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 Kristy Lee Cook's elimination last week we'll be looking at other seventh place finishers.

This week: 7th place finishers, featuring featuring Ryan Starr (Season One), Kimberly Caldwell (Season Two), Jennifer Hudson (Season Three), Anwar Robinson (Season Four), Ace Young (Season Five) and Sanjaya Malakar (Season Six).

Here are seven people who used their reality TV notoriety to their advantage. They have found success in other TV genres, film, or entrepreneurial pursuits. Some just found more fame in the genre that put them on thee map.

7. Colleen Haskell (Survivor): Colleen was in the first season of Survivor (Borneo) and while she didn't outwit, outplay and outlast the other cast members, she did make a good run of her fifteen minutes. She finished sixth in her season but was such a genuine and fair player that when her torch was extinguished Richard Hatch called her a "wonderful person." Using her American-apple-pie-pretty-girl-next-door appearance and attitude, she parlayed her reality TV fame into more roles in both television and film. She did a Blistex commercial and had a guest spot on That 70's Show. Most notably, however, she starred alongside Rob Schneider in The Animal (2001). Pretty good for a Catholic school girl from a small town in Maryland.

I guess once you're an American Idol finalist, you're always an American Idol finalist (unless you get an Oscar nomination and decide to bite the hand that fed you). But as long as you stay on good terms with the show's producers, you could probably milk this thing for the next century.

On Friday, February 9, past finalists Kevin Covais, Melissa McGhee, Diana DeGarmo, Ryan Starr, LaToya London, and Frenchie Davis (the disgraced, disqualified finalist) will be guests on The Dr. Keith Ablow Show.