Idol Chatter & Voice Views

With 2015 right around the corner, it’s time to take a look at the best of American Idol 2014.

Here are my picks for the top 10 songs released by former American Idol finalists in the past year — plus four more that just missed the cut, the latter all from sorta unexpected sources.

The year 2014 featured the release of 19 American Idol albums or EPs. In addition, more than two dozen other former finalists released at least one single.

For what I hope is a complete list, head here. But if I’ve missed anyone, let me know.

I’ve been doing this for a while now, so if you want to look back …

Best Idol songs of 2013

Best Idol songs of 2012

Best Idol songs of 2011

Best Idol songs of 2010

Now, this year’s countdown …

10. “Fall Apart,” Casey James

I must have been napping when this song was released in late September, because I didn’t discover it until I was doing this look back at 2014. Unfortunately, lots of other people must have missed it too. It should have been a country hit.

9. “Devil’s Daughter,” Caleb Johnson

The debut album from American Idol Season 13 champ Caleb Johnson was not a commercial success. But it deserved a better fate. This is one of several standout tracks.

8. “Kiss Me,” Candice Glover

Dang, listen to Season 12 winner Candice go sultry on us. If the tone of the song is a bit of a surprise, the amazing vocals aren’t. Shame her album was delayed so long after her Idol victory.

7. “It’s Not Over,” Danny Gokey

During his run on Idol Season 8, you just knew there was an inspirational album in Danny Gokey’s future, even if he did turn to country for awhile. That ablum (“Hope in Front of Me”) landed in June; this is my favorite track.

6. “Something in the Water,” Carrie Underwood

Carrie released an album full of her first decade of hits — yeah, there are a lot of them — and included this new hit. It was already number two on the hot country singles chart last week. Listen to Carrie’s voice soar.

5. “Wait for Me,” David Cook

One of the best pieces of news in 2014: We’ll be getting a new album from David Cook in 2015. He decided to tease us with this single. I still think he’s one of the best male vocalists to ever grace the American Idol stage.

4. “Blue Eyed Lie,” Jess Meuse

Yep, they let the contestants sing originals for the first time in Season 12, and fourth-place finisher Jess Meuse responded with the best of the bunch. Love that line: “They say a man whose worth your tears / will never make you cry.”

3. “In This Life,” Elise Testone

This is the first track from Elise’s February album by the same name. Listen to her go a little blues crazy, and it’s not the only time she does that on an excellent debut CD.

2. “Prove It To You,” Kris Allen

This lovely ballad was the lead single to the “Horizons” album Kris released in August. The lyric video is cute; the song is better, with a nice assist from the Russian vocalist Lenachka.

1. “Raging Fire,” Phillip Phillips

The song certainly didn’t have the impact of “Home,” but I loved this lead single from Phillip’s second album the minute I heard him perform it as a guest on a episode of American Idol Season 13. And it cracked the Top 40 on Billboard’s year-end Adult Top 40 chart. That ain’t too shabby.

Now, I had a heck of a difficult time narrowing this list down to 10 songs, so I want to introduce you to four others you might have missed. If the names of the first three artists don’t ring a bell, here’s a reminder. Shannon Magrane placed 11th on Idol Season 11; Alexis Grace also finished 11th in Season 8; Dedi Benami was ninth in Season 9. Lee DeWyze probably needs less of an introduction; he won Season 9.