Who won American Idol in the past?

Last night saw Kris Allen crowned the winner of American Idol 2009, narrowly beating competition favorite Adam Lambert. It seems that people across the globe are now wondering who won American Idol in the past, so let us take a little history lesson in AI land.

The first winner back in 2002 was Kelly Clarkson, and went on to have a very successful pop career. Her most recent single, “All I Ever Wanted,” reached No. 1 on the Billboard chart in March. In 2003, the winner of American Idol was Ruben Studdard, but runner-up Clay Aiken is more widely known today.

Fantasia Barrino won the competition in 2004, and her debut album sold 1.2 million copies. Jennifer Hudson was the finalists that year, and has become one of the best known after her performance in “Dreamgirls”; she even won an Academy Award for her performance.

2005 was the year that Carrie Underwood won; she like Clarkson has had a very successful career, this time in country pop. Taylor Hicks became the winner of American Idol in 2006, but has not had that much success, and has since been dropped by his record label.

Jordin Sparks won in 2007; he she was also dropped from his label. Last year was a shock like this year’s final; David Archuleta was odds-on favorite to win in 2008, but David Cook to the win. David Cook has been something special, as he set a new record by having 11 songs in the Billboard Hot 100.