The return of David Archuleta to American Idol this week reminded us that some of the show's biggest stars didn't actually win. In fact, even if Adam Lambert isn't the next American Idol, odds are he'll be a star without the television title.
Let's look at some of the lovable losers, who in several cases have far outshone their season's winner:
Jennifer Hudson, Chris Daughtry and Clay Aiken achieved phenomenal success even though voters bounced them from the competition. Hudson went on to win an Academy Award, Grammy, and international acclaim.
She may be the most famous American Idol contestant of all, far surpassing Season 3 winner Fantasia Barrino. She, astonishingly, finished 7th in the competition.
Chris Daughtry has also become a huge international star. The bald-headed rocker has sold more than 4.5 million albums and had an extended sold-out concert tour in 2007 and 2008.
The most successful American Idol castoff, in terms of record sales, is Season 2 runner-up Clay Aiken. Even without the American Idol promotional machine behind him, Aiken has sold more than 4.8 million records. Beyond singing, Aiken has become a cultural icon; in 2008, he announced to the world that he was gay and even fathered a child.
Country sweetheart Kellie Pickler is the 9th biggest-selling Idol contestant of all time - even though she placed sixth in competition, behind Season 6 winner Jordin Sparks. The two are in a virtual dead heat in terms of record sales. Both have sold about 1 million albums.
Archuleta is on a world tour and so far has sold nearly 700,000 albums.
Of course, it does help to win the competition. The biggest stars were winners -- Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood have become international celebrities and have broken music records along the way. Underwood is now one of the biggest selling stars in country music history. She has sold nearly 10 million albums. Clarkson, nearly seven years after she won it all, is still topping the charts and has sold nearly 11 million albums.
Last season's winner David Cook has sold more than 1.1 million albums.
In short, losing American Idol isn't a career death sentence. And winning American Idol does not guarantee success.
Just look at Season 5 winner Taylor Hicks, the disastrous Taylor Hicks, who was bounced from his American Idol record label and now puts out albums under his own record label. Hicks was universally panned in his post-Idol career, even by Simon Cowell.
Uh, speaking of Hicks, the silver-haired Idol underachiever returns to American Idol next week to perform a song from his new album. At least we have the contestants singing songs made famous by the Rat Pack to look forward to.
So don't sweat it, Adam Lambert. You've got nothing to worry about.
