By Erik Gunther
Tue, August 01, 2006, 4:39 pm PDT
Ruben Studdard
Now that the shouting is over from the fifth installment of "American
Idol," its a perfect time to look back at fan favorites from seasons past.
Were a little bummed Season 5 buzz favorite Elliott
Yamin has yet to ink a record
deal, but we took our pain and channeled it in a positive direction—more
in-depth Idol research. To construct an easy-to-digest top 10 list, weve
plucked searches on the top two finishers from each season. Heres how the top
Idols stack up in buzz...
No surprise to see eternal punch line Justin at the bottom, but season two
champ Ruben is perilously close to falling off the buzz radar. Weve even seen a
handful of searches on "what
happened to ruben studdard." However, were happy to report the Velvet Teddy
Bear has a new
album set to drop on September 26, and hes dropped his gospel leanings for
a return
to mainstream R&B. Well see if he moves up the chart when we check back on
Idols in a few months, but we doubt he can crack our babe-a-licious dominant duo
of Kelly and Carrie.
