SEASON 3
KIMBERLY LOCKE
Locke was overshadowed by fellow finalists Clay Aiken and Ruben Studdard, but she's done plenty since season 3. She scored some radio airplay (and a top 10 hit) with her 2004 single ''8th World Wonder'' and flaunted her curves in a Lane Bryant campaign. Recently, she's written material for a new album, Based on a True Story. Locke, 28, says that the key to sustaining a postshow career is to work hard and never hide your Idol roots. ''Like my manager told me, Barry Manilow still has to sing 'Copacabana.' That's what people remember.'' But the most valuable lesson learned? ''When you're on the show, you think, Oh, I'm a celebrity. But there's no quicker way to learn how fickle the public can be.''
JOSH GRACIN
He may not get the media attention of a Clay or a Kelly, but season 2's Josh Gracin has carved out a solid career as a twangy country heartthrob. His eponymous 2004 debut sold an admirable 655,000 copies and spawned a No. 1 country single (''Nothin' to Lose''). And while Idol may have opened up the door for him, Gracin, 25, credits his four-year Marines stint with getting him ready for life on the road: ''The Marines taught me discipline, patience, responsibility, drive, and how to set a goal.'' He's going to be calling on those traits in the next six months as he begins a tour to promote his second album, All About Y'all, due this summer. Now, about that title: Could it be a sly dedication to Randy, Paula, and Simon? Not quite. ''It's all about how the world revolves around women,'' says Gracin, who's been married for five years to wife Ann Marie. ''It's their world. We're just living in it.''
CARMEN RASMUSEN
Coming off her sixth-place finish on season 2 of Idol, Utah native Carmen Rasmusen, eager to return to her country-music roots, headed to Nashville in search of a record contract. Imagine her surprise when most label execs wrote her off, as she puts it, as a ''bubblegum reality-show contestant.'' Undaunted, Rasmusen self-released a four-track EP and returned to Music City to try again. That trip, while not as discouraging, still produced the same result: No deal. Rasmusen recalls one Capitol Records honcho listening to her songs in summer 2004 and remarking, '''This is good, but if I were to put in a Martina [McBride] record, it wouldn't compare. You are not up to her level — yet.''' (Honestly, he sounds like a nice guy when you compare him to Simon Cowell...and we'll get to that in a moment.) Today, however, with a full-length disc in the hopper, Rasmusen is hoping the third time will be the charm; she says she's currently in talks with three major labels to release the album — and credits her harshest Idol critic with helping her to develop her remarkable tenacity. ''I had to grow some really tough skin and realize what the music industry is about,'' Rasmusen says. ''I don't think I would have been prepared for that if it hadn't been for Simon Cowell.''
GEORGE HUFF
No other season 3 contestant expended more energy bouncing around the stage than Geroge Huff. And to hear him tell it, he hasn't let up one bit since his early departure from the show. Huff, whose Word Records debut Miracles was released last October, was recently nominated for three Dove Awards — gospel music's equivalent of the Grammys — and has spent the last two years performing everywhere from churches to stadiums (with the Billy Graham Crusade) to national television. (You may have spotted him during last fall's BET telethon for Hurricane Katrina victims.) That last gig held special meaning for the New Orleans native, who was displaced due to the tragedy. Huff now resides in Dallas and is hoping to make it to L.A. later this year to — like so many other former contestants — pursue acting gigs and, hopefully, record another album that'll accentuate the positive. (What, you thought George would go gloomy for his second go-round?) ''We don't have songs like Whitney Houston's 'Greatest Love of All' or Mariah Carey's 'Hero,''' he laments. ''I want to do music that will inspire the hearts of youth.'' Not that he's trying to distance himself from Idol — quite the contrary, in fact. ''I will definitely be at the finale hoppin' and skippin' and jumpin' all around,'' says Huff, a frequent guest at the Idol auditorium. Good thing...because frankly, anything less would be a letdown.
LATOYA LONDON
''American Idol changed my life,'' says season 3 fan favorite LaToya London, 27, the Anita Baker-like crooner who was praised for her impeccable voice yet booted off after weeks of criticism that she lacked personality. Now living in Southern California, the gospel-trained vocalist inked a deal with a Concord Records imprint in November 2004, but her debut CD, Love & Life, stalled after its release last September, selling just 50,430 copies. The album's disappointing performance has prodded the aspiring Broadway star — like fellow contestant and current Hairspray star Diana DeGarmo — to shift her attention to acting. In February, she starred in the traveling stage production, Issues — We All Got 'Em. Next, she'll make her film debut in Hollywood Chaos, a comedy featuring a multitude of reality TV celebrities. But despite the flirtation, music remains London's first love. Already, she's dreaming of her next turn in the recording studio...though she's still not ready to ditch the sound that got her on national TV: ''I'm not sure what my next album is going to be like, but I know it will definitely be R&B.''
CONSTANTINE MAROULIS
Charismatic season 4 rocker Maroulis, 30, recently left grunge-rock act Pray for the Soul of Betty to go solo. "I'd really rather not talk about it," he says. Maroulis is also mum on a label, title, songs or an expected release date. There is the ABC sitcom pilot loosely based on his life that's currently in development.
JIM VERRAROS
After competing in the first season of American Idol, Verraros, now 23, didn't rush to come out with a new CD-he came out of the closet instead. The only openly gay Idol contestant to date has since appeared in the 2005 indie comedy Eating Out, he's about to start filming the sequel, dabbled in modeling, and released two CDs, the latest, Rollercoaster, with racy tracks that are a far cry from the family-friendly tunes he sang on Idol. "The material is really sexy-but that's what I wanted to do. If people want safe, they can go buy Clay Aiken's album."
WINNERS
Kelly is and will continue to be the biggest singing star of this decade. She's sold more CDs and merchandise than all the other Idol winners, maybe even all of the Idol contestants, put together. Next was Ruben. He hasn't been anywhere at all in the media. Even Clay Aiken's CD was accepted more than Ruben's, and Clay is more a celebrity even three years later. (For those who don't know, Clay put out a popular Christmas album the year before last, has recieved media attention from helping the Red Cross in Africa, and is now working on an album to be released within the year.) After that came Fantasia. We haven't heard much out of her since her win, but her autobiographical movie suddenly premiered on Lifetime August 19th at 9 PM. After Fantasia was Carrie. She's probably the second highest achieving Idol winner. Although I don't see as large as a future as Kelly in the music career, she did win many awards. (She won at least two CMA Awards, the ones I know of being Best New Female Artist and Single of the Year for Jesus, Take the Wheel.) She is very successful with her Hershey's television commercials and Skechers ads- I actually just saw a new one in a magazine I got today. As for our last Idol, Taylor Hicks, I personally think that he's not going to turn out to have a large music career ahead of him. Yes, I was cheering for him, but the Idol win was not the best claim to fame for his genre of music. Not many people [that I know of] liked his Ford commercial.
SEASON 1
Other season one top-10 finalists have had mixed success. Nikki McKibbin and Ryan Starr have each gone on to little more than reality TV fame; they competed together in Bravo’s “Battle of the Network Reality Stars,” while Nikki appeared in E!’s “Kill Reality” (and the resulting film “The Scorned,” which was almost as bad as “From Justin to Kelly”). Ryan filled the reality TV star role on a season of “The Surreal Life.” The only openly gay "Idol" competitor, Jim Verraros, got a makeover and released his own solo album, and had a part in an independent film.
But it’s Tamyra Gray who has gone on to the most mainstream success. After “Idol,” she was dropped by her label, J Records, for being regarded as “difficult,” she says, because they wanted her to perform songs similar to those of season-three winner Fantasia Barrino. Instead, Gray released an album with 19 Entertainment. She also wrote the lyrics to “I Believe,” the song performed by season three’s two finalists, Barrino and Diana DeGarmo.
Outside of the music industry, Tamyra has appeared as a guest star on a number of TV shows, and she’s also starred in a film, “The Gospel,” and in a Broadway musical, “Bombay Dreams.”
Season one runner-up Justin Guarini has not, however, had the same sort of three years as either Kelly, Tamyra, or some of the other finalists. Justin was dropped by RCA after his album failed to sell more than 134,000 copies, he was ticketed after almost hitting a five-year-old girl with his jet ski, and he got sued for more than $100,000 after being involved in a car accident. (The suit was later settled, but the amount and details were not disclosed.)
Justin, who also hacked off his trademark hair, has just independently produced a jazz album titled "Stranger Things Have Happened, which is available via his new Web site. The site notes that he “continues to entertain in various locations all over the country, and the world, and looks forward to many more concert, television, and film appearances in 2006.”