The best Top 5 ever on American Idol? My pick is the Season 7 quintet of Brooke White, Syesha Mercado, Jason Castro, David Archuleta and David Cook. (FOX Photo)
My ears perked up at something Lionel Richie said on American Idol Sunday night.
He called this year’s Top 5 Idol’s best ever. This coming from a judge who has been a judge for a whole two seasons.
Now, look, I know part of its was hype. Heck, I’ve heard Adam Levine call performances on The Voice “the best ever” so often I now roll my eyes when those lies pour out of his mouth.
But having watched ever Idol episode for 17 seasons, I also felt compelled to remind readers of some of the best Top 5’s in Idol history.
And this is not meant as a knock on Season 17 Top 5. They are very good. And in spite of her elimination, I still think Laci Kaye Booth has star potential.
But here would be my picks for Idol’s best Top 5’s.
#1: Season 7 — Top to bottom, the Season 7 cast was my favorite of all time. David Cook squared off against David Archuleta in the finale. Both are still making great music a decade later. And if third-place finisher Syesha Mercado has been quiet, fourth-place finisher Jason Castro and Brooke White made up for it. Both released solo music I still dust off occasionally. Jason then joined with his siblings for an excellent EP as Castro a couple years back. And Brooke teamed up with Jack Matranga for a series of fine Jack and White EPs.
#2: Season 8: — Yep, the wrong singer won. But things have a way of working out, and we’ll see Adam Lambert again in the Idol finale Sunday night. Meanwhile, let’s not forget that Kris Allen has released some great music, mostly after he was away from his Idol contract. Danny Gokey enjoyed brief success in country music and is now enjoying more in Christian music (predicted that would happen). And I’ve always thought Allison Iraheta (now part of Halo Circus) was one of the most under-appreciated Idol contestants. Matt Giraud rounded out that year’s Top 5.
#3: Season 2: — Ruben Studdard and Clay Aiken mesmerized us with their performances en route to one of the closest showdowns in Idol history. Both enjoyed chart success for years after their time on the show. And last year, they reunited up for a holiday show on Broadway. But, remember, Kimberley Locke (third) scored two Top 40 hits after Idol. And Josh Gracin (fourth) landed three songs on the Top 10 on the country charts. He’s is still touring as a country artist. Trenyce finished fifth that season.
#4: Season 10: — That was the year of the teenage country showdown between Scotty McCreery and Lauren Alaina, though I still think Haley Reinhart should have emerged triumphant after putting together a Cinderella season that included four escapes from the bottom three. Eight years later, all three are thriving. Haley’s enjoying a career resurgence, and both Scotty and Lauren have hit number one on the country charts within the past year. James Durbin has settled into a role as Quiet Riot’s frontman; they dropped a live album in January. Jacob Lusk was the fifth-place finisher and released his post-show debut EP last May.
#5: Season 5: — Obviously, fourth-place finisher Chris Daughtry became the most successful member of this Top 5, achieving rock star status with his band Daughtry. Taylor Hicks hit number two on Billboard with his post-show album. And if Katharine McPhee hasn’t rocked the music charts, she’s enjoyed success as an actress and I thoroughly enjoyed her largely ignored 2015 pop album “Hysteria.” Elliott Yamin finished third that season and is still performing. This quintet would rank higher if Kellie Pickler (sixth) had finished ahead of Paris Bennett (fifth).
So, that’s my list of best American Idol Top 5’s ever. Agree? Disagree? Let me know by commenting below.
Adam Lambert Allison Iraheta American Idol Brooke White Chris Daughtry Clay Aiken David Archuleta David Cook Haley Reinhart Jason Castro Josh Gracin Katharine McPhee Kris Allen Lauren Alaina Ruben Studdard Scotty McCreery Taylor Hicks
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12 Comments
Season 8? Phooey!
Switch Matt Giraud (who needed to be saved twice) with Ricky Braddy.
Season 2?
Switch the overhyped, erratic Josh Gracin with Vanessa Olivarez.
Season 10?
Switch the generic Scotty McCreery with Pia Toscano.
Switch the fake “growth arc” Haley Reinhart with Lauren Turner.
Switch the unfairly scapegoated Jacob Lusk with Kendra Chantelle.
Season 5?
How dare you diss the sublimely talented Paris Bennett for Kellie Pickler, who had only one performance that wasn’t a mess! Mandisa deserved her spot.
Season 7 was an epic win for Idol. That tour has yet to be topped! Best city stop was Tulsa, OK. Cookie’s home town! Archuleta was on FIYAH as well!!!
I totally agree with your entire article. I thought exactly the same thing when Lionel made that statement. Season 7 far and away the best top 5 and season EVER with Season 8 a close second! Thank you for setting the record straight!!
“Switch the fake ‘growth arc’ Haley Reinhart with Lauren Turner.”
It was only fake in that they downplayed Haley’s abilities from the beginning.
Oh, please.
Haley Reinhart was mediocre until the producers began throwing her softballs during the finals.
EW had her pegged to be eliminated in 13th place.
Wow, you have a different recollection of that season than I do. Those duets with Casey Abrams were among Idol’s best ever. And how about the night she fell on her butt singing Led Zeppelin, hopped back up and barely missed a beat? Or how the judges sabotaged her with the You Oughta Know song choice? Producers clearly wanted a Scotty-Lauren finale. But Haley put together one of my all-time favorite Idol seasons that year. She should have made the finals, at least.
When Haley tried out in S9 they recorded footage of her performing with her parents. She only tried out for S10 because the show called the day before and suggested she do so. They didn’t do that because they considered her “mediocre.”
Adam Lambert, 2011: “Musically, her choices are incredible. I don’t even think people are realizing the things that she’s doing vocally. I think it’s because she’s so effortless about it.”
Melinda Doolittle, 2011: “This girl can just flat out sing. I was watching the show last night with some of my favorite singers and we were in awe of what her voice can do. She can go from a raspy tone to one that is as clear as a bell in a matter of seconds. She has the vocal flexibility of a singer twice her age. She is amazing.”
Andrew Wuepper, 2015:
“I mixed her when she was on American Idol. Best voice of that season by far!!”
Chris Fischer, 2016:
“I had the honor of charting arrangements for Haley Reinhart during her stint on American Idol so it was so sweet to see her perform on my ‘home stage’ at Bethesda Blues & Jazz last night with a jazz orchestra doing the classics and the new stuff with an old school twist. She has such a sultry voice but has the chops and theory to hang with the 13th #11 chords with ease, a feat lost on a lot of the naive newcomers who think singing jazz is just putting on a long dress and scooping every note. But best of all– night out with my baby! Who, I might add, showered Haley with the technical and spiritual praise only another singer could understand, leaving her quite surprised and moved, lol.”
What Randy Jackson told Haley in October 2017 that he never told the viewing audience:
“You are one of the ones that I really thought would have a career because doing that stuff you do with the jazz stuff is not easy. It’s hard to do, and you sing it with more melody than a lot of the songs on the radio today. Some of them I love, but they’re like four chords. So with four chords your melody is always going to be limited. With the jazz stuff, it’s about singing through multiple chord changes. It’s a very different thing, so your ear has to be trained so acutely, and then you also love the rock side. So I always thought it was a really interesting thing.”
Jimmy Iovine signed Haley to Interscope after Idol and the NYT called her debut a “taut album” that was “convincing and fresh” with songs that “hark back to the 1960s and ’70s, when Motown girl groups were ceding ground to soul-driven rock. It’s singers’ territory that shows off both the smooth power of Ms. Reinhart’s voice and its engine-revving churn.”
She has nearly as many monthly Spotify followers as Scotty, more than double the number Lauren has, 10X as many as Pia, and 20X as many as James. Most were acquired post-Idol since 2015.
That’s when she hooked up with Postmodern Jukebox, which has presented a singer a week for years (100s). Haley is featured in their Top 3 videos and is their most-viewed vocalist with 221M YT views for the 8 videos she’s appeared in. 62M for Creep alone.
She earned a platinum record for her rendition of “Can’t Help Falling in Love” recorded for an Extra gum commercial that made the leap to radio, charted, and became a modern classic used in weddings. She’s also the voice heard in the new Mazda ad that’s in heavy rotation because it’s introducing their next generation of vehicles.
Her third album featured classic songs from the 1960s. The Turtles, The Zombines, and Jefferson Airplane all offered unsolicited praise of her renditions of their songs. She has performed with Robby Krieger of The Doors and Slash on repeated occasions.
Last year she was featured on the lead single on Jeff Golblum’s debut Jazz album, which topped the jazz chart. And the EDM track “Something Strange” for Vicetone for which she wrote the topline (it’s currently charting in the top 30 on the EDM chart).
This year she released her fourth album and toured to support it. 13 original songs. 14 if you count the hidden track on the CD that’s about her grandmother. YouTube named her an Artist on the Rise and featured one of her videos on its homepage for day.
Wow. you should work on her PR team!
Season 7 is my one and only top 5 I like. I l like some of the top 3 in other seasons, but this was my only top 5 I loved. I would even add Michael Johns in there with the great season 7 performers, may he rest in peace. It was sad when he passed away. Another thing about the top 5 on season 7 is they are all still friends and keep in touch.
Are you basing this based exclusively on musical content released after the show? That seems to be the only criteria. If so I dont think its fair to judge this season yet.
I actually think Season 12 had a really amazing top 5 they just had a pretty awful everything else.
Those are the seasons in which there were multiple people among the Top 5 that I would not have minded winning. Great post-show music just backs up my picks. Among this year’s Top 5, I want to hear post-show music from Laci. And Madison, perhaps. Not sure what her original music will sound like. There isn’t enough out there yet.
ok gotcha it seemed like the only criteria was post idol music not their actual performances on the show. to be fair though I think all the top 5s you listed are better than this years but the judges do this kind of hyperbole every year