AMERICAN IDOL V THE VOICE
Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Hudson, Carrie Underwood +
The popular TV singing competitions, American Idol and The Voice promise to canvas the country to find the next superstar. With the judges’ help and advice, the contestants are groomed, coached, and styled. If both shows attract A-list judges and coaches from the music industry, why is there such disparity in the success level between the winners of the two competing shows? It’s fair to say there are losers from American Idol who have achieved greater fame than the winners of The Voice.
Back in 2002, American Idol launched with judges Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, and Randy Jackson. Winner Kelly Clarkson proved the formula works. Clarkson has gained superstar status with her powerhouse vocals, selling over 25 million albums and 45 million singles worldwide. She has a slew of awards, ventured into TV as a talk show host, and crossed over to The Voice to serve as a coach. Billboard hailed Clarkson as “one of pop music’s greatest singers.” American Idol’s season 4 winner, Carrie Underwood, was embraced as America’s sweetheart and has been at the top of the charts since her debut. All seven of her albums hit platinum and multi-platinum status, and she has sold more than 64 million records worldwide. R & B singer, Fantasia Barrino, took the win in season 3 and has enjoyed a steady and successful career ever since. She’s had Grammy nominations, a lead role in the Broadway production of The Color Purple, and a Lifetime movie about her life.
American Idol has also seen a fair share of losers make it big. The most notable, Jennifer Hudson, was voted off the show, and two years later, she made her film debut in Dreamgirls and took home an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, and a Screen Actors Guild award for best-supporting actress. Hudson made her Broadway debut in The Color Purple. She, too, has been on NBC’s The Voice as a coach. Loser Constantine Maroulis had a long run on Broadway in Rock of Ages. Season 5 runner-up Katharine McPhee has been recording music and crossed over to acting with various TV roles. Popstar Adam Lambert was a runner-up in season 7 and is now the lead vocalist for Queen. Rocker Chris Daughtry came in fourth place on the 5th season of Idol, but who cares. He is the third most successful American Idol contestant behind Clarkson and Underwood in record sales. After exiting the show, he signed a deal with RCA Records, and his self -titled rock album became the fastest-selling debut rock album in Nielsen SoundScan history. Not bad for a loser.
But, over at The Voice, the same level of fame and fortune has not blessed its winners. It’s not that they all left the show and disappeared, but many now seem to be a distant memory. There are contestants the viewers’ root for to the very end, but sometimes compelling contestants do not always bring in the record sales. But, the Voice’s coaches have been critical of how the winners are marketed after a big win. During the season 10 press junket, Blake Shelton said, “That’s one of the frustrating things about this show is they get this record deal that sometimes there’s just not a lot of help, not a lot of direction.” Adam Levine has been particularly harsh about the labels. On Howard Stern’s show, Levine said, “The rollout of all that is still such a mess…and by the way, just to clarify, this has nothing to do with what happens on NBC or with the people. In that time, we do so much great s— for these singers, and then they go to a record label that I won’t mention. But they go to a record label that f—s it up.”
Season 3 winner Cassadee Pope’s album Frame by Frame hit #9 on the U.S. chart and #1 on the U.S. Country chart. She has also toured with Country music headliners Tim McGraw and Dierks Bentley. Jordan Smith, season 9 winner and break out star, is the best selling Voice contestant. He scored the number two spot on Billboard’s Top 200 chart with his album Something Beautiful. Season 8 winner, Sawyer Fredericks, was the youngest (age 16) to win The Voice. He received $100,000 and a recording contract with Republic Records. He either left or was dropped by the label.
American Idol is expected to return in early 2021 on ABC with judges Luke Bryan, Katy Perry, and Lionel Richie. The Voice returns to NBC for season 19 with coaches Kelly Clarkson, Blake Shelton, John Legend, and Gwen Stefani replacing Nick Jonas. But, with the oversaturated reality show competitions, can American Idol find another megastar, and will The Voice finally deliver a vocalist who lands big-time fame?
