American Idol's Greatest Gifts to the Music World!

With the premiere of American Idol's new season last night, I could not help but wonder when the show would produce another star like it has done in the past. Let us be honest and say that the show's recent winners were going to go nowhere. The last big success, Adam Lambert did not even win the competition, but his career is bigger than Kris Allen's ever was. I am hoping this season will give us another Kelly or Carrie, maybe even a Jordin or Blake. Fingers crossed. Take a look at my opinion of the best acts to ever call American Idol their beginning.

Kelly Clarkson: When the show started back in 2002-- I know 10 years have flown by quickly-- the show did not waste any time at becoming a huge success. Every week, millions of people would tune in and vote for their favorite rising star. At the end of it all, Texas-native Kelly Clarkson was crowned the show's first winner, and honestly it was one of America's few correct decisions in the show's history. Kelly became a massive star and has since release five top-five albums, including two number ones, Thankful and All I Ever Wanted. Clarkson has also gained nine top-ten hits on the Billboard Hot 100, her latest being the first single, "Mr. Know It All", off her new album.
To me, what made Clarkson such a star was the fact that everyone got to see that she could actually sing. Even today, Kelly has one of the most powerful female voices in the music industry and her recent hit songs have proved that she shine has not yet dimmed even after ten years on the scene. Clarkson's brand new single, "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)", is a nice anthem of courage and empowerment and was even my second favorite track of 2011. The music video shows the quirky side of the artist and really embodies what the message of the song really is. Clarkson is the second-best selling American Idol, behind Carrie Underwood, but she will always be the first. The original.

Carrie Underwood: Skipping to the fourth season of the show, Carrie Underwood was a clear frontrunner since the beginning and eventually made it to the very end to compete against Bo Bice for the coveted title. I have never been a real fan of country music, Underwood's genre, but she sold it to me with her beautiful performances on the show. It was no real shock when she won because she really was the only one with a great amount of talent. Now, Underwood is the best-selling winner of American Idol in terms of album sales with over 12.5 million sold since she won. Underwood is also dominating her country genre by breaking records left and right in a field where men usually rule.
Carrie is a force to be reckoned with, she has already received seven Grammy awards, including Best New Artist in 2007. For a country act, she has still sent three of her songs into the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 and was the only female solo country act to have a number one on the chart in the past 11 years with her first single, "Inside Your Heaven". Carrie's vocals are sweet and innocent, but have some power to them. One of her most recent hits, "Temporary Home", even had me crying. The song's message is so touching and the music video that accompanied it was a tear-jerker. To me, Underwood was the first to put country/pop on the map. Truly amazing.

Jordin Sparks: In the show's sixth season, which had two amazing finalists, 17-year-old Jordin Sparks became the show's youngest winner to date. For such a young contestant, Sparks gave her older counterparts a run for their money with a voice that blew me away. After her win over Blake Lewis, Sparks earned the distinction of having the highest-selling song from an Idol contestant: "No Air" has sold over four million copies worldwide. The artist is also the only Idol to have her first five single become top twenty hits. Jordin has always been known as the ballad girl, every song that she has released off her two top-ten albums have been a slow and powerful ballad, except for one.
Sparks earned her first Grammy nomination in 2009, guest-starred on a couple of television shows and will even star in her first film: a remake of Sparkle. I think Sparks career was successful for the fact that she was relateable to a younger crowd, it didn't hurt that every single featured a strong vocal performance that rivaled anything else being released. Even though her second album, Battlefield, was not the huge success it deserved to be, Jordin is still continuing on with her music career. Besides her most recent single, "I Am Woman", Jordin showed that she could do more than ballads by releasing "S.O.S. (Let the Music Play)", one of my favorite songs and videos from her.

Blake Lewis: The first non-winner on my list of AI awesomeness had to face defeat from the hands of Jordin Sparks in season six of the show. Blake Lewis, the beatboxer, made quite an impression on me during his time on American Idol. Unfortunately his first studio album, Audio Day Dream, did not make a huge impact on me or anyone else for that matter. I think that the project was just a little too all over the place and could not focus itself. I guess I should have seen that coming from the title. Lewis' only big claim to commercial success was a top-twenty cover version of a Bon Jovi track. Even without the critical acclaim or chart success, Lewis remains a favorite of mine because of his work on his second album.
Heartbreak on Vinyl is one of the most underrated dance/pop albums on the shelves today. That is right, I made a huge claim, but I feel that Lewis can back it up. The project featured hit after hit, but it was a shame that Blake's recognition had disappeared a bit and the album quickly went unnoticed, only peaking at number 135 on Billboard's album chart. The album's first single, "Sad Song", was only the beginning of a great reinvention for the artist. The second single, the album's title track, became Lewis' first number one hit on any chart as it topped Billboard's Hot Dance Club Songs. I got to see Blake perform live one year and I was blown away. I hope he comes out with another gem soon.

Adam Lambert: Now last but not least, the last great thing to come off Idol in my eyes was the great Adam Lambet, who's loss to Kris Allen on the show's eighth season will always be the biggest upset. In my opinion, Adam only lost because of the controversy that surrounded his sexual orientation. Lambert took his runner-up position on Idol and became the very first openly gay artist signed to a major record label in the US. And for good reason, Adam is the most unique, and strongest vocalist that has ever graced the Idol stage in its ten seasons. Lambert's first album, For Your Entertainment, debuted at the number three position, passing projects from both Lady Gaga and Rihanna in 2009.
Adam's first single, the album's title track, may not have been a huge hit, the controversy about his American Music Award performance did not really help, but the album showed the artist's talent and diversity in genres. When the second single,"Whataya Want From Me", rolled around people started taking notice of Adam's amazing vocals and not his flamboyant appearance. The song even earned Lambert his first Grammy nomination for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance in 2011. The singer was able to bring glam back, inspired by countless acts before his time. Now in 2012, Adam is readying his second album, Trespassing, accompanied by its first and great single, "Better Than I Know Myself".