Top 12 American Idol Contestants 2023 With Pictures

Most successful American Idol Winners are 1. Kelly Clarkson 2. Carrie Underwood 3. Jordin Sparks. These three have transitioned to the mainstream.

Though all the winners, sans Just Sam who has had some health problems since, have achieved some form of fame, three reign supreme as the biggest successes of the show. They are:

Kelly Clarkson

Kelly Clarkson was the first winner of the American Idol. She achieved the prestigious achievement back in 2002.

Through her successful transition into the mainstream pop landscape, Clarkson has become the benchmark of what to do for any Idol winner. From multiple, chart-topping hit singles and albums, acting appearances, authoring books, and even starting her own talk show, the winner has done it all and been very successful in each.

In fact,  since 2019, Clarkson has turned the tables and become the judge of a reality singing show too as she has been judging for The Voice from its fourteenth season onwards. Her amazing voice, endearing personality, and kind demeanor continue to bring her fans to this day.

Carrie Underwood

Carrie Underwood won the fourth season of the reality competition show. Since then, she has become an institution in Country music.

If Clarkson proved that one could successfully transition from being an Idol winner to a popular singer, Underwood showed that it could be done twice. She grabbed the spotlight from her 2005 debut album Some Hearts and hasn’t let go ever since.

She is one of the Country artists who started the current Country Pop craze the world is embroiled in and set the stage for later popular artists who have blended Country and Pop like Taylor Swift and Florida Georgia Line. 

Jordin Sparks

Jordin Sparks was the winner of the sixth season of the Idol. She followed suit with Clarkson and Underwood to be a great success.

Like both of them, she also saw her debut album be certified platinum by the RIAA. Since then, she would go on to have a career with more highs than lows and a consistency that has not been achieved by any other contestant since her time on the show. 

Yes Iam Tongi is still on American Idol. Iam managed to make it onto the Top 12 this past episode.

As he was sixteenth on the order list, Tongi came in toward the end of the episode which aired on April 24, 2023. The Hawaiian contestant sang his own rendition of one of the Judges, Lionel Richie’s 1984 single Stuck on You, which is off his sophomore album Can’t Slow Down.

Things were tense when Iam showed up on stage as prior to him, Olivia Soli had performed God is a woman to a poor showing. Thankfully, Iam’s strong performance made his safety a no-brainer as he made the safe list alongside 9 of his peers.

Plus, Iam also spelled something of a calm spell for every person who performed after him also ended up advancing to the next round. 

The judges saved Lucy Love and Nutsa last night on American Idol. Lucy was 18th and Nutsa was last on the order of performers. 

The former sang her version of the popular Rock band Imagine Dragon’s 2012 hit Radioactive, while the latter sang the song Am I Am Telling You I’m Not Going from the Broadway musical Dreamgirls. Despite each of their strong showing, the two were not saved by the people’s voting.

The choice came as a blow, especially to Nutsa who had long since been believed to be the crowd favorite, but the last episode showed that the public had started to switch up on her. Thankfully, the two were saved by the judges and will be advancing to the next round as part of the Top 12.

Fans are waiting with bated breath for the Top 12 episode which will come out on April 30, Sunday.

American Idol Runner Ups In Order includes 1. Justin Guarini 2. Clay Aiken 3. Diana DeGarmo. Here they are from Season 1 to 20:

• Justin Guarini
• Clay Aiken
• Diana DeGarmo
• Bo Bice
• Katharine McPhee
• Blake Lewis
• David Archuleta
• Adam Lambert
• Crystal Bowersox
• Lauren Alaina
• Jessica Sanchez
• Kree Harrison
• Jena Irene
• Clark Beckham
• La’Porsha Renae
• Caleb Lee Hutchinson
• Alejandro Aranda
• Arthur Gunn
• Willie Spence
• HunterGirl

Of all the runner-ups the show has brought to prominence, the most popular must be Adam Lambert from the 8th season. Adam not only had a successful career in the late 2000s and early 2010s but also serves as the lead singer of Queen, one of the best-selling Rock bands of all time.

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