My Favorite Idols

I've been thinking (dangerous I know), who have been my favorite contestants on American Idol? Who would be in my Top 16 over all 12 seasons? Well, here's my all star lineup, and not all of them are here because of their vocals.

Christina Christian, Season 1

They say you never forget your first, and for me and Idol the first was Christina Christian. Though I only caught snippets of Idol in its first season I do remember this young lady with the cute voice and the even cuter look. I remember checking the Idol web site each week to see if she was still in the competition. I also remember that she was eliminated while in the hospital for exhaustion, which at the time made me sad because I thought she had a chance to win.

William Hung, Season 3

In 2004 I worked in an office with several engineers from Asia, and every one of them talked about this dude. Not in a derogatory fashion mind you, but rather out of admiration. William was living their dream. Even though he couldn’t sing a single note in key he still managed to gain fame and a record deal, just because he did his best. Only in America.

LaToya London, Season 3

Some of you cynics out there might not believe Idol’s promos about how much support the contestants get from the people in their hometowns. I can tell you from LaToya’s experience though that they really do. Even though she wasn’t a small town girl, everyone in her hometown of Oakland knew about LaToya while she was on the show. There were signs of support everywhere and she was the talk of every bar and restaurant in the city, whether you watched the show or not. Indeed, even Oaklanders who didn’t watch Idol were calling in and voting for her. I was living in Oakland at the time and I thought it was really fun to have one of our own do so well, even though I wasn’t watching the show at this point.

Kellie Pickler, Season 5

This blog and everything about it all exist because of this little ol’ car hop who lived in a trailer in North Carolina. It was her audition on the season premiere of Season 5, which I was only watching because I was cooped up at home cleaning my living room of ants, which got me hooked into watching this show. After seeing and hearing her audition I was inspired to watch the next show, and the next one, and… well, you know the rest of the story.

Chris Daughtry, Season 5

While Kellie was who first got me to watch Idol, it was Chris Daughtry that got me to watch it every week. Here was a guy who just had a natural voice for rock songs and wasn’t afraid to deviate from the Idol template of ballads, ballads, and more ballads. Even though he didn’t win Chris provided the template that David Cook followed to win Idol 2 seasons later. He proved to me that there was a place on Idol for singers that I would like. To this day Daughtry’s albums are the only ones recorded by a former Idol contestant that I have ever bought.

Elliott Yamin, Season 5

Elliott was the James Brown of American Idol, the hardest working man in the history of the show. Nobody worked on his singing during the season as much as he did, and it was that hard work that led to Chris Daughtry getting eliminated before him and almost led to Katherine McPhee getting eliminated one week later that would have put Elliott in the finale. Nobody gave this dude much of a chance to win and he came this close to pulling it off.

Melinda Doolittle, Season 6

I would argue that Melinda Doolittle was technically the best singer in the history of Idol. Key changes, chord changes, runs, flats, sharps, slow songs, dance songs, Melinda could sing them all and then some. I don’t think she missed a single note the entire season and I don’t remember any of the judges ever saying anything critical of her singing, even Simon. She was that good. As good as Jordin Sparks was that year, Melinda would have won it all if only she hadn’t been so afraid to show her personality.

Jordin Sparks, Season 6



How good was Jordin Sparks that year? This good. There is only one reason why Jordin is on this list. It's because her performance of "You Never Walk Alone" on the first Idol Gives Back show was my favorite single performance in the history of the show. I can't think of any other performance that not only gave me goosebumps but left me crying at the end. As long as this is still up on You Tube, just press play and hear for yourself just how good Jordin was.

Ramiele Malubay, Season 7

Speaking of chicks that were too shy, there was this cute little Pinay with a great voice that she was too afraid to show. However, that’s not why she is on this list. Well, cute is part of the reason why, but the main reason why she’s here is because she was the first person on the show that I gave a nickname to (Pinoy’s Lullaby, because she once said that she didn’t want to be known as “Ramiele Lullaby” by singing too many ballads). It worked so well that I started giving nicknames to the other contestants that season. Soon thereafter I started giving nicknames to the judges, the mentors, and Ryan, a practice that continues to this day.

Amanda Overmyer, Season 7

Ah yes, the rock and roll nurse, who sounded like Janis Joplin, rode a Harley, and called everyone “chiel.” She was only on the live shows for a short time but it was a fun time while it lasted. In a season full of oh so serious singers with prior record deals trying to get back in the biz, Amanda was an amateur that was off the cuff and just didn’t give a damn. It was really refreshing and a real shame that she was eliminated so early.

Jason Castro, Season 7

Speaking of contestants who didn’t give a damn, we have Exhibit A in the dreadlocked Jason Castro. I loved how he wasn’t afraid to speak his mind. He was relieved to be eliminated before he had to sing 2 songs, he laughed at Andrew Lloyd Webber because he wrote a musical about cats, and after butchering both “I Shot the Sheriff” and “Mister Tambourine Man” on the same night he admitted on the results show that he had read somewhere that he had “shot the tambourine man” and thought the comment was funny. He’s also the guy who inspired Paula Abdul’s infamous brain fart when she critiqued one of his performances before he had sung it, but more on that another day.

Allison Irahata, Season 8

I’m not sure what it was that I liked about Allison. Maybe it was her bright red hair, or her song choices that tended towards rock, or perhaps because she showed so much maturity for a 16 year old. Perhaps what drew me in the most was that she seemed so genuine and because she was the clear underdog that year compared to eye candy Kris Allen, Broadway Boy Adam Lambert, and the heavily pimped Danny Gokey. Allison was like the daughter I wished I had.

Siobhan Magnus, Season 9

She was quirky, she was shy, she had a large and strange tattoo on her shoulder and really odd tastes in hair styles, she argued with the judges, she chose to sing some strange songs, and she could scream like a banshee. Siobhan was one of the most unique finalists that Idol has ever had. Her glory notes were unlike anything Idol had ever heard either before or since; they were loud enough to break glass. I’ve liked the contestants that are distinctive and Siobhan was that alright, perhaps like none other. I always looked forward to her performances because I never knew what to expect. If I had to name my all-time Three Stars it would be Chris Daughtry, Melinda Doolittle, and Siobhan.

Crystal Bowersox, Season 9

With all due respect to Lee DeWyze, who was a decent singer and seemed like a cool guy, but Crystal really should have won that season. She was so consistent week in and week out and was a really good singer. She also filled a very unique niche; no one on this show has embodied the folk rock/chick rock genre like Crystal did. She never reached for the glory notes or tried to “perform” rather than sing. She just did her thing and did it well.

Joshua Ledet, Season 11

Like Crystal two seasons before, Joshua really should have won in Season 11. This kid held nothing back every time he performed. Every song was strong and passionate, it really did seem like he was singing for his life as Ryan so often claims Idol contestants do. He liked Ryan's comparisons to Mandisa from Season 5, but Joshua was actually better than her. Mandisa may have wanted to cleanse of our sins but Joshua’s performances actually did.

Candice Glover, Season 12

I believe technically Candice was the best singer on the show since Melinda Doolittle. There was nothing that this chick could not sing. I was worried that she would follow in Melinda's footsteps and be eliminated before the finale, but then she started showing some personality and creativity in her performances and my fears went away. I didn’t mind that she was shy and a little overweight. I am too so I could sympathize with Candice whereas I couldn't with anyone else on the show that season. I was so happy that she won Season 12, since for the first time in a long time the best singer actually won a singing competition rather than the best looking or most marketable contestant.