As we slowly wind down to the end of Season 7 of the American Idol show, let’s look back on the previous winners and reminisce on some of yesterday’s stars.

American Idol Season 1

The first season of the American Idol was very unlike the hit show it is today. Few people know of the fact that the show might have never been aired at all if it was not for Rupert Murdoch’s daughter. The first American Idol was a close contest between Kelly Clarkson and Justin Guarini. Eventually it would be Kelly that would take the honors. Kelly’s first single, the coronation song ”A moment like this” went on to be number 1 on the Billboard top 100. No small achievement as she broke the record set by “The Beatles”.

American Idol Season 2

Ruben Studdard took the crown in the second edition of the American Idol in 2003. The runner up was Clay Aiken, who led the vote’s right from the start till the most crucial vote of them all. The second American Idol was not without it’s share of controversy. Ruben Studdard, the eventful winner sued 205 Flava Inc jerseys for using his pictures in ad campaigns. This was in direct violation of American Idol rules but nothing came out of it. The lawsuit was settled out of court. There was also Frenchie Davis and Corey Clark, American Idol contestants disqualified from the show. Frenchie Davis was because topless pictures of her showed up on the internet and Corey Clark for failing to disclose that he had a police record.

American Idol Season 3

The third season of the American Idol was none other than Fantasia Barrino, arguably the most talented of all the American Idol winners. Her first single after the show debuted at Number 1 on Billboard’s top 100. The runner up was Diana Degarmo whose singing career never did take off.

American Idol Season 4

The contest rules were changed in season 4 of the American Idol to increase the upward limit to 28. This was done to bring in more variety among the contestants. The winner was Carrie Underwood and the runner up was Bo Bice. Both Carrie and Bo released albums soon after and both albums debuted at No 1 and No 2 at the Billboard Top 100. Unlike the previous years contestants, the runner up Bo Bice went on to have a successful singing career.

American Idol Season 5

Taylor Hicks took the honors at the fifth running of the American Idol show. Taylor Hicks had a great run throughout the competition without ever falling into the bottom three’s at any stage. Runner up Katharine McPhee is quite a popular singer with two Top 40 billboard hits to date.

American Idol Season 6

Jordin Sparks, Blake Lewis and Sanjaya Malakar went at each other with Jordin emerging as the winner. Sanjaya Malakar had the audiences swooning more for his hairdo than his voice but in the end Jordin Sparks clearly was the deserving winner. As with some of the previous years winners Jordin never had to spent time as the bottom 3 at any stage in the competition.

American Idol Season 7

This brings us to Season 7. What a competition we’ve seen so far not to mention some great singers. Asia’h Epperson was eliminated early. Michael John, another singer with a lot of professional experience and a great voice became the second major casualty and finally it was Carly Smithson’s turn last week. This leaves us with 5 idols all with a great shot at winning the crown. I must say though that David Archuleta has his nose out in front with the finish post in sight.

Tomorrow will be another red letter day. Who will dazzle us with their song selection and performance, who will fall prey to the nerves and the occasion. It’s only a matter of time before this years winner is announced and the rest are left ruing what could have been. But then again, winning isn’t everything. As previous years runners up and competition contestants have shown us by going on to have hugely successful careers, we can only hope the same for some of this years better contestants and of course Asia’h Epperson.