American Idol is returning in January for its 13th season. This time they have brought back Randy Jackson as a mentor instead of a judge. The three judges this season will be Mariah Carey, Keith Urban, and Harry Conick Jr. This should be an exciting season.
But before we meet a new batch of singers, we thought we’d take a look back at the previous winners.
Season One Winner Kelly Clarkson
Kelly went back to her country roots and is doing amazing. She just got married to Brandon Blackstock and they have a baby on the way. This year, she has a new Christmas album as well as a Christmas special on NBC.
Season Two Winner Ruben Studdard
Ruben was on this season of The Biggest Loser, and was sent home early, but was brought back to the ranch in December. He has talked about getting back into the studio to record another album, but no official word as to when that will happen.
Season Three Winner Fantasia Barrino
Right after her season ended, she stayed in the spotlight. She wrote a book called Life Isn’t a Fairy Tale and was on Broadway in The Color Purple. Fantasia had a baby in 2011 and seems to be pretty busy with life. This year she was nominated for three Grammy’s and is on Broadway in After Midnight.
Season Four Winner Carrie Underwood
Carrie is still hitting the top of the charts all the time for country music. She recently played the role of Floreline Maria in The Sound of Music Live on NBC. Carrie is now married to hockey player Mike Fisher. The couple is currently focused on their careers and haven’t said anything official about expanding their family yet.
Season Five Winner Taylor Hicks
Taylor may have won his season but he has not had a huge career since leaving the show. He has released several albums and was also part of the Broadway version of Grease in a traveling production. He is now performing at Paris Las Vegas casino.
Season Six Winner Jordin Sparks
Jordin’s song “No Air” was the highest selling single from any contestant on the show. After she left the Idol stage, she was in the movie Sparkle, which was the last movie ever made with Whitney Houston before her passing. Jordin is currently seriously dating singer Jason Derulo.
Season Seven Winner David Cook
David went out on tour with Gavin DeGraw and Carolina Liar in 2011. He is working on new music now and also touring at this time.
Season Eight Winner Kris Allen
Kris did well with No Boundaries and his version of Heartless right after he won the show. He has still been working on new music and came out with an original Christmas song this year.
Season Nine Winner Lee DeWyze
Lee had a new album called Frames come out in August of 2013. He is working to reshape his career, which involves him touring to promote his first album after his original Idol album.
Season Ten Winner Scotty McCreery
Scotty’s music seems to top the country music charts each time he releases a new song. Since he won the show, he has gone out on tour, opening for country superstar Brad Paisley. Scotty recently won Breakthrough Artist of the Year at the ACAs.
Season 11 Winner Phillip Phillips
Phillip, whose song Home is still on the radio, has been out on tour this year with John Mayer. Phillip recently released acoustic versions of some of his songs as well. We expect more great things to be coming from this rising star.
Season 12 Winner Candice Glover
Her first single, Cried, just hit iTunes less than a month ago and her album is expected to hit shelves in early 2014.
American Idol will return for season 13 on January 15 on Fox. This should be a great season with new judge Harry Connick Jr. in the mix. Do you plan to watch it? Let us know in the comments!
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