Idol Chatter & Voice Views

How much did the Idol finalists earn?

The Associated Press has answered the question, because it obtained draft contracts an L.A. judge had to approve since both Scotty McCreery and Lauren Alaina are minors.

According to the draft contract, Scotty will receive $250,000 in advances for winning the show and recording his first album.

Lauren Alaina will receive $87,500 for finishing second and a like amount if she records an album for a total of  $175,000.

That might sound like a lot of money for a pair of teens just embarking on their music careers, but it isn’t as much as Idol has doled out in past seasons, according to The Associated Press report.

In Season 7, David Archuleta’s draft contract called for him to receive $155,000 for placing second and double that once he released an album. That amounts to more than Scotty will receive for winning Season 10.

And in Season 6, Jordin Sparks received $180,000 for winning the show and another $180,000 for her first album, again more than either of this year’s finalists.

As is the case with Scotty and Lauren, the draft contracts for David and Jordin were available because they were minors when they competed and the contract required a judges’ approval, complete with a guarantee that 15 percent of their gross earning will be placed in a trust account that can’t be touched until the contestant turns 18.

The draft contracts also indicate Scotty and Lauren will receive a minimum of $50,000 and $40,000, respectively, for merchandise rights. Some past winners have received a minimum of $100,000, The Associated Press reported.

TMZ previously reported that each of the 11 Idols going on tour will receive $1,000 per gig, plus a share of merchandise sales from the tour.

Consider there are 46 tour dates (check out the local ones here), that works out to $46,000 per contestant.

Not bad for about three months of work.

But absolute chump change when you consider Steven Tyler was reportedly paid $18 million to judge Idol.

And I bet the Idol contestants worked a lot harder over the course of the show than Steven did in giving positive reviews to 110 consecutive performances over the course of the finals.