Prefabricated reality show refugees battle for musical legitimcay
BY CHRIS HANSEN ORF
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When a skinny truck driver from Memphis walked into a small recording studio in 1954 to cut a few tunes for his mother's birthday, he had no way of knowing that he would spark a phenomenon that would lead to Fox's “American Idol,” music's equivalent of a get-rich-quick scheme.

Elvis Presley's stunning rise to fame touched off a frenzy of teen adulation, popularized a genre of music called rock ’n’ roll and made the young singer rich beyond his wildest dreams. It was the quintessential rags-to-riches story, one that has been imitated, but never completely duplicated, ever since.

Who hasn't sung into a hairbrush in front of a full-length mirror as a teenager, imagining themselves singing in front of millions of fans on the tube?

“American Idol,” the most popular show on television, gives those with a song in their heart and butterflies in their gut a chance to make their dreams come true. Most get shot down in flames by tart-tongued judge Simon Cowell — the show delights in airing the worst auditions, giving Cowell a chance to deliver his rapier-sharp insults — but the few who make it to the final 12 get voted on by America until there is one singer left standing.

That vocalist, the show would like us to believe, is our new “American Idol,” a former nobody who, with a little help from the marketing wizards at record labels, can sell millions of records and live out his or her fantasies as a recording artist without having to play an instrument, write a song or ever play a gig in a small club, as have most upcoming artists on the road out of obscurity. In three seasons — the fourth is ongoing — the show has produced three winners, three runners-up and a slew of singers that finished out of the money, or in some cases, managed to wrangle a record deal despite the fact that they couldn't carry a tune in a bucket.

Has the show really been giving us idols, or are the singers simply prefabricated marionettes with their producers pulling the strings? Here's a look at some of the “idols” Fox has given us, along with their career highlights — and lowlights.

KELLY CLARKSON
Idol finish: First place, season one
Chart success: Clarkson, who will perform Monday at the Dodge Theatre, has had the most success of any of the idols with two Top 10 albums and four Top 10 singles.
Schtick: The cherubic Texan has been cast as a dance pop diva and adult contemporary crooner. Clarkson's career apparently has legs, as both of her albums were critically well-received and sold well.
Outlook: She was the first “Idol” winner, so she'll always be famous for that, and it’s easy to believe that the appealing Clarkson, whose versatile voice is her greatest strength, will continue to have chart success, at the very least on the AC charts.

RUBEN STUDDARD
Idol finish: First place, season two
Chart success: Studdard has scored one No. 1 album and his gospel record hit the Top 20. He has hit the Top 10 singles chart with two tunes.
Schtick: The portly crooner is called “The Velvet Teddy Bear” — which is slightly more flattering than “The Round Mound of Sound” — and moans and groans his way through soulful love tunes like Barry White on Quaaludes.
Outlook: Studdard is largely (pun intended) a one-trick pony, and that won't be enough to keep him at the top of the charts.

FANTASIA BARRINO
Idol finish: First place, season three
Chart success: Barrino scored a Top 10 album with her debut and one No. 1 single.
Schtick: Barrino appears to be going with the “glam soul diva” routine, which has been done better by a pre-rehab Whitney Houston and a pre-MTV strip-show breakdown Mariah Carey.
Outlook: Barrino has a great voice but is not the most personable talent to pass through the “Idol” star-making machine. She already may have achieved all of the professional success she will ever have.

JUSTIN GUARINI
Idol finish: Second place, season one
Chart success: One Top 20 album, no charted singles.
Schtick: Guarini has a megawatt smile and springy locks, a decent voice and some slick dance moves, but “American Idol” looks don't translate to the charts, where a bad song is just a bad song.
Outlook: Guarini has been dropped from his record label, tanked in a movie with Kelly Clarkson and his underwhelming work on his lone album won't find him many suitors for his services. Local dinner theater remains an option. Very local.

CLAY AIKEN
Idol finish: Second place, season two
Chart success: One No. 1 album, with another album settling in the Top 10, one No. 1 single and one other Top 40 hit.
Schtick: With his skinny frame, sharp facial features, glasses and tousled hair, Aiken has basically created his own genre: Geek Chic Pop.
Outlook: Aiken is by far the most versatile singer of all the “Idol” contestants, with his booming, soulful voice able to carry off everything from pop to blue-eyed soul to show tunes with equal finesse. If his pop career fizzles, Aiken could always find work on Broadway. Or off-Broadway.

DIANA DEGARMO
Idol finish: Second place, season three
Chart success: Debut album stalled at No. 52, scored one Top Ten single.
Schtick: The endlessly perky DeGarmo was the youngest contestant, at 16, to make the finals, and is taking the Kelly Clarkson route in her career so far, singing dance pop and adult contemporary ballads.
Outlook: With her album falling off the charts so fast, unless she can do something exciting to keep in the public consciousness (maybe go Christina Aguilera route and be an anti-Britney/Kelly Clarkson “bad girl”) DeGarmo may take the Justin Guarini road to obscurity. DeGarmo can always sing the National Anthem at NASCAR events in her native South for loose change.

JOSH GRACIN
Idol finish: Fourth place, season two
Chart success: No. 2 album on the country charts, one No. 1 single and another Top 10 single on the country charts.
Schtick: The former Marine made no secret of his love for country music on “Idol,” and when he got out of the service he went country, where his good looks, military background and twangy voice are appreciated.
Outlook: Gracin may have the biggest future ahead of him, as Nashville hit-writers are always looking for a strong voice and and a studly, lantern-jawed face that looks good in videos. In today's country landscape, Gracin fits right in with karaoke twangers like Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney.

CONSTANTINE MAROULIS
Idol finish: Sixth place, season four.
Chart success: None yet.
Schtick: The long-haired rocker might have gone further on the show if he hadn't repulsed middle American voters by choosing to belt a revolting tune by Canadian post-grunge poseurs Nickelback.
Outlook: Maroulis’ album with his band Pray for the Soul of Betty was rushed into stores this week (see accompanying CD review) to capitalize on his 15 minutes of fame. 14:59, 14:58...

WILLIAM HUNG
Idol finish: Failed audition, season three Chart success: Debut album, “Inspiration,” debuted in the Top 40.
Schtick: The clueless California-Berkley engineering student exploded nationally when his unintentionally hilarious, off-key singing and flailing dance audition of Ricky Martin's “She Bangs” was aired for comic relief. Hung struck a chord with tuneless Americans everywhere, and suddenly he was a cult figure, becoming arguably the most famous of the season three hopefuls.
Outlook: How's that engineering degree coming along, Will?