Kelly Clarkson (Season 1)
DATE OF VICTORY: Sept. 4, 2002
RUNNER-UP: Justin Guarini
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Courtesy of ABC (2), Dee Cercone/Everett Collection, Momodu Mansaray/Getty Images
The search for the next American Idol begins Sunday, Feb. 18 (ABC, 8/7c), kicking off a journey with which we’re all too familiar, having already been through it 21 times.
Let that number sink in for a minute, America. We’ve watched confetti fall on twenty-freaking-one Idol winners. And if you think you can recite all of those winners’ names by heart, please have a seat. Humble pie is about to be served.
Sure, everybody can name the enduring titans like Kelly Clarkson, first of her crown and usurper of Ellen DeGeneres’ daytime throne. Or Carrie Underwood, collector of Grammys and smasher of cheaters’ headlights. But as you move further down the line, the names and faces begin to blur. We wouldn’t even blame you for accusing us of making up several names on this list, but we promise we didn’t.
Read on for a breakdown of every American Idol winner and runner-up, along with video of Ryan Seacrest (and Brian Dunkleman one time) revealing those life-changing results live on the air. Once you’re done having your mind blown, drop a comment with your honest answer: How many of these 21 Idol winners did you actually remember? We promise not to judge. This is a safe space.
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Image Credit: Courtesy of Fox/Everett Collection -
Ruben Studdard (Season 2)
Image Credit: Courtesy of Fox/Everett Collection DATE OF VICTORY: May 21, 2003
RUNNER-UP: Clay Aiken
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Fantasia Barrino (Season 3)
Image Credit: Courtesy of Fox/Everett Collection DATE OF VICTORY: May 26, 2004
RUNNER-UP: Diana DeGarmo
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Carrie Underwood (Season 4)
Image Credit: Courtesy of Fox/Everett Collection DATE OF VICTORY: May 25, 2005
RUNNER-UP: Bo Bice
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Taylor Hicks (Season 5)
Image Credit: Courtesy of Fox/Everett Collection DATE OF VICTORY: May 24, 2006
RUNNER-UP: Katherine McPhee
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Jordin Sparks (Season 6)
Image Credit: Courtesy of Fox/Everett Collection DATE OF VICTORY: May 23, 2007
RUNNER-UP: Blake Lewis
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David Cook (Season 7)
Image Credit: Courtesy of Fox/Everett Collection DATE OF VICTORY: May 21, 2008
RUNNER-UP: David Archuleta
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Kris Allen (Season 8)
Image Credit: Courtesy of Fox/Everett Collection DATE OF VICTORY: May 20, 2009
RUNNER-UP: Adam Lambert
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Lee DeWyze (Season 9)
Image Credit: Courtesy of Fox/Everett Collection DATE OF VICTORY: May 26, 2010
RUNNER-UP: Crystal Bowersox
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Scotty McCreery (Season 10)
Image Credit: Courtesy of Fox/Everett Collection DATE OF VICTORY: May 25, 2011
RUNNER-UP: Lauren Alaina
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Phillip Phillips (Season 11)
Image Credit: Courtesy of Fox/Everett Collection DATE OF VICTORY: May 23, 2012
RUNNER-UP: Jessica Sanchez
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Candice Glover (Season 12)
Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC VICTORY DATE: May 16, 2013
RUNNER-UP: Kree Harrison
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Caleb Johnson (Season 13)
Image Credit: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images DATE OF VICTORY: May 21, 2014
RUNNER-UP: Jena Irene
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Nick Fradiani (Season 14)
Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC DATE OF VICTORY: May 13, 2015
RUNNER-UP: Clark Beckham
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Trent Harmon (Season 15)
Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC DATE OF VICTORY: April 7, 2016
RUNNER-UP: La’Porsha Renae
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Maddie Poppe (Season 16)
Image Credit: Allen Berezovsky/Getty Images DATE OF VICTORY: May 21, 2018
RUNNER-UP: Caleb Lee Hutchinson
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Laine Hardy (Season 17)
Image Credit: Derek Storm/Everett Collection DATE OF VICTORY: May 19, 2019
RUNNER-UP: Alejandro Aranda
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Just Sam (Season 18)
Image Credit: ABC screenshot DATE OF VICTORY: May 17, 2020
RUNNER-UP: Arthur Gunn
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Chayce Beckham (Season 19)
Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC DATE OF VICTORY: May 23, 2021
RUNNER-UP: Willie Spence
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Noah Thompson (Season 20)
Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC DATE OF VICTORY: May 22, 2022
RUNNER-UP: HunterGirl
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Iam Tongi (Season 21)
Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC DATE OF VICTORY: May 21, 2023
RUNNER-UP: Megan Danielle
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The last third of the list are a collection of names that I have never heard of before. These shows are quite the joke nowadays – they do absolutely nothing for the careers of any of the contestants.
I remember, but don’t agree with a few winners, 1 thru 11…but then I stopped watching.
Just not the same show after Judging Panel changes, and didn’t seem like the contestants has the same caliber of talent as past contestants.
Part of the recent season’s problems with recent seasons is changing the voting method from phone to internet voting.
Not all winners have gone on to fame and fortune, but it seems more of the runners-up have! And then there is Jennifer Hudson who wasn’t even a runner-up!!
Yeah Lauren Alina would be one of the current runner ups that has a sucessful career and also agt if they could have a do over of season 1 although both have had long careers but if they could have it to do all over again they might have picked some pop singer who currently dates Travis kelce over Jeff dunham
So few of these winners went on to have successful careers!
Many of them have gone on to major careers. Even Nick Friadini…is starring on Broadway right now in the Neil Diamond show !! Fantasia is in the movie musical A Color Purple.Many of the Country singers are working all the time. Whereas the Voice only has one or two…after all these years!! Jennifer Hudson won an Academy Award and has her own talk show on TV…take another look…please !!
Jennifer Hudson didn’t win.
I remember them up to Candace Glover, but not necessarily for good reasons. Candace was very good (I was rooting for Kree), but I remember that season mostly because of the Mariah Carey/Nicki Minaj cat fights. I stopped watching after that for a while, was lured back by Alejandro and lost interest again when he didn’t win.
I remembered all of them but Trent Harmon…and some of the runner ups…like ,of course ,Adam Lambert and Clay Aiken and Justen Guarini. I have watched every year since the beginning.I am a working professional Jazz singer in NYC and I wish there had been something like this when I was a kid starting out.I find the incredible talent in some of these kids to be very inspiring!!
It’s interesting that up to Phillip Phillips, half of them had legit careers and a handful are actual stars. After that, no one. It was around the time they started meddling with results and focusing on sob stories a lot more than actual, marketable people. They weren’t looking for relatable, they were looking for Fantasia, 20 years later, still performing at the Grammys.
I got them all except for Trent Harmon. I watched that year but just didn’t recall him or laPortia. I find it interesting that many Idol contestants have gone on to have careers in the entertainment industries to varying degrees, not only the top two but a lot from the top tens. The Voice contestants however, I can count on one hand and still have a finger or two left. That show is so much more about the judges.
I remember all of them! I got a couple names in the wrong order, just flipped Phillip and Scotty and then Laine and Just Sam. American Idol has been my favorite show since the beginning!
I would suggest a list of all American Idol contestants that achieved EGOT status, but there is only one…….Jennifer Hudson!!!!!
Whose bright idea was it to say “can you guess” and then post the name above the photo?
I kinda assumed going into it the idea was just to try to name them without even a picture… but I do agree doing it that way you’re suggesting would’ve been more fun
Katherine McPhee and Adam Lambert were both robbed of winning, Katherine because of Simon saying Taylor Hicks would never win so America voted for him as a joke and Adam because he was gay
I’m ok with this though, especially where Adam is concerned. He would’ve had more obligations as a winner, and then maybe Queen + AL never would’ve happened. Probably would’ve had less freedom crafting FYE as well.
I only got 16 out of 21, I’m not so good on the more recent winners. Although I did get Iam Tongoi.
The only one I flat out, don’t remotely remember, not even a ‘oh yeah, that guy, he kinda looks familiar’ is Nick Fradiani. And *almost* Trent Harmon.
Part of the new season’s concerns with late seasons is changing the democratic technique from telephone to web casting a ballot.