Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson obviously owe their success to the moment when both became the victors of American Idol. Even runner-ups like Adam Lambert and Clay Aiken have gone on to have lucrative careers.However, many winners and finalists on the show have fallen into obscurity, or are just not as famous as they were when they were on the show. These American Idol contestants were once hot tickets, but not so much anymore. Don't worry though, most of them are still working and are staring in shows on Broadway.
9 Constantine Maroulis
Constantine was all the rage in season 4 and many thought he had a great chance at coming in 1st place. However, Constantine only got sixth place despite the incredible hype that surrounded him when he was on the show. Fans loved his good looks and long hair as much as they liked his singing, but it was not enough to carry him to the final round. Constantine is still working and singing. He now performs in musicals both on and off-Broadway. He even got nominated for a Tony for his role in Rock of Ages, which was turned into a movie in 2012.
8 Crystal Bowersox
Bowersox turned some heads as the runner-up in season nine with her dreadlocked hair and her covers of Aretha Franklin, The Temptations, and Creedance Clearwater revival. Bowersox came out as bisexual on Good Day L.A. when she was promoting her 2013 Christmas album. Her post-Idol album Farmer's Daughter sold over 200,000 copies, while her follow-up album All That For This flopped by comparison and only moved 8,000. Her album sales steadily declined from there but she did record a new album in 2022 called Hitchhiker.
7 Kris Allen
Allen was one of the few contestants who had already released an album before getting on the show. He was the winner of season eight and his cover of Kanye West's hit "Heartless" from the show made it to the Billboard Top 100. Although he writes and records regularly, none of his tracks have come close to his immediate success on the show. Allen joined the American Idol Tour in 2018 as a special guest, and he has not made many waves since then.
6 Diana DeGarmo
Diana DeGarmo pursued a career in theater after being the runner-up to Fantasia in season 3. She recorded a few albums that did make it to the Billboard charts but never had quite the amount of success that Kelly Clarkson or Carrie Underwood have seen. She soon became a working actor on Broadway and she even had a six-month story arc on the daytime soap opera The Young and The Restless.
5 Justin Guarini
Although he lost the first season to Kelly Clarkson, the future seemed bright for Guarini after American Idol. He and Kelly even did a movie together, From Justin To Kelly which was a horrible flop. He has only released two studio albums, the last of which came out in 2005, and like many others on this list, he decided to start a career in musical theater. Guarini has been in several plays, including a few Shakespeare adaptations. He was also briefly a part of the cast of Wicked and in a local production of Ghost Brothers of Darkland County, which was written by John Mellencamp and horror icon Stephen King.
4 Ruben Studdard
Studdard was lucky enough to get a Grammy nomination for his version of "Superstar" in 2003 after he beat Clay Aiken in season 2. He had a few other hits but nothing that got him any award nominations and his fame just sort of fizzled out. Studdard did a few reality television shows, and he was a contestant on The Biggest Loser in 2013. Like so many others, he is now doing shows on Broadway. He made his theatrical debut in 2018 when he teamed up with his former rival Clay Aiken for a Christmas show at the Imperial Theater.
3 Bo Bice
Bice was in fierce competition with Carrie Underwood which he ultimately lost, but fans did love the hippie-looking singer for both his style and his vocals. His cover of "Inside Your Heaven" from his Idol performance landed on the Billboard Top 100 and his album The Real Thing sold modestly well before his label, RCA, dropped him. Bice's career seems to have been put on pause, most likely due to his recurring health issues. He had to get multiple surgeries in 2006 for intestinal issues and he has not released a studio album since 2010.
2 Sanjaya
Sanjaya Joseph Malakar, better known as just Sanjaya, became an early viral hit during the sixth season of American Idol and for a while was a fan favorite to win. But he lost out at 7th place. Famous for his hair and flowery vocals, one of his performances turned a young girl into a meme when she was so moved by his performance that she began to cry. He was phenomenally popular after losing the show, he even got an audience with the President of the United States and the Governor of New York. Sanjaya had to get a day job as a bartender because he lost most of his money.
1 Brian Dunkleman
Those who are old enough to remember season 1 know that Ryan Seacrest was not alone as the original host. Seacrest used to co-host American Idol with Dunkelman and when the show became a huge success but with Dunkelman absent from later seasons, rumors swirled that he was fired to give Seacrest more airtime. However, Dunkleman left the show on his own because he wanted to focus on his acting and standup comedy careers. He did admit in a 2008 interview with Howard Stern that he regretted the decision but backtracked once again when he learned the show was not going to invite him back for season two anyway. Fun fact about Dunkleman, before American Idol he was in an episode of Friends (The One With The Ring).
