After a fifteen-season run (or reign of terror, depending on your opinion), American Idol finally reached its end on Thursday, with a finale that was very much about celebrating the show and the singers it discovered. Nearly every memorable performer from the show's run came back for a final round of performances: the Three Divas reunited, Larry Platt stormed the stage for one last rendition of "Pants on the Ground," the guitar bros paid tribute to David Bowie (and made us question again why the hell Lee DeWyze ever won), and the rocker collective of Bo Bice, Constantine Maroulis, Caleb Johnson, James Durbin, and Chris Daughtry stole the show, just as they had during their own seasons. Hell, even Brian Dunkleman showed up.
However much it may have faltered during its last few seasons, there was a time when American Idol was a genuine cultural phenomenon, the likes of which may never be seen again. It was the show that everyone watched, that everyone cared about, that enabled everyone to actively participate by voting. Over fifteen years, it churned out a diverse roster of award-winning, hit-scoring singers to cement its cultural legacy as the most influential reality show in history, changing the landscape of television and pop music along the way.
Here are the fruits of that legacy, the ten greatest American Idol alumni.
10. Joey Cook
This is probably personal taste showing through, since Joey Cook has been far from influential in the pantheon of Idol finalists, but her appealing oddness made her one of the most distinctly unique singers in the show's history. Coming off like the musical version of Aubrey Plaza, her alt-chick style and offbeat song arrangements (a bluegrass take on "Somebody To Love," a retro-swing version of "Fancy," and a surprisingly straight-faced cover of "Mad World") made her an Idol unlike any other. She's performed frequently with Postmodern Jukebox, a group that's essentially become the go-to destination for people who were too cool to actually win American Idol.
9. Bo Bice & Constantine Maroulis
The Season Four duo that broke the dominance of pop and R&B over the competition and proved that rockers could survive on Idol. Constantine left his mark with his theatrical take on "Bohemian Rhapsody" that functionally served as an early audition for his eventual Tony-nominated role in "Rock of Ages," getting voted off after attempting to salvage Nickelback's "How You Remind Me" (the jokes write themselves). Bo Bice, meanwhile, injected southern-rock swagger with his strutting rendition of "Vehicle" and his nearly iconic acapella "In A Dream." He returned to the Idol stage for the series finale looking nearly unrecognizable, having ditched his hippie shag for a more urbane look, delivering one last snarly, sexy "Vehicle."
8. Melinda Doolittle
Former BeBe & CeCe Winans backup singer Melinda Doolittle's performance of "My Funny Valentine" probably had most people convinced that she would be Season Six's winner (she finished third). Her always-impeccable, gospel-tinged vocals lent themselves well to a succession of soul and R&B standards, but she proved just as adept at handling Bon Jovi's "Have A Nice Day." In the year of the seemingly endless Sanjaya Debacle, Melinda provided some much-needed class.
7. Haley Reinhart
Her astoundingly sultry, smoky vocals made it seem like every song Haley Reinhart touched turned to gold. She proved herself with "Bennie And The Jets," gave the definitive performance of the frequently-performed "I Who Have Nothing," and peaked with her stunning take on "House Of The Rising Sun." As of late, she's also been a frequent Postmodern Jukebox collaborator.
6. Carrie Underwood
I'm no country fan, but I'd be remiss not to include one of Idol's biggest successes on this list. The innocuous country singer who grew up on a farm rose through the ranks of Season Four, peaking with a belted performance of "Alone" that proved she could handle a power ballad as well. In the eleven years since winning, she's become a permanent fixture in modern country, with a sizable amount of crossover hits as well (most notably "Jesus Take The Wheel" and "Before He Cheats").
5. Jennifer Hudson
Looking back, it's hard to fathom how future Grammy and Academy Award-winner Jennifer Hudson only finished seventh on American Idol, getting the axe in one of the show's most confusing elimination weeks that saw the Three Divas all in the bottom three. Her best showing on Idol was her gospel-fied take on "Circle Of Life," but she'll best be remembered for her Dreamgirls performance of "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going."
4. Chris Daughtry
What Bo and Constantine started came to fruition in Daughtry, who lent an intensely masculine modern-rock sensibility to one of Idol's most talented seasons. A clear, stunningly powerful voice in the sludgy post-grunge era of rock, his profoundly superior rendition of Fuel's "Hemorrhage (In My Hands)" actually led to an offer to front the band. After being eliminated in the most controversial night of Idol's history (to the point where many people point to it as the moment Idol started to go downhill), he formed his own band, releasing one of the best mainstream rock albums of the 2000's and providing a welcome alternative to Nickelback on the charts.
3. Fantasia Barrino
One of the quintessential Idol stories and one of the show's best pure voices, Fantasia Barrino went from high school dropout and teenage mother to Broadway by way of American Idol. Her iconic take on "Summertime" was arguably the greatest single performance in the show's entire run, and her coronation single "I Believe" captured the essence of Idol better than any since "A Moment Like This."
2. Adam Lambert
The shamelessly flamboyant Lambert took any song handed to him and lit it up with his titanic voice, from his Middle-Eastern influenced "Ring Of Fire" to his impassioned "Mad World" to being the first of only four Idol contestants allowed to cover Led Zeppelin. He parlayed his success into a few modest hits (including the highly underrated and awesomely gay "If I Had You" and "For Your Entertainment"), and ultimately to the place where a voice like his belongs: as the touring frontman of Queen.
1. Kelly Clarkson
The first, and forever the greatest. While she wasn't necessarily the favorite during Season One's competition, her victory belting of "A Moment Like This" cemented her place in pop music and set the established the tone for the next fourteen seasons of Idol. The only winner to fully realize the show's promise of pop superstardom, she rode her success through the 2000's and right up to the present, giving us "Breakaway," "Since U Been Gone," "Behind These Hazel Eyes," "Because Of You," "Never Again," "My Life Would Suck Without You," and a dozen other hits. American Idol billed itself as the Search For A Superstar, and they found it in Kelly Clarkson.
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