TVSquad

Welcome back to "AI Aftermath," where we explore Idol's past. Each week, as one more American Idol hopeful is eliminated from the competition, we take a look back at contestants past who were eliminated in the same week. We'll examine how they did on the show and what they've been up to since their eliminations. In honor of Carly Smithson's elimination last week we'll be looking at other sixth place finishers.

This week: 6th place finishers, featuring featuring Christina Christian (Season One), Carmen Rasmussen (Season Two), John Stevens (Season Three), Constantine Maroulis (Season Four), Kellie Pickler (Season Five) and Phil Stacey (Season Six).

The self-proclaimed "King of All Media," Howard Stern, wants to "kill" American Idol, and Eric the Midget isn't happy about that at all. When Stern first joined Vote for the Worst to support Sanjaya, I really thought it was a one-time bit. But Stern seems committed to disrupting Idol's game and destroying the show's credibility. How far will Sanjaya get? I'm thinking Top 5. If Stern continues to rally his fans, Sanjaya could go all the way.

American Idol wins FAVORITE TV SHOW! At the Nickelodeon's annual Kids' Choice Awards. Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul showed up this weekend to accept the award, but Simon Cowell was a no-show. Too bad, if ever anyone needed to get slimed . . .

According to the Nielsens, the Kids' Choice Awards show was watched by more 6-to-11-year-olds than American Idol. Who says kids today watch too much TV?

Over at EW.com, Michael Slezak has compiled a list (with photos and links) of the "Top 10" best performances from the first five seasons of American Idol. And he puts Fantasia's performance of "Summertime" at the top of the list.

This is the type of list I could never put together because there have been way too many good (and bad) performances, and honestly, after awhile they all start to blend together for me. Plus, if I put together this list, I'd get nine million comments telling me I'm stupid for leaving Kellie Pickler off of it.

The funny thing about each and every season of American Idol is the contestants with mediocre talent who continue to sail through to the next round. You know what I'm talking about. They're cute and cuddly and have oodles of personality, but they're a little short on the talent category. There's a faction of television-watching, telephone-using Americans out there who insist on keeping these people on the show while other contestants with more talent get the boot.

I have five examples of American Idol contestants who wouldn't go away:

5. Constantine Maroulis. Yeah, I said it. Constantine thought he was sexy and talented. Not an attractive characteristic on a man who only has mediocre looks and talent. Constantine regularly sang out of tune and falsely advertised himself as a rocker. He was in Rent, for crying out loud! A musical! The dude was a poser and I wanted to slap that pout right off his face. I think we all know who the true rocker was last season. (P.S. More proof he's a poser: his new album is Adult Contemporary. Watch out, Clay!)