American Idol

Jordin Sparks responds after it’s announced she was the sixth winner in American Idol history. Sparks was the fourth female and youngest winner ever on the show.

Four girls. Two guys. In the first six seasons of American Idol, twice as many females have won the top prize — a recording contract and instant fame. And the two guys recently lost their recording contracts. So, does it matter if you’re male or female when it comes to capturing America’s votes on the FOX reality hit?

I’m not sure it does, but here’s a look back at the lives and success of the first six Idol champions.

Kelly Clarkson
Born Kelly Brianne Clarkson, this 25-year-old has enjoyed major success since becoming the first American Idol winner. In September 2002, Clarkson beat out runner-up Justin Guarini with 58 percent of the votes.

Clarkson, who is set to start touring this week with country superstar Reba McEntire, has released three CDs — Thankful, Breakaway and My December. Thankful debuted in April 2003 at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and since has sold more than 3 million copies worldwide. Breakaway sold more than 11 million copies, and last year’s My December has been certified platinum (1 million copies).

The original Idol is a Grammy Award-winning musician, and she seems to be slowing down no time soon. Let’s just hope she doesn’t attempt to recreate Grease in another box-office flop like From Justin to Kelly.

Ruben Studdard
Born Christopher Ruben Studdard, the 29-year-old was known as “the Velvet Teddy Bear” and often wore jerseys featuring “205″ to honor his native Birmingham, Ala., area code. Studdard garnered 134,000 more votes than runner-up Clay Aiken to take the Season 2 title. About 24 million votes were cast for that season’s finale.

Studdard has released three discs — Soulful, I Need an Angel and The Return. Soulful debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard charts, but none of the CDs have garnered major attention. In all, Studdard has sold just more than 2.4 million albums total, which led to his recently being dropped from J Records for falling short of label expectations.

Aiken has released four CDs since the show and has become a much more successful artist. In fact, aside from Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood, no finalist on the show has sold more albums.

Fantasia Barrino
Fantasia Monique Barrino simply became Fantasia when she started her rise to the top during American Idol’s third season. She drew much attention — and a little controversy — for being a single mother. She ultimately beat out runner-up Diana DeGarmo in May 2004 by earning 1.3 million more fan votes.

After taking the title, Fantasia released her debut, Free Yourself. Four Grammy nominations followed. In 2006, her second CD, a self-titled album, was released. But it has been success on the Broadway stage in The Color Purple that really has helped Fantasia make a splash on the music scene. The singer also released a book on the heels of announcing she struggled with literacy.

The critically praised acting Fantasia does on stage in The Color Purple certainly is not the same kind of praise she got from her role as herself in the made-for-TV movie Life is Not a Fairy Tale: The Fantasia Barrino Story. Of course, it was Lifetime’s second-most-watched program ever.

Carrie Underwood
She has, without question, become the most successful American Idol winner. Carrie Marie Underwood, now 24, beat out Bo Bice to take the Season 4 title.

Upon the release of her debut, Some Hearts, it was clear Underwood soon would be a country superstar. She won numerous country music awards, as well as two of the four Grammys in which she was nominated for in late 2006. Some Hearts produced a number of hit singles, helping it lock in several weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard country charts.

Last year, Underwood released her sophomore effort, Carnival Ride, which was certified double-platinum in December. The singer has sold more than 13 million albums in just two years.

Taylor Hicks
He arguably has the most vocal fans of any American Idol winner. Despite the Soul Patrol’s support, Taylor Hicks (born Taylor Reuben Hicks) has not found major success on the music charts.

After beating out Katharine McPhee to win Season 5, Hicks released a self-titled disc featuring the blues and classic R&B sounds he was known for on the show. Unfortunately, the disc failed to sell even 1 million copies and resulted in being dropped from his record label earlier this month.

Hicks is a strong live performer and continues to tour post-Idol, just as he did before rising to fame on the reality hit. Much like many other contestants, Hicks also released a book about his life, Heart Full of Soul: An Inspirational Memoir About Finding Your Voice and Finding Your Way. It officially is the longest title for any memoir released by an Idol contestant.

Jordin Sparks
She was the youngest American Idol winner ever. So, it was quite an impressive run for Jordin Sparks (born Jordin Brianna Sparks), who beat out beat-boxing Blake Lewis to win the Season 6 Idol crown.

The teenager, much like other winners Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood and Taylor Hicks, never was in the bottom two or three during elimination episodes of the show. Sparks’ self-titled debut CD was released in November and features the first single, Tattoo. The CD has sold more than 450,000 copies since its release.

Sparks recently released her second single, No Air, which is a duet with Chris Brown.

So, what do you think? Even though the numbers and awards seem to show Carrie Underwood is the most successful winner to date, do you think someone else is the ultimate American Idol?

American Idol, Kelly Clarkson, Ruben Studdard, Fantasia Barrino, Fantasia, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Hicks, Jordin Sparks