 second season of “American Idol”.

On American Idol, he impressed viewers with his performances of the Leon Russell/Bonnie Bramlett song “Superstar” (originally a hit for The Carpenters and Luther Vandross) and the Peabo Bryson/Regina Belle duet “A Whole New World”; during his time on the show, Studdard received praise from music legends such as Lionel Richie, Neil Sedaka, Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees, Luther Vandross, and Gladys Knight. He won the contest over runner-up Clay Aiken by only 134,000 votes out of 24,000,000 cast in the May 2003 finale, becoming the second American Idol winner and the first and only male (as well as the oldest winner) to hold that title until 2006, when fellow Birmingham native Taylor Hicks won Idol’s season five.

Studdard released his first single, a cover of Westlife’s “Flying Without Wings”. Fueled largely by sales, it debuted at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. In December 2003, advance orders for his album Soulful topped the 1 million mark before it was released into stores. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 album chart that month, selling over 400,000 copies in its first week and attaining the highest first-week sales of any American Idol winner. The single “Sorry 2004″ from this album found substantial airplay, reaching #9 in the Billboard Hot 100 and #2 on the Billboard R&B singles chart. Studdard received a Grammy Award nomination in December 2003 for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for “Superstar”, nominated with his idol Luther Vandross (Vandross won that category). In March 2004, Ruben won the NAACP Outstanding New Artist award.

Studdard released the gospel album I Need an Angel on November 23, 2004. The title track and first single “I Need an Angel” was a cover of a 2002 single performed by R&B singer Daniel DeBourg and written by R. Kelly. The album sold over 96,000 copies in its first week, it also entered the Gospel charts at #1, opened at #20 on the Billboard 200 chart, it since has sold over 500,000 copies. It was also #1 on the 2005 Billboard Year-End Gospel Albums Chart. As of June 2007, Studdard is the fifth-best selling American Idol performer with more than 2.4 million albums sold in the U.S.

Studdard’s third album, The Return was released in October 2006; it goes back to his R&B roots, but is different from his previous efforts. Studdard is collaborating with the artist Ne-Yo on this album, along with a variety of producers. The single “Change Me” was released ahead of the album. The Return sold 71,000 copies in its first week to open at #8 on the Billboard 200 album chart.

Studdard appeared on the finale of American Idol season 6 in May 2007. He spent a few weeks touring with Robin Givens in the comedy-drama Heaven I Need a Hug and prepared to take on the role of Fats Waller in a national tour of Ain’t Misbehavin’ in 2008. The tour is scheduled to begin November 17, 2008 in Atlanta, GA and end May 14, 2009 in Syracuse, NY.

Season 3

Fantasia Monique Barrino (born June 30, 1984), or simply Fantasia, is an American R&B/soul singer and Broadway actress who rose to fame as the winner of the third season of the television series American Idol in 2004. Fantasia made an immediate impression on American Idol with her stylized, gospel influenced sound, and her explosive stage presence.

Her audition version of Tina Turner’s “Proud Mary” made her an early favorite in the competition. Her standout performance during the course of the show was a heartfelt staging, begun seated, of the Porgy and Bess standard “Summertime” that left her in tears from “feeling the song” and earned praise from the judges, as well as landing her on the Emmy Awards’s 2004 list of greatest television moments. “Summertime” was also labeled by idol judge Randy Jackson as the best performance in the shows history.

Fantasia released her debut studio album, Free Yourself, in November 2004. It debuted at number eight on the Billboard 200 pop album chart, selling 240,000 copies in its first week. To date, it has sold over two million copies worldwide, and was certified platinum in the U.S. The singles “Truth Is” and “Free Yourself” became R&B hits, reaching number two and number three respectively on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Tracks chart.

Barrino did even better on the Billboard Adult R&B Airplay, where she was the first artist of any kind to simultaneously have two of the top three songs, and “Truth Is” spent fourteen weeks at the number one position. Barrino was named the number-one artist of the Adult Urban Contemporary format for 2005 according to the December 13, 2005 Billboard Magazine.

September 2005, Fantasia published her memoirs (which she dictated to a freelance writer), Life Is Not a Fairy Tale. The book quickly became a New York Times Bestseller, reaching number seven on the list.

In 2006, Fantasia was nominated for four Grammy Awards for her debut album. Though she didn’t win any of them, she performed at the 48th annual telecast with several artists including Aerosmith, Joss Stone, John Legend, Maroon 5, and Ciara in an all-star tribute to Sly and the Family Stone during the Grammy Award show.

In August 2006, Fantasia played herself in a Lifetime Television film based on her autobiography Life Is Not a Fairy Tale. The film was directed by Debbie Allen and debuted on the women’s cable network on Saturday, August 19, 2006. The movie received nineteen million viewers throughout its debut weekend. Life Is Not a Fairy Tale: The Fantasia Barrino Story has also become Lifetime’s second most viewed program of all time.

February 2007, Fantasia appeared and performed on American Idol, and announced that she would be starring in the lead role of Celie in the Broadway musical The Color Purple, the hit musical based on the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Alice Walker. After appearing on American Idol and the Oprah Winfrey Show, the musical received a boost of over two million in pre-ticket sales in one week. Leading up to her first performance on April 10, 2007 the play garnered a total of 6.5 million in pre-ticket sales.

The Color Purple Box Office saw a 34 million dollar jump in sales since Fantasia started in the show, a third of the play’s 100 million dollar earning since its debut in 2005. Fantasia was cast by Oprah Winfrey as Celie in the film adaptation of “The Color Purple” musical, which is to begin production after the release of her third album.

Fantasia received three Grammy nominations for her sophomore release, Fantasia and is currently in the studio working on her third album to be released early 2009. She stated on the red carpet of the 2008 Grammy Awards that the style of her new album will be a blending of the avenues she has touched musically, which include, American Idol and Broadway.

Season 4

Carrie Underwood is an American country singer-songwriter. She rose to fame as the winner of the fourth season of American Idol, and has become a multi-platinum selling recording artist and a multiple Grammy Award winner. Her debut album, Some Hearts, was certified seven times platinum and is the fastest selling debut country album in Nielsen SoundScan history. Some Hearts yielded three number one hits on the Billboard Country charts in the United States and Canada: “Jesus, Take the Wheel”,“Wasted”, and her biggest hit to date, “Before He Cheats”.

Her second album, Carnival Ride, was released on October 23, 2007. It has so far sold about 2.3 million copies and has produced three number one country hits, “So Small”, “All-American Girl”, and “Last Name”. Her current single “Just a Dream” is at #11 on the Billboard “Hot Country Songs” chart. Underwood’s Christmas single, “Do You Hear What I Hear?” peaked at #2 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary charts. Aside from her vocals, Underwood’s success is attributed to what many fans recognize as her wholesome image. To date, Underwood has sold over 11 million records worldwide. Underwood was inducted as a member of the Grand Ole Opry on May 10, 2008.

Idol Success

The last three season of American Idol have brought even more successful contestants. Their hits can be heard on the radio and concerts are performed all over the world. The winner of Season 5, Taylor Hicks signed to Arista Records, under which his self-titled major label debut was released on December 12, 2006. His energetic stage performances and influences derived from classic rock, blues, and R&B music had earned him a following of devout fans, who have been dubbed the “Soul Patrol.” He is currently on Broadway in “Grease” playing Teen Angel, the role originated by Frankie Avalon.

Another Idol contestant Chris Daughtry was voted off of the show but made a hit with fans. Daughtry had auditions to form a new band and simply named the group ‘Daughtry’ because of the name recognition from American Idol. He had a part in writing/co-writing all but two songs on the album (Feels Like Tonight and What About Now). Chris fully wrote Home, Breakdown and Gone. Hit writers Dr. Luke and Max Martin contributed to the album. Session drummer Josh Freese played drums on all the tracks for the album.

Their self-titled debut album sold more than four million copies and was named the number one selling album of 2007 by Billboard. Their album is also the fastest-selling debut rock album in Soundscan history. The first single from the album, “It’s Not Over”, was the eighth most played song across all formats on U.S. radio in 2007, and their second single from the album, “Home“, was the tenth most played song in the U.S. of 2007. Their debut album was certified Triple Platinum on June 21, 2007. It has since reached Quadruple Platinum.

Jordin Sparks winner of Season six,  the youngest of the Idol Winners, is also making her mark with hits like ‘Tattoo’ & ‘No Air’ duet with Chris Brown. Runner up David Archuletta who was a contestant on American Idol season seven was a fan favorite and has signed with 19 Recordings/Jive Records/Zomba Label Group, May 2008. David Cook, winner of season seven  is also working on his upcoming album which will be released November 2008.

From Idol Contestant to Oscar Winner

Jennifer Kate Hudson is an American actress, singer and fashion model. She first gained notice as one of the finalists on the third season of the FOX television series American Idol. Hudson was born in Chicago, Illinois, the daughter of Darnell Hudson and Samuel Simpson, who was a bus driver. She was raised Baptist and attended Dunbar Vocational Career Academy and graduated in 1999. She cites Whitney Houston as her musical and movie influence, as well as Aretha Franklin. She has also cited on multiple occasions that Celine Dion is one of her favorite artists.

Hudson auditioned for the third season of American Idol in Atlanta, Georgia. Jennifer Hudson struggled to gain popularity in the early stages of the live shows, receiving the second-lowest number of votes in two of the first three shows. However, after a change in song choices, she soon became a favorite to win, receiving the highest number of votes in the Top 9 after her performance of Elton John’s “Circle of Life” on April 6, 2004. Among Hudson’s worthy performances on the show was her rendition of Whitney Houston’s “I Have Nothing”. American Idol judge Simon Cowell commented that she “finally proved why she was among the Top 12″ and referred to the performance a week later as “sensational”.

In November 2005, Hudson was cast in the prized role of Effie White, the role originally created in a legendary Broadway performance by Jennifer Holliday, for the film adaptation of the musical Dreamgirls, which also starred Jamie Foxx, Beyonce Knowles, and Eddie Murphy. This role marked Hudson’s debut screen performance. Hudson won the role over hundreds of professional singers and actresses, including American Idol winner Fantasia Barrino, and Raven Symone. She said in an interview on The View that Fantasia called her and said:”Girl, you stole my part”. Filming of Dreamgirls began on January 9, 2006, and the film went into limited release on December 25, 2006 and national release on January 12, 2007.

Hudson has won particular praise for her show-stopping onscreen rendition of the hit song, “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going”. The New York Observer described Hudson’s performance of the song as “five mellifluous, molto vibrato minutes that have suddenly catapulted Ms. Hudson… into the position of front-runner for the best supporting actress Oscar.” Newsweek said that when moviegoers hear Hudson sing the song, she “is going to raise goose bumps across the land.” Variety wrote that Hudson’s performance “calls to mind debuts like Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl or Bette Midler in The Rose, with a voice like the young Aretha.”

As Effie White, Hudson has garnered twenty-nine awards from film critics as Best Supporting Actress and Breakthrough Performer of 2006. She won the Golden Globe Award as Best Actress in a Supporting Role. In addition, she has been named Best Supporting Actress by the Broadcast Film Critics Association and also by the Screen Actors Guild. On February 25, 2007, she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in this film.

At 25 years old, Hudson became the eighth-youngest winner of the Best Supporting Actress Oscar. Upon winning this award, Hudson also became one of the very few performers ever to win an Oscar for a debut screen performance. As of 2007, she is also the only person to have gone from participating in a reality television series to becoming an Academy Award winner.

In September 2007, Hudson began work on Sex and the City: The Movie, as Louise, Carrie Bradshaw’s assistant. Filming finished in December 2007 and the movie premiered on May 30, 2008. In 2008, Hudson is scheduled to appear as Kathy Archenault in Winged Creatures, a film based on the novel by Roy Freirich, with Forest Whitaker, Guy Pearce, Kate Beckinsale, Dakota Fanning, Josh Hutcherson, and Jackie Earl Haley. In January 2008 Jennifer began filming her fourth film The Secret Life of Bees as Rosaleen, the mother figure of Lily Owens (Dakota Fanning). Also starring in the film are fellow Oscar nominees Queen Latifah and Sophie Okonedo, as well as Alicia Keys.

In January 2008, it was announced that Hudson would be returning to the studio to record new material for her debut album. During an interview in May 2008, Hudson confirmed that her debut album, which will be self titled, would be released on September 30, 2008 under the Arista Records label. She also announced that later this month her debut single “Spotlight (Jennifer Hudson song)” would be released in order to promote her debut album. “Spotlight (Jennifer Hudson song)” was written by Ne-Yo, who co-produced along with Stargate. Additional contributors on the album include Timbaland, Robin Thicke, the Underdogs, Diane Warren and Christopher “Tricky” Stewart, among others. She has performed the song “All Dressed In Love” for the Sex and the City: The Movie soundtrack, which was released on May 27, 2008. Hudson performed the national anthem at the Democratic National Convention in 2008.

‘Idols’ from the Land Down Under

Australian Idol made its debut on July 27, 2003 and is now in its sixth season. The first season started off with a bang when extremely talented Guy Sebastian took the title of Australian Idol and he has been making waves ever since. Sebastian has released four top four albums and seven top twenty singles and has sold over a million albums and singles in Australia alone. He has also had substantial success overseas with number one hits in New Zealand, Malaysia, and Singapore. He never had any formal voice training but was influenced by artists such as Stevie Wonder, Ben E. King, Prince and Al Green.

Seasons two through five Australian Idol winners were Casey Donovan, Kate DeAraugo, Damien Leith and Natalie Gauci. As with all the Idol winners, they still seem to have competition from other Idol contestants after their win. For instance, runner up from season two, Melbourne Australia born Anthony Callea did not make it through the first round of ‘Idol’ competition, he was invited back as a “Judge’s Choice Wildcard”, where his performance earned him a place in the final twelve. Although Callea didn’t win the competition his magnetic performances garnered a massive fan base.

Callea was immediately signed to Sony/BMG Records, and his first single,”The Prayer” was released in December 2004. It debuted on the ARIA Singles Chart at number one, and remained there for five consecutive weeks. Within seven weeks, it had become the highest-selling Australian single of all time, as it was certified four times platinum, selling in excess of 280,000 copies. His next single, the double A-side “Rain / Bridge over Troubled Water” spent two weeks at number one. His self-titled album debuted at number one on the week of 4 April 2005, and remained at the top of the chart for three weeks. His third single “Hurts So Bad” debuted at number ten on the ARIA Charts, while the album’s final single, “Per Sempre (For Always)” debuted at number five.

Callea released the single “Live for Love” on November 4, 2006, the first from his second album A New Chapter, the only song on the album which he did not co-write. Both the single and the album, released on November 25, 2006, debuted at number 9. The second single “Addicted to You” debuted at No 19 when released in February 2007.

Damien Leith was the winner of Season four. Leith was selected by the judges as one of the final 24 contestants, and was the first person voted into the competition’s top 12 as the result of a nationwide viewer vote. He was praised by the show’s judges for his falsetto technique, which he used regularly in performances. For the first time, Australian Idol 2006 permitted contestants to perform with instruments, and Leith accompanied himself on guitar for his renditions of Chris Isaak’s “Wicked Game”, Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah”, Alex Lloyd’s “Never Meant to Fail” and Ben Harper’s “Waiting On an Angel”, and on piano for his rendition of Split Enz’s “Message to My Girl”. Leith also played piano for the non-competition round “Up Close and Personal” night, when he performed his original song “Sky”.

Leith signed a recording contract with Sony BMG and his debut single, “Night of My Life”, was released as a paid digital download from Bigpond Music soon after the conclusion of the grand finale, with an official CD release on November 28, which included an original composition written and produced by Leith titled “Come to Me”.The single was certified “Gold” (35,000 copies sold) within 72 hours of its release. On December 3, 2006, the single debuted at #1 and continued to stay in that position for 4 weeks, having Platinum accreditation (70,000 copies shipped) awarded in the first week of release. It was the fastest-selling debut single released during 2006, and also the most added song to radio. The video of “Night of My Life” debuted on national television on Saturday December 9, 2006. Set in the urban streets of Chippendale, New South Wales, the video was produced by Cutting Edge Productions.

Leith’s second single “22 Steps” was released to Australian radio on June 22, 2007 and then was in stores on July 21, which debut and peaked at #11 on the ARIA Singles Chart. The studio album Where We Land followed and was released on August 18, 2007. It debuted at number one on August 27 in the ARIA Albums Chart. This is his second number one album within seven months. Damien is also the first Australian Idol winner to score two consecutive #1 albums. At age 30, Leith became the second oldest winner (the oldest known Idol winner is Glenn Lyse of Norway, who won at age 33 in 2007) of any Idol series in the World.

Natalie Gauci and Matt Corby are the fifth season winner and runner up. Immediately after declared the winner of Australian Idol 2007, Gauci released her debut single, “Here I Am” as a digital download, and later as a CD single on November 28, 2007, which included her original B-side track, “All in My Mind”. It debuted on the ARIA Singles Chart at number two, behind “Apologize” by Timbaland featuring OneRepublic. It was the first debut single from an Idol winner that did not reach number one in its first week. “Here I Am” sold only 7,463 copies in its first week, lower than all previous Australian Idol winners’ singles.The single was certified Gold for shipments of 35,000 in its second week on the chart. “Here I Am” received harsh criticism and therefore, was declared a commercial failure due to low sales.

On January 2 of 2008, Gauci began her national Winner’s Journey Tour with Idol Runner-Up Matt Corby that lasted just under a month. The tour featured almost every track from The Winner’s Journey album, excluding On My Mind and Orange Coloured Sky. Additional original material and a cover of “No One” by Alicia Keys who Gauci had cited as a major inspiration. Gauci also performed a number of original compositions, including All In My Mind (the b-side to the Here I Am single), I’m Ready, Back to Life, Secrets and Free Falling.

Matt Corby auditioned in Sydney, New South Wales. He was the last person to audition in 2007. He was selected by the judges as one of the final 24 after strong performances throughout the theatre rounds. Matthew was in the first male group to perform and the following night he was voted as the first person through to the top 12.

On the 12th of November Corby was voted into the Final 2, joining Natalie Gauci. He recorded the winner’s single, “Here I Am” along with Natalie Gauci at Kings Cross studio in Sydney, and performed the song at the Grand Final. It was also at this point that Matt Corby was announced as the Runner Up to the Australian Idol competition.