Where Are They Now?

Tonight’s the Top 4 on American Idol and we can hardly wait to see Slash mentor the contestants to bring out their inner Axl Rose, as well as see the first time Idol makes the contestants duet as a part of the competition. We also can’t wait for the results show, which has a few surprises in store. Daughtry and No Doubt will be performing their new singles, as we previously reported, but it has just been learned that Paula Abdul will also be premiering her new single, which will apparently be the lead single from a new album coming out this Fall. And we’re hearing her performance is actually good and the song reunites her with the producer whom she worked with on Forever Your Girl. We can’t wait!

But, in the meantime, here’s an update on what the rest of the past Idols winners have been up to…

Kelly Clarkson (Season 1): Her fourth album, All I Ever Wanted, debuted at #1 and is still tearing up the charts with her first two singles, “My Life Would Suck Without You” and “I Do Not Hook Up”. At a recent appearance Kelly confirmed that her third single will be “Already Gone”.

Ruben Studdard (Season 2): Ruben has not experienced as much success as the Idol divas, but he continues to power on. His fourth album, Love Is, will be in stores May 19th.

Fantasia Barrino (Season 3): Fantasia is busy working on her third studio album, as well as appearing in a 10-week run of The Color Purple. Fantasia is also shopping around a reality TV series in which she will return to High School to finally graduate.

Carrie Underwood (Season 4): Carrie, who recently became the first solo female in 10 years to win Entertainer of the Year, has been spending most of her time writing and recording for her third album in Nashville, Tennessee. Her album, currently untitled, is planned to come out in the late fall/early winter.

Taylor Hicks (Season 5): After being dropped from his Idol contract, Hicks hit the road with the touring version of Grease. On March 10, Taylor’s second album was released on his own record label and he has been busy promoting it across the country.

Jordin Sparks (Season 6): Jordin is preparing the release of her sophomore album, still untitled, for a early fall release. She will premiering her new single, “Battlefield”, on the Idol Top 3 Results Show next week.

David Cook (Season 7): David, who recently lost his brother to brain cancer, has been busy touring colleges across the country and recently released two new singles from his debut album, “Come Back To Me” and “Bar-ba-Sol”.

And here’s a quick update from some other notable, non-winning, contestants…

Clay Aiken (Season 2): After parting ways with his label, RCA, Aiken appeared on the April 8th episode of America’s Next Top Model. He is said to be spending time being a new dad and working on some new music to shop around to new labels.

Josh Gracin (Season 2): After the third single, “Telluride”, from his sophomore album We Weren’t Crazy flopped on country radio, his label, Lyric Street Records, quickly dropped him from its artist roster. Gracin is currently working on new music, posted a new song, “Enough”, on his MySpace and is shopping for a new label.

Bo Bice (Season 4): Bo will be releasing his third album on June 9th, which will feature a backing band that consists of Steve Gorman, of the Black Crowes, and Dan Toler of the Allman Brothers Band. He will also be recording a live version album this summer and release a documentary of his tour in Kuwait, Afghanistan, and Iraq last year.

Katharine McPhee (Season 5): McPhee recently signed a new recording deal with Verve Forecast and is releasing a new album later this Fall. She is also set to star in the romantic comedy, Wedlocked, later this year.

Elliott Yamin (Season 5): Elliott’s sophomore album, Fight For Love, is in stores today and the single of the same name has already hit radio. He also recording a duet with Season 5 winner, Taylor Hicks, for Hicks’ new album, The Distance.

Chris Daughtry (Season 5): His sophomore album is set to be released on July 14th, which promises to even more rock than the last album. Daughtry will perform their new single, “No Surprise”, on this week’s results show.

Bucky Covington (Season 5): Bucky is working on his sophomore album with Lyric Street Records, which is set to arrive in stores September 8th, and recently released the first single from the disc, which flopped on country radio.

Blake Lewis (Season 6): Lewis is working on a dance/techno album that he hopes to release this year with his new label, Tommy Boy Records.

David Archuleta (Season 7): Archuleta is currently on a promotional tour for his new single, “A Little Too Not Over You”, and is gearing up to hit the road with Demi Lovato this summer.