This is my first thread here, so if we're not allowed to do this, you can take it down. But we have a "Rank The Seasons" thread, so I figured it might be okay...



Winners
1) Kelly Clarkson (never saw Season 1, but still love her)
2) Carrie Underwood (only about a .10th behind Kel)
3) Taylor Hicks (he was good, and I hated how they, esp post-Idol, salivatated over Chris at Taylor's expense)
4) Jordin Sparks (not as all over great as they claim / want her to be)
5) Ruben Studdard (good voice, but still was on the Clay train)
6) Fantasia Barrino (do not understand her appeal at all)

Runners-Up
1) Clay Aiken (he'll always be my #1)
2) Blake Lewis (his YGLABN was incredible, and I <3 him)
3) Diana DeGarmo (she was miles better than anyone *ahem, Simon* ever gave her credit for)
4) Katharine McPhee (like a few of her performances)
5) Bo Bice (liked him, but was in love with Constantine - don't shoot me y'all, I was "only seventeen.' No, honestly, I was...)
6) Justin Guarini (don't really have a reason to dislike him, just like the others more)


Overall
1) Kelly Clarkson
2) Carrie Underwood
3) Clay Aiken
4) Blake Lewis
5) Diana DeGarmno
6) Taylor Hicks
7) Jordin Sparks
8) Katharine McPhee
9) Bo Bice
10) Ruben Studdard
11) Justin Guarini
12) Fantasia Barrino


A/N: Note that the running commentary is only my opninion, and thus not meant to offend anyone)

Winners

1) Kelly Clarkson
2) Fantasia Barrino
3) Taylor Hicks
4) Carrie Underwood
5) Jordin Sparks
6) Ruben Studdard


Runners-Up

1) Blake Lewis
2) Clay Aiken
3) Bo Bice
4) Katharine McPhee
5) Justin Guarini
6) Diana Degarmo

Overall:

1) Kelly Clarkson
2) Blake Lewis
3) Clay Aiken
4) Fantasia Barrino
5) Bo Bice
6) Carrie Underwood
7) Taylor Hicks
8) Katharine McPhee
9) Justin Guarini
10) Diana Degarmo
11) Jordin Sparks
12) Ruben Studdard

I'll take a piece of this action. There is an implied "IMO" in front of every comment.

Winners

1) Carrie Underwood
2) Jordin Sparks
3) Kelly Clarkson
4) Taylor Hicks
5) Rueben Studdard
6) Fantasia Barrino

Runners-Up

1) Katharine McPhee
2) Bo Bice
3) Blake Lewis
4) Clay Aiken
5) Diana DeGarmo
6) Justin Guarini

Overall

1) Carrie- I love everything about this girl. I'm so happy she is getting the kind of success I think she deserves.

2) Jordin- I think she has a spectacular voice. It can be so powerful yet also so pretty. I don't think she gets enough credit for her originality and interpretive abilities. Her "I Who Have Nothing" is markedly different (and markedly superior) to the versions done by Shirley Bassey and Tom Jones.

3) Katharine- My shallowness may be showing here, but all the attention to her beauty sometimes obscurs the fact that she can really sing. "Til You Come Back To Me" is one of my all time favorite performances.

4) Kelly- I think she has an amazing and beautiful voice, I'm just not crazy about the direction she has taken, style-wise.

5) Bo Bice- Excellent voice, and "In A Dream" was the gutsiest and most original performance I have seen on AI to date.

6) Taylor- Another performer that, because of the loopy AI persona and all the "Sooouuulllll Patroooolllll!", doesn't always get credit for what a strong and emotive voice he has.

7) Blake- The "Performer vs. Singer" thing they had going with Blake and Jordin actually undersold his voice, I think. On pure vocal ability I would place him second only to Phil Stacey among all the AI6 males.

8) Clay- You can't deny he can sing, but his style is, for lack of a better word, a little cheesy for me. I still like a lot of his stuff, because cheesy and me are not arch enemies, I just can't listen to it all the time.

9) Rueben- This guy has a great voice, I just find him a little predictable.

10) Diana- She was my pick on AI3, but I wasn't greatly enthused about her and thought she had some really shaky performances.

11) Justin- Pretty good singer, but the eye thing is just wasted on me.

12) Fantasia- Nails, meet chalkboard.

Winners:

1. Kelly Clarkson--best voice, personality, the real deal

2. Fantasia--wasn't a big fan, but enjoyed most of her performances and her sense of humor

3. Carrie--hated her boring, bland vibe, voice was good, but not great and I still don't get her appeal

4. Ruben--good voice, but didn't have the star quality of Clay, if he was on the show in later seasons would not have been propped in such nauseating fashion

4. Taylor--didn't like the dude at all, but hated his treatment post-show

5..Jordin--just tired of this kind of winner, singer, whatever--BORING


Runner-ups:

1. Clay--star quality, voice of awesomeness, personality

2. Bo--loved this guy, sexy, authentic, hated that he lost to the boring Carrie, hated his "not him" album, hope the guy is feeling okay(all the surgeries)

3. Diana--wanted her to win and hated how Simon acted like she wasn't that great to prop Fantasia(who I did like, but the propping!)

4. Blake--cute, interesting and that's about it

5. Katherine--worst winner/runner-up combo ever with Taylor, overrated

6. Justin--guy made me cringe, hated his hair and singing was barely audible at times, too cheesy

Winners

1) Taylor Hicks
2) Kelly Clarkson
3) Carrie Underwood
4) Fantasia Barrino
5) Ruben Studdard
6) Jordin Sparks

Runner Ups

1) Blake Lewis
2) Clay Aiken
3) Justin Guarini
4) Katharine McPhee
5) Bo Bice
6) Diana DeGarmo

IMHO, in all but two years, the winners were far superior than the runner-ups, and in one of the other two years, the winner and runner-up were about equal.

Overall

1) Taylor Hicks: The man is a born entertainer, full of charm and Southern soul.

2) Kelly Clarkson: Her success propelled the success of American Idol in general.

3) Carrie Underwood: She usually sings in a sweet country style. However, girlfriend can rock as well.

4) Fantasia Barrino: Her voice is an acquired taste, however within it is a potpouri of guts and blues.

5) Blake Lewis: Probably the weakest vocalist among the finalists. However, he is just a smidgeon behind Taylor as being the best entertainer. Both can ignite a crowd.

6) Tie Ruben Studdard and Clay Aiken: Season two was the closest vote in history, and there's a reason why. Both of these men process strong powerful vocals, yet both have different styles of singing. TPTB pretty much considered season two to have dual Idols. And I can live with that. Both are equally talented.

8) Justin Guarini: The ultimate in cheese. However, I like cheese.

9) Katharine McPhee: She has a sweet quality that lends itself to the standards. However, she cannot sing modern songs very well. Her beauty is a plus.

10) Jordin Sparks: Nice tone, good vocal control, nothing to write home about yet. Easily the weakest of the American Idols.

11) Bo Bice: I just don't know about him. He's a good Southern rocker (and I like Southern rock). However, you can find Bo-like vocalists in most bars throughout the country. I just could never get him.

12) Diana DeGarmo: Loud isn't necessarily the new good. She got on my nerves one too many times.

Winners:

1. Taylor
2. Carrie
3. Jordin
4. Kelly
5. Fantasia
6. Rubin

Runners-Up:

1. Bo
2. Blake
3. Clay
4. Diana
5. Justin
6. Kat

Overall:

1. Taylor. He's hands-down the best entertainer the show has ever had, and he has a wonderfully versatile voice. He can belt out a good solid note, color a song with a lovely falsetto, and produce a down-in-the-gravel-pit growl. He feels the emotion of every lyric he sings and he makes the audience feel it too. He's like a different person depending on what song he's singing, going from "Play That Funky Music, White Boy" to "Something" in one episode, and "Jailhouse Rock" to "In the Ghetto" in another. Far from being "karaoke," he even puts a different spin on the same song each time he sings it, as you can tell if you compare his show performance with the rehearsal performance they show in the wrap-up.

2. Bo. Loved the hair. He was amazing when he sang acapella. Bo opened the door for performers like Taylor and Chris Daughtry by not fitting into the previous image of American Idol.

3. Carrie. She has a sweet, sincere quality to go with her beautiful voice. Like Taylor, she is good at putting across the emotion of a song. "Don't Forget to Remember Me" feels as if she's telling me the story of her life, not just singing a song.

4. Jordin. I loved that she could hit a power note without screeching. Instead they were just big solid notes that still sounded pretty. "I Who Have Nothing" just blew me away. Another singer who absolutely sells the emotion of a song. If you can't make the listener feel something about the words you're singing, you might as well just sing "la la la."

5. Kelly. Also a very versatile singer. She can be a hard-driving rock chick or a sweet pop singer. My favorite performance of hers was "Stuff Like That There" on big band night. She would have fit right into that era, yet still fits perfectly into today's sound.

6. Blake. He was fun to watch. That may sound like damning with faint praise, but it's supposed to be entertainment, after all. The beat-boxing got a little old for me, but some of his performances were great. I liked "Time of the Season" a lot.

7. Clay. I'm not a huge Clay fan, but he sings well and I really enjoyed the cameo on the season six finale.

8. Diana. She was very inconsistent, sometimes blowing the roof off the joint and other times making me cringe.

9. Justin. A reasonably good singer, but vocally there was nothing that made him stand out in a crowd.

10. Kat. Pretty voice, but she never, ever gave me the impression that she had a clue what she was singing about. She smiled flirtatiously throughout "Ain't Got Nothin' But the Blues." The Blues, Kat! It doesn't mean you have nothing but blue clothes to wear! If it did, maybe we would have seen some genuine emotion from her.

11. Fantasia. I thought Fantasia was cute with Taylor on the Larry King show, but her singing doesn't do much for me. There's a quality to her voice that sets my teeth on edge.

12. Ruben. Decent voice, seems like a nice guy I guess, but oh, Lord, somebody send him some charisma. Zzzzzzzzzz.

This is going to get pretty predictable with favorites and leading to some winner/runnerup matchups but it's a fun idea!

Winners

1. Carrie Underwood
2. Jordin Sparks
3. Kelly Clarkson
4. Taylor Hicks
5. Fantasia Barrino
6. Ruben Studdard

Runner Ups

1. Katharine McPhee
2. Blake Lewis
3. Bo Bice
4. Clay Aiken
5. Diana DeGarmo
6. Justin Guarini

Overall:

1. Carrie Underwood. Great great great great singer. If this were five months ago, I wouldn't have put her above three on the list. But IDK what happened, I listened to everything she did again and, to this day, her voice holds up wonderfully and always pulls through amazing notes. Her covers are just beautiful - from "San Antonio Rose" to "Sweet Child Of Mine." Her post-Idol work has made me a huge fan.
2. Jordin Sparks. Picked really interesting songs that were completely unexpected and blew me away all the time. Sings so fabulously and more reliably than many will give her credit for. I hope she comes through on her vocal promise.
3. Kelly Clarkson. I love Kelly as much as anyone and I have more of her music than Carrie's. But still, vocally, she has lost some of that richness. But huge kudos for connecting to music in a really wonderful way. I actually like her new musical direction, but watching AI Rewind, only a few of her perfomances were really knock-outs for me.
4. Katharine McPhee. Weirdly, I love her most and am most invested in her future. I think her voice is splendid but she has a really irritating tendency towards melisma that can ruin potentially extraordinary vocal performances. More control and she could move up.
5. Taylor Hicks. The whole faux-epilepsy thing was off-putting to say the least, but his voice is lovely and rich. Still he sounds a bit detached and very often flat to me, sometimes, despite the whole body singing. And on studio recordings, his whole thing does not work for me.
6. Fantasia Barrino. Hilarious CRAZY person, but sometimes I cannot handle that at all. I love a screaming mess of notes as much as anyone else, but Fantasia can be a little camp to me.
7. Blake Lewis. Neck and neck with Bo really. His fans are Aikeny but he's a fun, nice guy with fun, nice singing. But nothing moving IMO.
8. Bo Bice. Overrated, IMO, though quite good anyway. A lot of his performances were a little style over substance to me, and I didn't enjoy his post-Idol work at all, dropping him down lower than he maybe should be.
9. Clay Aiken. Warbled every note like it was his last one, but somehow that didn't matter on "Don't Let The Sun" etc etc. He's a funny, nice guy too. The crooning just doesn't do it for me long term.
10. Ruben Studdard. Great voice but no variety! Also, I will never forgive him for Sorry 2004.
11. Diana DeGarmo. Boring boring boring and detached. I never really got her beyond technical proficiency. I don't dislike her, but I just can't find myself liking her.
12. Justin Guarini. PURE VELVEETA. ALSO I WILL NEVER FORGIVE THE HAIR.

The Winners:

1. Kelly (total package plus a spectacular voice)
2. Fantasia (total package plus a very good voice)
3. Ruben (my favorite male voice from all the males on AI)
4. Taylor (great performer)
5. Carrie (I just don't get the love. I guess it's just me)
Jordin is still an unknown since there is no new recorded material from her yet. Just going by her lovely voice though, I'd probably put Jordin above Fantasia, voice wise, but below her performance wise. At this juncture she's probably in 4th just on AI performances.

The Runners Up

1. Clay (I thought he was fantastic on AI)
2. Justin
3. Diana
4. Bo
5. Katharine
Blake is an unknown to me.

Overall

1. Kelly
2. Fantasia
3. Ruben
4. Clay
5. Taylor
6. Carrie
7. Justin
8. Diana
9. Bo
10. Katharine

Winners:
1. Kelly
2. Taylor
3. Carrie
4. Ruben
5. Fantasia
6. Jordin

Runners-up:
1. Blake
2. Diana
3. Bo
4. Clay
5. Justin
6. Katherine

Overall:

1. (tie) Kelly - I didn't even watch season one, but I really started to like her around the beginning of Breakaway's release, and just really ended up loving her as a singer, performer, and person. She's just so real to me, in all of her strengths and flaws. I won't go further b/c I don't feel like getting all fangirly about it right now :-).

1. (tie) Blake - Gah, I just love this boy, everything about him. I think his singing was very underrated due to the whole "performer" crap, but he IS an amazing performer. I think what really boosted him to the front is that above all else, he comes up with his own music, which before had never really been done on AI. In the actual music industry that's par for the course but on AI he was a bit of a trailblazer, an acciental rebel of sorts. He's not just a blank canvas waiting for someone to paint him over, he creates his own paintings, then decides while he's at it, he'll paint himself over and over and over again in different ways each time, and each way is just as gorgeous as the last one. Again, not trying to get fangirly right now, but *whoo!* I loves me some Blake Lewis!

3. Taylor - I just love his spirit, his personality, his zaniness, and his passion for performing. He makes me all warm and fuzzy inside, which is dorky and Pauler-ish but I don't care.

4. Carrie - it feels odd placing her this high, because I really didn't like her for most of her season, tried to like her towards the end, and still waffled. But she really grew into her own, and to date has the best AI debut of any winner (which is to say, the only genuinely good one worth buying based solely on the music - quite a feat).

5. Diana - she kind of ties with Carrie for me, b/c I really liked how she grew on the show, and I like that she managed to keep such a level head afterwards, and carved out a great career for herself on Broadway. But for now I will give Carrie the slight edge until I hear Diana's second album and figure out how I feel about her musically.

6. Ruben - it was frustrating for me to rank him so low on the winners' list, but neither of his secular efforts has really moved me. (I haven't heard his gospel CD; not that huge a fan of a lot of gospel, really.) There are a few songs I genuinely like, but the overall albums are...eh. I keep waiting for someone to gently shove him to the old-school-soul that he should be doing instead of this generic nu r&B mess. Especially with Luther and Gerald gone, I really need him to feel that sort of void in the market. At the very least, follow a John Legend-like direction in terms of lyrics and sound. His debut album is the WORST of all the AI ones I've heard, IMO; even more disappointing than the already mild expectations I'd generally hold.

7. Clay - I've never been a Clay fan for real, but goodness, his voice is flawless. I have never really cared about all his personal drama nd never will, but I am sometimes surprised to find how easily I might get invested in him as an artist, or how annoyed I am that he has yet to release any material that I might even be interested in checking out. I feel like on the right material, I'd love him.

8. Bo - I liked Bo during his season, but in retrospect it was only like, not flove. He's an all around good guy and I wish him the best, but I am not hugely invested in him, unlike other contestants with whom I actively keep up. Sign that I'm truly not that into him? I ranked him below Clay.



9. Fantasia - I like her as a person, but have come to realize recently that when it comes to some of her songs, I can only take her in small doses. I kind of have her in the category as Ruben, in that I feel she hasn't yet found the 'right' sound for her voice. She's better than the stuff she's put out (though as far as what she got, she at least fared better than Ruben), but until then, her ranking is rather low.

10. Justin - Again, didn't watch the first season, except for some Rewind episodes. He was aiight from what I saw, but nothing to really write home about. However, I thought he got dealt a lump of coal post-AI; I'm a sucker for people done wrong. And I heard him perform on Idol Tonight, was it? Or Idol Chat, or...you know. Tv Guide channel. He sounded really good! I like the guy and really want him to succeed.

11. (tie) Kat - this heffa just grates the hell out of me for some reason. Part of me wants to like her for some God-forsaken reason, and the other part of me just wants to pull my shoe off and beat her with it until she gets some sense in her head. I really can't say much that hasn't already been said in her thread; it goes beyond "not having her heart in singing," to me. I don't think she likes singing, period. She seems (to me) to have an old Hollywood idea of what a starlet is, and that's what she wants to be, and anything between now and that point is just marking time. I am not one to judge what she wants or how she feels about it (or how anyone feels about anything), but I wish she wouln't make it so obvious that she's only marking time. To her credit, she *does* love her fans.

11. (tie) Jordin - she's really a big unknown right now, which is part of the reason for being dead last, but also, she just didn't move me. She peaked at the first IWHN, and totally went downhill from there. The good performances she did have after that were overshadowed by the OMG17!!O!1!7!M!1!1G7!!1!!7!!7!OMG17YALL! pimping. She might pull a Carrie on me, but for now...*yawn*

Winners:
1. Carrie
2. Kelly
3. Taylor
4. Ruben
5. Jordin
6. Fantasia


Runners-up:
1. Clay
2. Bo
3. Diana
4. Blake
5. Justin
6. Katherine

Overall:

1. Clay_ He's the whole package to me. Beautiful man, beautiful voice, biting wit, bawdy humor. He is an intelligent man with a strong drive to make a difference in this world. There's a huge difference between his AI ballad boy beginnings and where he is today. When he is able to make his own choices he is nothing like the box that Clive has him in. It is a real shame that he didn't win because he gets very little say in what he records. (See Bo Bice as another example of injustice), both of these men and a few others are/were badly mismanaged by the label IMO. Clay is possibly the most maligned and most misunderstood. His ability to maintain a successful career is in spite of Clive's myopic handling and in spite of the horrid gossips and tabloids. People love him and hate him with very little middle ground. Many people want to either dirty him up or bring him down.

2, Carrie_ She is the whole package too, she has a beautiful voice, sweet southern charm, physical beauty, ambition, brains and there isn't a thing that I would change about her career, thank god Clive had nothing to do with her and I fear for her. Huge initial success often attracts huge haters. (ie. Clay)

3. Bo_ They had an authentic, handsome, witty, good natured southern rocker and tried to make him into a pretty boy pop star. There are no words to describe the sheer ineptitude and stupidity of the label.

4. Kelly_ One of the best voices to be discovered on AI. I'm sad for her because I think she's ruining it. She is a nice girl, fun loving and uber talented. Crossing Clive could prove disastrous.

5. Taylor_ He is very talented, unique in his looks, his voice and his choice of genre. He is an anachronism. He should have been born 40 years sooner. He would have been a huge star in the 60s and 70s.

6. Ruben_ Beautiful voice, nice guy but I think the music biz is too much for him. Between his health issues, his lack of stamina and his crooked handlers, he is having a tough time staying afloat. It also seems like he's aiming for Playa when he'd make a much better Luther.

7. Blake_ This guy could be hugely popular or he could fizzle out. The CD he gets to make will tell the story. He's very talented but I wonder if his style is too dated for the current pop scene. It could go either way. I wish him well.

8. Diana_ Nice girl doing great on Broadway. I don't know if she'll ever record another CD (she's another of Clive's victims) but she found her niche quite young and is very good at what she does.

9. Justin_ He's another nice enough guy but his debut CD didn't have a chance (Clive again). It was the wrong style forced on him by Clive and without any promotion or support from the label he had no chance, same as Diana. His one misstep was his over confidence. He came off as arrogant when it was probably bravado.

10. Katherine_ A generic pretty girl with a lovely voice and no direction.

11.Jordin_ I never saw anything about this girl that was special or unique in any way. To me she is another generic girl that there are a dozen of in any high school choir.

12. Fantasia_ I put her last because of her voice and her singing style. I just can't get past the tone of her voice and the yea yeas. I'm sure she's very nice and is having a fabulous run on Broadway. She will probably have a huge award-winning career.

Interesting thoughts, Grumpire. Don't necessarily agree with you on all of them, but I enjoyed reading (same goes for all of you; I haven't watched all six seasons, so I'm abstaining). Just an fyi, you have Diana before Blake in your short list of runners-up, but Blake before Diana in your overall ranking.

Yea I know. Its because Blake is still an unknown quantity but Diana, as talented as she is, may have already found her level.

Ok here goes:

Winners:

1. Kelly Clarkson
2. Jordin Sparks
3. Carrie Underwood
4. Ruben
5. Fantasia
6. Taylor Hicks

Runner's Up:

1.Justin (sentimental reasons..I just loved season 1)
2. Clay
3. Bo
4. Blake
5. Katharine
6 Diana

Overall:

1. Kelly Clarkson - She proved that AI could find a star. The success of that show IMO rests solely on her shoulders and is due to her success, without her, the show would've folded within two years. She's versatile, charming, funny, and can sing her ass off. She's shown she has the guts to be more than just a "reality show winner" by taking the chance to express herself artistically so she's shown herself to be the first "true" artist to come from AI so far.

2. Carrie Underwood - I love her voice. On AI I didn't see what the fuss was about, she was very uneven in her performances for me (but then I was rooting for Bo LOL) but after leaving AI and putting on her won music I got it. Her voice is great and live she almost always delivers. I hope some day she spreads her wings and explores other types of music because I think she could pull it off.

3. Ruben - I know successwise he's not high ranking but I love his voice and his personality is just too sweet. I like that he seems content to stay low key and isn't worried about how it looks if he's not doing as well as the others. He's just seems like an amazing person.

4. Clay - vocally speaking one of the best men ever to appear on the show hands down! I'm sometimes put off by his perceived bad behavior and his facial ticks scare me when he sings. But otherwise he's a great showman, very funny, knows his audience well and capitalizes on that. I'm hopeful that in the future he'll release music that can reach a broader audience because his voice deserves to be heard.

5. Jordin Sparks - I don't know how she'll do successwise because she hasn't done anything yet but vocally and personality wise she's been a favorite of mine since she first appeared on stage. She's bubbly, confident, fun and just seems special. I hope she has a lot of success in the future so she can move up rank in my top 5.

I only did top five because the rest are pretty interchangeable.

Winners
1. Carrie I mostly listen to Country music and have loved all of her songs. Also she is the first one that I have heard introduced without having American Idol attached to her name.
2. Kelly. I really like Kelly. She seems so down to earth and fun in her interviews. Not sure I like her new music. Do believe she will be in the music business for a long time.
3. Fanstasia Didn't like her season or her singing for the matter but looking back she did deserve to win. Glad she doing so well on broadway. Also I am sucker for those lifetime success stories so good for her.
4. Ruben He doesn't always get the credit he deserves. He was good on the finale this year. I am happy for him that he gets to make the music he likes makes a good living at it and stays out of the tabloids.
5. Taylor I actually voted for Taylor and I hardly ever vote. I like him and his personality crazy dancing and all. I love watching performers who enjoy performing. I wanted to put him higher on the list and maybe in a few years he will be.

Runners up
1. Clay I love his voice and wish his music was more what people wanted to talk about.
2. Katherine yeah I know I didn't like her on AI but that was more because of the personality that I thought she had (imo she really came across as a spoiled daddy's rich girl) but know I have changed my opinion. Really I think she could be a big star. The press loves her she just needs to decide if she is an actress who sings or a singer who acts.
3. Diana good for her success on broadway. she seems like a nice well adjusted young lady so I hope success continues for her.
4. Jusin or Bo I like them both. Could see both having success. Justin has a nice gig on the tv channel that help promote his cd. hope bo gets good promotion and sales for his cd.

Huh. I just realized I don't particularly like any of the winners. I guess I just don't have my finger on the pulse of the mainstream. Oh well.

How I would rank them:

Winners
1. Carrie. I'm not fond of country music, but she seems like a sweet girl and true to herself, so... Yeah, she can be first.
2. Kelly. Again, not my type of singer and I thought she was way too shouty on AI, but I have liked a couple of her singles, so I suppose she can be here.
3. Ruben. Not my style and very overrated during his season, but he's okay and not incredibly annoying, so he can come in third.
4. Fantasia. I hated Shummertime. I hated Shomething to Talk About. I hated most of what she did. But she's still better than Taylor or Jordin.
5. I don't know, because I can't stand either of the two left. Okay, I guess Jordin is marginally more acceptable than Taylor, who makes my skin crawl.

Runners-Up
1. Clay. He's gotten a little too Wayne Newton for me since he left the show, but I did like him on the show, and I even voted for him, so I suppose that should get him the #1 spot.
2. Diana. I didn't really like her on the show, but she's done some good stuff since then, and she seems a lot more like a real person and not a bot. Good for her.
3. Blake. He's cute and talented, I think. Loved "Bad Name" and how he spruced it up.
4. Justin. I think he got a bad rap. He seems inoffensive to me and sort of talented.
5. Bo. I just realized that I like all of the runners-up (except Katharine) better than any of the winners. How odd.

As for overall...

1. Clay
2. Diana
3. Blake
4. Justin
5. Bo
6. Carrie
7. Kelly
8. Ruben
9. Fantasia
10. Katharine
11. Jordin
12. Taylor

But, honestly, I would put J-Hud, George, Elliott and Melinda above all of them.

Talentwise-

Fantasia
Kelly Clarkson
Taylor Hicks
Carrie Underwood
Ruben Studdard
Jordin Sparks

Bo Bice
Blake Lewis
Clay Aiken
Justin Guarini
Kathryn Mcphee
Diana Degarmo

Overall

Fantasia
Kelly
Taylor
Bo
Carrie
Ruben
Jordin
Blake
Clay
Kathryn
Justin
Diana

Winners:
Carrie
Kelly
Taylor
Jordin
Fantasia
Ruben

Runners- up:
Blake
Bo
Clay
Justin
Diana
Katherine

Winners:

1. Kelly: Stellar performances each week on the show, and still the most successful off of it. I love her voice, especially now that she's giving us a more pop/rock style.
2. Carrie: Mixed bag of performances (though mostly good), and most likely to overtake Kelly. Great voice, and now that she's losing her more robotic qualities, she's solid.
3. Fantasia: I'll start off by saying that I'm one who thinks she has Donald Duck tendencies. Other than her tone, she's great, but it's that tone that keeps me from getting anything she's done.
4. Ruben: Good voice, but a little boring IMO. Outshined by Clay.
5. Taylor: Good voice, but no really winning performances that I can think of off of the top of my head. I'm very biased on him (and Jordin, actually) because I felt like there were several more worthy contestants (Paris, Elliott, Daughtry, and maybe even McPhee / Melinda, Phil, Lakisha, Blake).
6. Jordin: She had two or three amazing performances, and the rest were subpar. Screechy high notes and shaky low notes, and her overall tone is just really plain.

Runners-Up:

1. Blake: Easily the best performer of the season, and one of the best singers as well. He has it all.
2. Diana: Since her season, she's also lost some of the robotics (her main flaw) and become a more rounded performer.
3. Clay: He obviously has an amazing voice, but I just can't get behind him for some reason. I don't know if it's that he doesn't connect or what, but I've always been a little "meh" on him.
4. Katharine: Good voice, if only she knew how to use it. No words about her debut CD, which was fixed up to the point that her voice was unrecognizable, and her songs unperformable.
5. Bo: Great voice, great performer, but he was another one I was that just didn't impress me for whatever reason. His CD wasn't amazing, though that isn't really his fault, and he's had some bad luck in the past few years as well.
6. Justin: Good, but not amazing, IMO.

Now that I've made this list I've realized that I've only really loved two of the winners and one of the runners-up. Also odd is that my favorite in the competition has been eliminated in either 3rd or 4th in every season except for S5 (Paris, 5th) and to an extent S1 (I liked both Kelly, 1st, and Tamyra, 4th).

Winners:

1. Carrie
2. Jordin
3. Ruben
4. Kelly
5. Taylor
6. Fantasia

Runners-Up

1. Clay
2. Bo
3. Diana
4. Kathryn
5. Blake
6. Justin

Overall

1. Clay
2. Carrie

the rest of them

Winners:

1. Kelly - the whole package IMO. Week-after-week Kelly BROUGHT it on the show, and I love "Breakaway" and "My December." She's the only Idol contestant or winner of whom I've become a fan for their post-Idol work.
2. Carrie - Some stellar performances on the show, especially "Alone" and "Making Love Out of Nothing at All." I'll throw the tired complaint out that she sounds much better than she looks when performing...insert cold, dead, shark eyes reference here. I like her singles a lot, but I don't feel any real urge to get her album...maybe someday.
3. Fantasia - I'm not a huge fan...haven't really listened to any of her post-Idol stuff, but she had some great Idol performances; the obvious "Summertime," "WAYDFTROYL," and believe it or not, I really liked "Holding out for a Hero," but probably because I'm the only person on Earth that likes that song.
4. Taylor - I really liked Taylor's voice a lot, but his performances don't really stick in my mind. "Levon" was great, "Play that Funky Music" was hilarious, but that's all that's coming to mind for me right now. I didn't bother with his album.
5. Jordin - Nothing really stands out for me. She's an incredible singer, but she lacks (oh jeez I can't believe I'm about to say this) "spark." Nothing really makes me love her. Although "I Who Have Nothing" stands out for me as probably the second best performance of Season 6.
6. Ruben - Eh. His performances were pretty homogeneous throughout his season. He was doing Daughtry before Daughtry did. And then I heard "Sorry 2004," and it was over for me and Ruben.

Runners-Up:

1. Blake - I HATED this guy when I first saw him. But then, his first performance of the semis, "Somewhere Only We Go," he got me. He didn't let go, either. Sure, he wasn't incredible every performance, but when he was on, he was awesome. "You Give Love a Bad Name" is the best performance of Season 6 in my mind. Just great.
2. Clay - Only because he is the best natural singer of all the runners-up. I'm not a fan of his, although I give him his due on "Solitaire" and "Somewhere Out There;" boy is good.
3. Diana - Only because of her performances top 4 and top 3 weeks. She killed "No More Tears" and "This is It," and I consider "Don't Cry Out Loud" the best performance of Season 3, and on my shortlist for all seasons of Idol. Not in her demographic for any of her later work though, so I have no idea what it's like.
4. Katherine - For my own reasons. Obviously she was hit or miss on the show; "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," "Someone to Watch Over Me," and "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" justified her though. When she was on, she was on. Post idol: "Over It" is shitty as all hell, but also quite catchy, I like it despite my better knowledge. And "Open Toes" is something of an obsession for me. Cheesy, crappy goodness. Puts her ahead of:
5/6. Bo/Justin. God, who cares? Haha, that's kinda harsh, but I was never that crazy about either. I guess I'll put Bo over Justin because I actually liked the song "The Real Thing." Which makes me the only one on Earth, yet again.

Overall:

Kelly
Blake
Carrie
Clay
Diana
Fantasia
Taylor
Katharine
Jordin
Ruben
Bo
Justin

Doing this out made me realize I'm not really crazy about too many of the winners/runners-up haha. I'll take Kelly, Blake, and a couple Carrie songs, and the rest? Meh.

Winners:
1. Kelly Clarkson
2. Carrie Underwood
3. Ruben Studdard
4. Jordin Sparks
5. Fantasia
6. Taylor

Runners Up:
1. Clay Aiken
2. Diana DeGarmo
3. Blake Lewis
4. Justin Guarini
5. Bo Bice
6. Katharine McPhee

Overall:
1. Kelly Clarkson -The total package and if she manages to avoid any further political mishaps in the near future I think she'll be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 25 years from now.
2. Carrie Underwood -Same thing as Kelly but in country music. I have a feeling she'll be the most successful Idol ever when all is said and done.
3. Clay Aiken -If he gets back on track with his next album by doing originals and working with the right producers I think he could own the Adult Contemporary charts for years to come.
4. Diana DeGarmo-It's so nice to see her at 20 years old, confident and outspoken but yet grounded and free of child performer "issues." I think 10 years from now, whether it's Broadway or pop music or acting, she'll have made her mark as one of the most successful of the AI alum.
5. Blake Lewis- This is more of a prediction than anything but I think he'll be the true star everyone remembers from AI6. He's very original, very charismatic and I look forward to his future CDs.

And I just don't have much to say about the others, except for Justin and Bo (I hope both make good career comebacks even though the odds seem to be against it at this point).

Winners:

1. Kelly
2. Carrie
3. Fantasia
4. Taylor
5. Ruben
6. Jordin

Runners Up:

1. Clay
2. Bo
3. Blake
4. Justin
5. Diana
6. Katharine

Among the winners, I have to rank Kelly and Carrie 1 & 2 respectively based on talent and/or post Idol success. I see Kelly as a talented performer who could crossover to multiple genres convincingly if she wants to. I would have said that it's a tie between Tasia and Taylor, but I'll give her the slight edge because of her Broadway success with The Color Purple. I'm a huge fan of both. I love Ruben, but I have to rank him fifth on the list. Jordin is a distant sixth. I just think she was overrated and overpimped. Sorry.

Winners - 1. Carrie Underwood 2. Kelly Clarkson 3. Ruben Studdard 4. Jordin Sparks 5. Taylor Hicks 6. Fantasia

Runners Up- 1. Blake Lewis 2.Clay Aiken 3.Diana DeGarmo 4.Katharine McPhee 5. Bo Bice 6. Justin Guarini


Overall- 1. Carrie 2. Kelly 3. Blake 4. Clay 5. Diana 6. Ruben 7. Jordin 8. Taylor 9. Katharine 10. Bo 11. Justin 12. Fantasia

1. Kelly
2. Carrie
3. Fantasia
4. Jordin
5. Ruben

(ENORMOUS GAP)

6. Taylor

1. Katharine
2. Blake
3. Justin
4. Bo
5. Clay
6. Diana

Overall:
1. Kelly
2. Carrie
3. Fantasia
4. Jordin
5. Ruben
6. Kat
7. Blake
8. Justin

9.Bo
10. Clay
11. Diana

12. Taylor

Winner
1. Kelly
2a. Carrie
2b. Ruben
(I generally like Ruben a lot more than Carrie, but I like Carrie's works after Idol much more than Ruben's. So, can't decide here)

---- GAP -------

3. Fantasia

---- Bigger Gap ------

4. Taylor (I don't like his vocal, but I was entertained during his run on Idol. So, I'll have to put him here)

----- GAP --------

5. Jordin (A fine singer, but was pimped and overrated. I think she can be a lot better with times though.)


Runner Up -- This one is hard, since my favourite in each season usually ends up being the runner up)
1. Clay Aiken --- My favourite idol. He's the one who made me cross over from "just enjoy watching and no voting" to "crazily voting for whole two hours with all the phones I can get" I think his materials after Idol are pretty average songs, but still love his voice and his singing so much that he can make me listen to those materials non-stop for months.
2. Bo Bice --- He had me since "Drift Away", but I don't like his works after Idol. I was a fan because of his stage presence and his song choice, but not his vocal. Thus, he can't keep me listening to "The Real Thing" the way Clay does.

--- Gap ---

3. Blake - Like him during Idol. Lost interest after a month or so.
4. Diana
5. Justin
6. Katherine

Over all
1. Clay (of course)
2. Kelly
3. Bo
4. Carrie & Ruben
5. Blake
6. Diana
7. Fantasia
8. Justin
9. Katherine
10. Taylor
11. Jordin

Winners:

1. Kelly Clarkson - Fantastic vocalist with an engaging and bubbly personality. She has lived up to her promise in all respects.
2. Carrie Underwood. - Given that I did not like her during her season and I did not want her to win, I am trying to be fair here. She's good at her genre and she has a lovely voice. She's still very dull. I also don't care for country music.
3. Taylor Hicks - I don't care that he did not do well commercially. I think the man's the most legitimate real musician to win, and I actually like his singing.
4. Fantasia - I actually absolutely cannot stand her voice, but she really is an awesome performer. She's a genuine talent, just not my cup of tea.
5. Jordin Sparks - Nice voice, no personality, no musical identity.
6. Ruben Studdard - Nice voice, clear musical identity, no personality at all, he cheated with his sponsors during the competition, physically repugnant, and he defeated somebody who REALLY, richly deserved to be the Idol. I'm never going to stop being pissed about that, because I don't trust it.

1. Clay Aiken - The best male vocalist AI has ever discovered - in a category with Kelly and Carrie. A voice for the ages; unfortunately, he has been erratic in the music he's released after Idol and has not lived up to his full potential.
2. Bo Bice - Great pure musician - possibly the best the show has ever had - and a great performer. It is a shame his illness after his season hurt his chances at success.
3. Blake Lewis - One of the three runner-ups I think should have beaten his winner. He's not a distinguished vocalist, but he's got strong musical instincts and some great ideas. One of the few good things about season six.
4. Justin Guarini - OK, he was not a wonderful vocalist, but I did not actively dislike him by the time his season was over, which is more than I can say for:
5. Diana DeGarmo - Cloyingly sweet and mechanical
6. Kat McPhee - Oozed conceit from every pore, and her album cover is actually offensive. How this bitch defeated Chris, and denied us the epic Taylor/Chris finale, I will never know.

Overall:

1. Kelly Clarkson
2. Clay Aiken
3. Carrie Underwood
4. Bo Bice
5. Taylor Hicks
6. Blake Lewis
7. Justin Guarini
8. Fantasia
9. Jordin Sparks, I guess
10. Diana DeGarmo, by default
11. Ruben Studdard, because he isn't gross on purpose.
12. Kat. Splat.

Based on my enjoyment of their post-Idol Albums:

1. Carrie- She's got Nashville's best writing, playing, and producing. She's bound to have some great songs.
2. Kelly
3. Jordin
4. Fantasia
5. Taylor
6. Ruben- HATED "Sorry". The rest of the album wasn't much better.

1. Blake
2. Kat
3. Bo
4,5,6- all of the rest. I don't care much for Clay, and I haven't heard Justin or Diana's records.

Winners:
1. Kelly

2. Carrie
3. Jordin
4. Ruben
5. Taylor
6. Fantasia

Runners-up:
1. Clay

2. Katharine
3. Bo
4. Diana
5. Blake
6. Justin

Overall:
1. Kelly - best female voice of the competition
2. Clay - best male voice of the competition, but lacking great songs afterwards.

3. Carrie
4. Jordin
5. Katharine
6. Ruben
7. Taylor
8. Bo
9. Diana
10. Fantasia
11. Blake
12. Justin

The Six Best American Idol Finalists - FEMALE
01) Carrie Underwood
02) Kelly Clarkson
03) Jennifer Hudson
04) Fantasia Barrino
05) Melinda Doolittle
06) Tamyra Gray
Honorable Mention: Diana DeGarmo

The Six Best American Idol Finalists - MALE
01) Elliott Yamin
02) Clay Aiken
03) Ruben Studdard
04) Taylor Hicks
05) Justin Guarini
06) Bo Bice
Honorable Mention: Chris Daughtry

The Best American Idol Finalist So Far: Elliott Yamin

The Six WORST American Idol Finalists - FEMALE
01) Carmen Rasmusen
02) Kellie Pickler
03) Leah LaBelle Vladowski
04) Mandisa Hundley
05) Lindsey Cardinale
06) Camile Velasco
Honorable Mention: Mikalah Gordon

The Six WORST American Idol Finalists - MALE
01) Constantine Maroulis
02) Kevin Covais
03) AJ Gil
04) Matthew Rogers
05) Joshua Gracin
06) Phil Stacey
Honorable Mention: Corey Clark

The Worst American Idol Finalist So Far: Carmen Rasmusen

Best American Idol Semifinalist - FEMALE: Lisa Leuschner
Honorable Mention: Sabrina Sloan

Best American Idol Semifinalist - MALE: Chip Days
Honorable Mention: Gedeon McKinney

Worst American Idol Semifinalist - FEMALE: Antonella Barba
Honorable Mention: Juanita Barber

Worst American Idol Semifinalist - MALE: Bobby Bennett
Honorable Mention: (tie) Jesus Roman and Noel Roman

Best American Idol Semifinalist So Far: Lisa Leuschner

Worst American Idol Semifinalist So Far: Antonella Barba