TVSquad

We scoured the earth (and the archives at various record companies for failed projects that showed vocal promise) to create the greatest assemblage of singing talent American Idol has ever seen! So what happened? After last year's virtual snooze-fest, how did a season that truly did give us perhaps the greatest depth of talent we've ever seen (an argument could be made for Season Five) give us such lackluster shows?

After Sanjaya-gate last year, the biggest controversy to come out this year was that finalist David Hernandez used to be a stripper and David Archuleta's dad might be a Mr. Meany-Pants. And we got to be pissed that Kristy Lee Cook outlasted the likes of Michael Johns. Not until we got to the finale of Davids did things get really intense.

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!

(S07E29) Well, this is what you've all been waiting for, right? What's that? Finale? Yeah, I guess that'll be cool, too. But if you've listened to Ryan all season then you know TONIGHT is really what it's all about! If you're looking to find out who got eliminated by vote last night you're going to have to wait until tomorrow. But if you're looking for two-and-a-half hours of entertainment chock full of celebrities and song and charity, then you're looking for "Idol Gives Back."

Last year's inaugural edition was very good, and Kristin's report of the Idol Gives Back taping from this past Sunday was also very positive. We don't have any pesky (non) eliminations to deal with like last year, so just kick back, donate and enjoy. And, if you want, join us online and chat about it in real-time with other giving Idol fans.

You can join the chat starting just before 7:30/6:30pm CDT by following this link. Look for the full episode review right here later tonight.

Way back in the early days of American Idol, and by early days I mean "Season Four," there was a girl who was a little bit country and a long-haired fellow who was a little bit rock and roll. I think we all know who went on to win that season, but that southern rocker was a pretty amazing presence of his own. In fact, they were so strong together in the final, they both released "Inside Your Heaven," the Idol single for that year. And they even swapped spots at number one with the track.

Now Bo's out promoting See the Light, his latest album which is more true to his southern rock roots. But that doesn't mean he's not willing to take a break from his touring schedule to spend some quality time with the kids down at American Idol Camp this summer. The program, which began last year, is for 10-15 year olds and runs in five two-week sessions throughout the summer.

There, kids can go to learn about the music industry and hone their craft as musicians, as well as experiencing all the traditional things that make summer camps fun, just with the added bonus of hanging out with and learning from Idol alumni like Bo. For more on Idol Camp check out the official American Idol Camp website. For more on my chat with Bo Bice, follow me after the jump.

Last night I went to a taping of the second installment of Idol Gives Back at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood. This year the charities that benefited were Malaria No More, Children's Defense Fund, The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, Children's Health Fund, and Save the Children.

Keep in mind, there will be spoilers. It's not like I found out the secret to Lost, but I figured I would still give fair warning. The show will air on Wednesday April 9th at 7:30 pm ET / PT. For what happened at the taping and in the press room, read on after the jump. And check back for Jason's review Wednesday night.

In a press release today, FOX announced that Ellen DeGeneres would again be taking on co-hosting duties with Ryan Seacrest for the 2nd "Idol Gives Back" special, airing Wednesday April 9 7:30 - 10:30 pm ET. Just like last year, Ellen will host from the Kodak Theatre while Ryan covers from the American Idol stage.

The talent roster continues to expand as well. The complete list (so far) now includes Maroon 5, Heart, Gloria Estefan, Boyz II Men and The Clark Brothers along with already announced Bono, Brad Pitt, Reese Witherspoon, Miley Cyrus, Mariah Carey, Eli Manning, Peyton Manning, Fergie, Chris Daughtry, Carrie Underwood, Annie Lennox, John Legend and Snoop Dogg. Most of these will be the pre-recorded "Give, give, give" but I'm looking forward to seeing Boyz II Men back in action.

(S33E05) Cold Open (CNN Democratic Debate): After seeing all those rumors about adding a new cast member to specifically play Barack Obama, I had resigned myself to seeing a new black guy. Hey, don't pretend you didn't think the same thing. In my mind, Fred Armisen never, ever entered into the equation, so imagine my surprise when Armisen popped up on screen next to Amy Poehler's Hillary Clinton and was immediately identifiable as Obama. It was the ears and the super-serious look of concern, I think.

This sketch was all about the some members of the "unbiased" media's blatant negligence of Clinton. Yeah, the content was all right, but I spent most of my time trying to figure out if I liked Armisen as Obama. He had the look down, but only part of it. Obama's frowny face was pretty spot-on, but what about his signature grin? And the voice didn't work at all. Perhaps this will improve with time, because I don't think it's likely that Armisen expected this new role and didn't have much time to intensely study Obama's voice and mannerisms before the end of the writers' strike.

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.

With Daughtry, fronted by American Idol alumnus Chris Daughtry, and former Idol winner Carrie Underwood each taking home three trophies at this year's American Music Awards (AMAs), it's clear that the music landscape continues to be shaped by the dominant FOX reality competition. Daughtry, who didn't win his season of AI but has gone on to more commercial success than any of his season's compatriots thus far, picked up awards for favorite pop-rock album, breakthrough album and adult contemporary artist for his band's self-titled debut Daughtry. While Daughtry acknowledged the show's role in his success, as reported on AOL.com, he insists "the show didn't make me who I am. It just gave me a chance to show everybody else who I am."

Underwood, meanwhile, continued her award show success with trophies for favorite female country artist, country album (for Some Hearts) and the T-Mobile text-in award. For the first time in its 35 year history, winners this year were chosen by online voting. With the AMAs being essentially a "popularity contest" it should come as no surprise that two of the most popular artists ever on one of televisions most popular television shows ever would have a good showing.

I did not realize that Carrie Underwood was such a big star. Country Music Television (CMT) will become 'Carrie Music Television' today when it plays her new music video for six hours straight. That's six hours of one video, over and over, from 6 o'clock this morning to noon. CMT estimates it will air 66 times in those six hours.

Carrie's new video is for her song, So Small, from her upcoming new album called Carnival Ride. If you miss the video, it'll also be for sale on iTunes today.

(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 ...

It's a good time to be Carrie Underwood and Bucky Covington.

Carrie was recently voted to People Magazine's "100 Most Beautiful People" list.

Of course, Drew Barrymore is at the top of this list and for me she kind of waivers between beautiful and beat-up looking from one movie to the next. Nonetheless, I'm pretty sure this should still be considered a good thing for Carrie.

If that wasn't enough, her song "Wasted" is currently number one on the country singles chart. Not bad from a girl from little old Checotah, OK.

(S32E16) I know nothing about football. I know nothing about Peyton Manning. He's an athlete, right? Okay. I didn't expect much from him, since the majority of sports-related guests of the past have done poorly. To my surprise, Peyton did relatively well. I think this was partially due to the fact that the writing did not demand too much from him. Although this was a smart move to not make Peyton look like an idiot, it resulted in a mediocre episode.