Favourite American Idol Contestants: #05-01

05. Carly Smithson (Season 7: 6th place)

I used to loathe Smithson’s personality a lot, until she laid down her obsession and started to enjoy herself on stage. Too bad the exact same performance (Jesus Christ Superstar) got her eliminated. After she shook off that over-ambitious attitude, I began to appreciate her talent. Man, that strong chest voice! She can easily belt all those upper range notes. Come Together is another awesome treat, and I like it when she went softer with Dolly Parton’s Here You Come Again. I have some really nice time belting along with her studio versions, this girl sure has a big big voice.

04. Allison Iraheta (Season 8: 4th place)

Whoa! This girl can sing anything and make it her own, really. Such an amazing talent for someone so young. I am impressed at how well she tackled Janis Joplin’s Cry Baby. Her dark-ballad cover of Give In To Me is unlike anything else that I have ever seen on the show. It is just so real! And then, there is Papa Was A Rolling Stone, yet another impressive performance. I can go on and on, really. All her performances were great, oh well, except one poor song choice from Aerosmith. But she is at her best when she gave us the strength of her lower range on I Can’t Make You Love Me. Girl, she sold the emotion of the song to me!

03. Katharine McPhee (Season 5: 2nd place)

Beautiful girl with a beautiful voice. Okay, except that sometimes she smiles inappropriately and tends to oversing her songs with melisma. But her high points are so freaking high that I can forgive all the occasional missteps. Really, anyone who can sing Somewhere Over The Rainbow like that needs to be given eleven thumbs up by each audience. Think you have seen enough? What about the beautiful rendition of Someone To Watch Over Me and the sultry jazz-pop Come Rain Or Come Shine? But jazz standards are not the only thing she can sing, watch out for her bluesy-country approach on Bringing Out The Elvis In Me. Told you what? Her high points are high enough to make you forgive (and forget) all the misfired performances that she delivered on the show.

02. Michael Johns (Season 7: 8th place)

I wish we could have seen more from him. What a masculine voice that brings to mind about all the legendary rockers! Both David Cook and Carly Smithson delivered their first bad performance on a night, and as a result, the voters came to their rescue and left Johns into his first trip at the bottom three to find him shockingly eliminated. On eight place! Oh dear, I thought we know how much potential he is capable of? The bluesy It’s All Wrong But It’s Alright, the hot burning cover of The Doors’ Light My Fire, and him being the only contestant who can do Queen justice (We Will Rock You / We Are The Champions medley and Bohemian Rhapsody). Seriously, America. What have you done?

01. Kelly Clarkson (Season 1: 1st place)

It really came to no surprise that the original winnr is still the best after all these years. I remember the first time I saw one of her music videos, thinking, “Wow, I bet this girl can sing Céline Dion without any difficulties!” I did not know that she is an American Idol alumni back then. Wait, I did not even know that such a show exists. But she pulled Dion twice on the show, one of which is done when she was sick! Stuff Like That There is still the best performance of the show. It was done live? Her professional stage presence almost felt like I was watching a music video. Then there is the classic (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman, the one where she hit that crazy whistle note near the end of the performance. Her breathing technique on Think Twice is almost unbelievable. And let us not forget how she soared on Respect. She was awesome enough on the show, and she is even much better nowadays. Breakaway is not only easily the best album from any American Idol alumni, it is also arguably one of the best pop albums from the first half of the 2000s decade. This girl is a mad talent! She is up there with the best artists in the business.