Fill out this form to email this article to a friend
From past seasons: Some successes, some fadeouts
By SHARON FINK
Published May 25, 2006
The previous American Idol winners and runners-up and what they've been up to lately: SEASON ONEFirst winner Kelly Clarkson gained worldwide fame with her second album, Breakaway, and this year she became the first Idol titlist to win a Grammy (she won two total). Next month she starts a summer tour that brings her to Tampa's Ford Amphitheatre on July 1. Runner-up Justin Guarini juggles two careers: struggling singer and pop-culture punch line, for his quick fade after Idol. He has just released his second album, Stranger Things Have Happened, which he's calling a jazz effort, and he was spotted in this season's Idol audience being ignored by Ryan Seacrest. SEASON TWOWinner Ruben Studdard has been pretty low profile to the masses since his initial burst of success, so much so that it's still easy to think that megapopular runner-up Clay Aiken won. Studdard thinks his profile has been pretty high, but he tells MTV.com that so many people ask him where he's been, he'll get back in touch with his Idolness by calling his upcoming album Return of the Velvet Teddy Bear, a reference to the nickname guest judge Gladys Knight gave him. Studdard was planning an August release for the album, which would be his third post-Idol. SEASON THREEWinner Fantasia Barrino will play herself in a Lifetime TV movie about her life that is scheduled to premiere in August, and she expects to release her second album in the fall. Runner-up Diana DeGarmo was on Broadway in the musical Hairspray and this summer will be part of the national tour of Brooklyn: The Musical. She tells Georgia's Gwinnett Daily Post that she's working on her second album for independent release. SEASON FOURAlmost a year to the day she did her final Idol performance, winner Carrie Underwood won two Academy of Country Music Awards, top new female vocalist and single of the year for Jesus Take the Wheel. After struggling with some medical problems last year, runner-up Bo Bice released his debut album, The Real Thing, in December. It debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard chart but faded rather quickly. Bice is touring and was in the news most recently being accused of punching a former NFL player in a bar.
[Last modified May 25, 2006, 06:36:41]
Share your thoughts on this story
|
News
Fifty years ago, they were screwed-up kids sent to the Florida School for Boys to be straightened out. But now they are screwed-up men, scarred by the whippings they endured. Read the story and see a video and portrait gallery.
Print
Email story
Comment
Email editor
