Which past contestants have seen decent success?

[GoRedBirds]

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I think Chris Daughtry will have the best post-idol career. He is easily the most talented of anyone that has been on the show

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You may be right about his sales, but I doubt it. As for his talent, not even close.
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And the bonus for him was getting voted off early so that his credibility wasn't harmed by winning idol. You can see how much that title has done for Taylor...nothing much.

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I don't know if you can put any weight on winning the title hurting his "credibility". He sold albums because his voice meshes well with pop-rock and sounds solid in studio. Same with Clarkson (who won the title). Carrie won and sold a ton of country albums. I think every season, you run into performers and you run into singers and you run into studio voices. There is of course overlap between these, but historically the winners have come from anywhere across the board IMO.