The Most Memorable American Idol Second Place Finishers

Instant riches and stardom await the winner of talent show American Idol. The recording contract is a prize that makes dreams come true.

Some of the winners have gone to have great careers and become household names; Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood have enjoyed phenomenal success and sold millions of records thanks to American Idol.

The one place in normal competition that nobody wants to end up in is second, but that doesn’t seem to be the case with American Idol. Many of the losers on the night have gone on to have successful careers, often eclipsing the actual winners.

It must be a good feeling to enter a competition knowing that even if you don’t win you have a great chance of being successful. Here are just a few of the most famous runners up from the American Idol archives.

Cast your mind way back to season 2, a skinny, nerdy look guy looked like he’d strayed from science club. Then he opened his mouth and started to sing, and America fell in love with Clay Aiken.

Ruben Studdard was the winner of that show, and I bet he wishes he had achieved half of the success that Clay has enjoyed since. His fans from the show have stayed loyal and have swelled in numbers since. Now a major Broadway star as well as appearing on many top rated TV shows, Clay Aiken is going to be around a long, long time.

The runner up from season 7 was the incredibly cute David Archuleta. He placed himself firmly in the hearts of the American public and still remains there today. This guy keeps popping up all over the place and has worked hard to carve himself a very successful career.

The big star of this season was the charismatic Adam Lambert. His attitude and persona won him a legion of fans and coming second to Kris Allen has done him no harm at all. His star is definitely in the ascendancy and he looks as if a long term career is guaranteed.

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