[SeekAndFind]

Post-Idol, the winner does not necessarily sell the most records, or has the more successful music career.

Cases in point :

Season 2: CLAY AIKEN has outsold Ruben Studdard

Season 3: Seventh Placer, Jennifer Hudson arguably has a more successful post-idol career than the winner, Fantasia, garnering an OSCAR and two grammy nominations.

Season 5: Fourth Placer, Daughtry and Sixth Placer Kellie Pickler actually have sold more records than Taylor Hicks ( although I just read news that Hicks isn’t doing so bad himself, making $3.5 M last year on tour ).

Season 7: Not sure who sells more records, winner, david Cook or runner-up David Archuleta.

Season 8: Judgment is out on who sells more records, winner Kris Allen or runner-up Adam Lambert. All I can say is Adam Lambert looks like the more popular of the two and will probably sell more for his live concerts than Kris Allen.

The two most successful Idol winners are Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood.

[commish]

Debut Album sales of American Idol winners:
1. Carrie Underwood (Seas 4) 6,981,000
2. Kelly Clarkson (Seas 1) 2,739,000
3. Ruben Studdard (Seas 2) 1,790,000
4. Fantasia Barrino (Seas 3) 1,770,000
5. David Cook (seas 7) 1,300,000
6. Jordin Sparks (Seas 6) 1,077,000
7. Taylor Hick (Seas 5) 704,000
8. Kris Allen (Seas 8) 302,000

Other Notable Debut Albums:
Chris Daughtry (Seas 5 4th Place) 4,671,000
Clay Aiken (Seas 2 2nd Place) 2,780,000
Kellie Pickler (Seas 5 6th Place) 854,000
Jennifer Hudson (Seas 3 7th Place)798,000
David Archuletta (Seas 7 2nd Place) 758,000
Josh Gracin (Seas 2 4th Place) 701,000
Bo Bice (Seas 4 2nd Place) 672,000
Adam Lambert (Seas 8 2nd Place) 645,000
Elliot Yamin (Seas 5 3rd Place) 527,000
Bucky Covington (Seas 5 8th Place) 403,000
Katherine Mcphee (Seas 5 2nd Place) 350,000

[Paradox]

Post-Idol, the winner does not necessarily sell the most records, or has the more successful music career.

True, and that is due to the simple fact that Idol VOTERS are not the same as music BUYERS....