TVSquad

Welcome back to "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 Jason Castro's elimination last week, we'll be looking at other fourth place finishers.

This week: 4th place finishers, featuring featuring Tamyra Gray (Season One), Joshua Gracin (Season Two), LaToya London (Season Three), Anthony Federov (Season Four), Chris Daughtry (Season Five) and LaKisha Jones (Season Six).

Susan recently emailed us at TV Squad to ask: What happened to Tamyra Gray? Did she have any hits? I thought that she would do well. I remembered her being in a few shows on TV. Thanks, just curious. That would be one Idol, that I'd like to see come back to guest star and sing.

Well, Susan, funny you ask. It was just announced last week that Tamyra Gray will be hitting the Broadway stage once again. She is set to join the cast of Rent in the role of Mimi Marquez. Tamyra will be with the show from May 29 to November 25. Tamyra made her Broadway debut in November 2004 in the Bollywood-inspired musical, Bombay Dreams.

There are three bits of news involving former and current American Idol stars so I thought I'd lump them into one post. First, President Bush appointed Clay Aiken to the President's Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities. Oh, there's a political joke here but unfortunately this is a television blog. It's not just some random appointment. Clay actually has a degree in special education and worked with disabled kids before appearing on American Idol.

Also, season one star Tamyra Gray got married to a guy who used to be in Color Me Badd. Yes, that '90s group that sang "I Wanna Sex... You Up" (since then he's been a successful songwriter and producer). Tamyra, 27, and Sam Watters, 36, wed in Capri, Italy on Saturday, according to People Magazine. Check out their wedding photo: they look downright gloomy. Tamyra had a short run on Boston Public in 2003, but there's no word on whether she's returning to television.

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!)

People online has a nifty little photo-story updating us on some of our favorite American Idol contestants who didn't win the title. Here are a few:

• Diana DeGarmo: after spending the holidays entertaining the troops abroad, she's joining the cast of Hairspray on Broadway on February 7.
• Frenchie Davis: proving that racy photos on the internet aren't the end of all things, she's a cast member of Rent on Broadway, where she's been since she was prematurely booted off the show in 2003.
  
• William Hung: thinking he's entitled to more than 15 minutes of fame, he's still performing crap from his three, yes three, albums.
• Tamyra Gray: the one who should've gone against Kelly Clarkson in the finale, Tamyra is working on her second album and persuing more acting roles.
• Josh Gracin: lookin' a little thick around the middle, Josh just kicked off a tour where he is opening for Trace Adkins. He and his wife, Ann Marie, now have two children.
• Corey Clark: ah, who the hell cares?

The story also includes new photos and updates on Ruben Studdard, Jennifer Hudson, LaToya London, and Justin Guarini.