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I am not going to pay $29.95 a year to read the blog entries of Clay Aiken. So I'm glad that someone else does and can post the following quote from Aiken. Guess the American Idol runner-up isn't a fan of another runner-up, Adam Lambert.

I couldn't be happier with the way AI ended this year. I only turn the show on once a season and only to see what the set looks like. This year, I happened to turn it on during the minute that Adam Lambert was singing "Ring of Fire," and, at that moment, thought my ears would bleed. Contrived, awful, and slightly frightening! I wasn't really a fan and found myself surprised whenever folks told me that they liked him.

Gawker has more. Idol fans, discuss.

This being the results show of Motown Night, the Idols sang a montage of Motown hits against a backdrop of classic Motown stars. Very nice. I also liked the Ford commercial, with the contestants putting together giant puzzle pieces while singing "Take Me Away." They look like they're having a blast.

Then the Velvet Teddy Bear Ruben Studdard sang a tune, and Ryan mentions that he was recently married. Congrats to Ruben!

And then the countdown begins with Adam Lambert up first. I can't imagine that he'd be going home, and sure enough, he's safe. With his ability to show such vastly different sides of his artistic talent, Adam has launched himself straight to the top of my favorites list.

Welcome to the final installment of "AI Aftermath," where we explore Idol's past. Each installment, as one more American Idol hopeful is eliminated from the competition, we take a look back at contestants past who were eliminated at the same point. We'll examine how they did on the show and what they've been up to since their eliminations. In honor of David Cook's crowning as your American Idol, we will look back at other winners.

This week: The Winners, featuring Kelly Clarkson (Season One), Ruben Studdard (Season Two), Fantasia Barrino (Season Three), Carrie Underwood (Season Four), Taylor Hicks (Season Five) and Jordin Sparks (Season Six).

Going into last night's finale of American Idol, I was very excited to see the Davids battle each other for the title. It was the first American Idol in a while that did not have an obvious winner at the outset. Even though it really was David Archuleta's night, I still hold out hope that David Cook might pull out a win. He's the one with the most potential and is the better performer. Little Archuleta has that killer voice, though.

Anyway, last night's epic battle got me thinking about past American Idol finales and whether any of them were this much of a contest. It seems like we've gone into most of the American Idol finales with obvious winners. Here's a breakdown of the past American Idol finales, and whether they stack up to last night's performances:

How much cooler would it be to send your stalker letter to Kelly Clarkson with a Kelly Clarkson stamp? As Ryan Seacrest announced on last night's American Idol "Idol Gives Back" special, PhotoStamps has inked a deal with the show to produce commemorative stamps featuring the likenesses of each of the Idol winners so far, including this year's winner. In fact, Kelly Clarkson's PhotoStamp is already available, with subsequent stamps released each Tuesday.

So if you're planning to kidnap one of Kelly's hats and send her a ransom note with cut-out letters from various newspaper articles about her, demanding that she go out on a date with you if she ever wants to see it again, go that extra mile and show her you really care in that extra-special creepy way by using a Kelly Clarkson PhotoStamp! Remember, net proceeds from the sales of these stamps go to charity. And while you may be crazy, that doesn't mean you don't care!

Not every American Idol winner or runner-up has the massive success of Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood. In just the last three weeks, Sony BMG has dropped three AI contestants/winners from its record label.

The latest to be dropped is season five runner-up Katharine McPhee. She released an album in 2006 that has only sold about 365,000 copies, according to MTV news.

In the wake of disappointing sales on his recent efforts, it looks like J Records has dropped Ruben Studdard from their label, according to ContactMusic.com. The second season winner of American Idol was never able to replicate the sales of his freshmen effort (2003's Soulful), which moved more than 1.7 million copies. His most recent album, 2006's The Return, in which he came back to a more traditional R&B style only shifted 325,000.

Studdard won't let this slow him down, though. Rather, he's going to follow many an Idol alumni before him to the stage. He'll play Fats Waller in a touring production of Ain't Misbehavin'. And he's guaranteed at least one gig a year on the Idol finales. I have to figure some smaller label will pick him up at some point. Maybe he can have a Jennifer Hudson career moment (Dreamgirls' "And I Am Telling You...") and become relevant again. Or is he just old news?

(S06E41) I am exhausted, truly exhausted. TV should be relaxing. But American Idol's two hour event shows are emotionally-draining. They wear me out. And tonight's show was especially BIG. I'm surprised Ryan didn't call it the "biggest show ever." It actually ran over 2 hours by about eight minutes.

But everything between 8:00 and 10:05 was just filler or commercials. We came here tonight to crown the next American Idol. The judges give their final thoughts. Randy says, "It's Jordin, baby." Paula is just proud of everyone. She congratulates them both. Simon congratulates Jordin (his pick based on the last song Tuesday night).

74 million votes were cast Tuesday night (for a combined total of 609 million votes cast over the season) and this year's American Idol is ...

This is an old clip from MadTV, but I just found it, so it's new to me, and probably to many of you too. The clip, called "Since We Were On," spoofs the first three seasons of American Idol winners (Kelly Clarkson, Ruben Studdard, Fantasia Barrino) and runner-ups (Justin Guarini, Clay Aiken, Diana DeGarmo), as well as Simon Cowell, and the unforgettably-bad William Hung.

Howard Cohen of MiamiHerald.com seems to think so. In today's post he points out that several AI finalists didn't take top prize, but the show still helped catapult them to success. Jennifer Hudson's Golden Globe win last night certainly puts her on the top of the list for "Most Successful Ex-American Idol Losers," well, at least for the time being.

If I were a betting woman, and I'm not, I'd bet that the next American Idol probably isn't going to emerge from the Seattle, Minneapolis, New York, or L.A. auditions. I only say this because they never have before. In fact, all five Idols hailed from southern or southwestern American states. Therefore, I will be paying extra-close attention when AI airs the Memphis, San Antonio, and Birmingham auditions.

Take a closer look, after the jump.

Hey, Brigitte here with TV Squad Daily. I'll be covering the TV stories I find interesting each day, Monday through Friday, in this video blog.

Today on TV Squad Daily:

• Miss USA will continue her reign - from rehab.
  
• Ruben Studdard wants to help Alabama lose weight.
  
• Michael Jackson participating in a reality show? He really needs the money.
  

The video's embedded after the jump below, or you can download the file directly (Quicktime required). You can also subscribe to this vodcast via our feed.

Ruben Studdard is at the helm of a statewide effort to encourage people in Alabama to lose weight. Ruben, who won American Idol in 2003, lost more than 100 pounds when he began a weight loss program last summer. He is asking 25 percent of Alabamans to lose 10 pounds in eight weeks. Studdard's weight loss program, called Scale Back Alabama, kicks off January 4th. Alabama is ranked as the "heaviest state" in the nation with 28.4 percent obesity.

Ruben says he was motivated to lose weight because of a family history of diabetes and heart trouble. He did it in a very extreme way, though. He went to Duke Diet & Fitness center for a month to learn how to become a healthy eater. His mentor for weight loss has been Idol judge Randy Jackson.

Thanks to My Super Sweet Sixteen, we all now know that no party is complete without a surprise, private performance by a pop idol. Fortunately, the cast of American Idol is more than willing to shill themselves out for your next shindig. Their asking prices, however, range from $300,000 for Kelly Clarkson to $2,000 and change for second season finalist Kimberly Caldwell.

The New York Post has kindly given us a run-down of Idol artist fees. Whether you pay $75,000 for Ruben Studdard or $30,000 is going to depend on how well you're connected within the entertainment industry, but is $75,000 too much to ask for your guests to hear "Sorry 2004" live? You can also expect to pay more for an Idol mini-concert versus an Idol meet-and-greet.

Karoake Revolution is releasing an American Idol version of its game for PlayStation 2, complete with original American Idol tunes and judgements from Randy and Simon. Players can cover one of 40 songs, including Taylor Hicks' "Do I Make You Proud", Bo Bice's "The Real Thing", Ruben Studdard's "Flying Without Wings", and Kelly Clarkson's "Breakaway". You can also channel William Hung, by singing "She Bangs". Once you've finished your song, Randy and Simon will have some remarks for you. Paula Abdul's not involved, but you can cover her '80s hit "Straight Up".

This sounds like a game for the pre-teen set at slumber parties or their very first boy-girl parties. I can see it now: an 11-year-old girl's night is ruined when Simon tells her she's the worst singer ever.

[Via TV Filter]