Whether it was Sanjaya’s bizarre Mohawk, Simon Cowell’s cranky comments or Ryan Seacrest’s charming persona, American Idol was by far my favorite show to watch with my family as a child. The peak of its popularity was while I was in elementary school, captivating its viewers by showing the journey of each contestant from the moment they tried out, all the way until they made it to the big stage in Los Angeles. What most people might not realize is how much American Idol has contributed to the country music industry. Almost every season of American Idol produced a country singer, whether they were first place or not. Lets now go through a few contestants who have added to the success of country over the past ten years.
Carrie Underwood:
Carrie was the winning contestant in Season four, and is no question the most famous artist that has ever come out of American Idol. She’s one of the hottest artists in country right now holding number 26 on iTunes Top Purchased Songs for her single “Something in the Water” and has won several awards for her work. Only some of her awards consist of six Grammy’s, sixteen Billboard Music Awards, and eleven Academy of Country Music Awards. Not only does her record breaking music success have girls all over aspire to be like her, but also her famously toned legs, attractive NHL player husband and the fact that she is insanely gorgeous contribute to that. Her powerful voice captivated millions of music listeners when she won in Season four, and has consistently been loved ever since.
Scotty McCreery:
As the winner of Season ten, Scotty McCreery stole the hearts of viewers all over at a mere age of seventeen. This North Carolina native shockingly has one of the deepest voices I have ever heard that is undoubtedly country. His most famous songs that are out right now are “Feelin’ It” and “See You Tonight”. After seeing him live at the Orange County fair, I loved him way more than I ever thought that I would. He was such an incredible performer, and so down to earth. He was just so interactive with the audience and you could tell that he was my age by the way that he was acting. After the concert I followed him on Instagram and saw that his posts were so normal that you wouldn’t be able to tell that he was famous just by viewing his profile. To this day he is one of my favorite performers because of his amazing personality and his catchy music.
Kellie Pickler:
Even though she wasn’t the winner of the show, she still had some success in country. Her high, twangy voice and thick country accent caused country fans to be attracted to her. She has come out with four albums since she has been eliminated on the show, and is arguably more successful than the actual winner of her season, Taylor Hicks. Many people compared her to Carrie Underwood while she was going through the show, however she put forth a lot of effort to stand out as an original artist. My personal favorite single of hers is “Best Days of Your Life” because of its catchy tune and lyrics that make you want to sing along.
The roast-like jokes started as they came out on the stage to introduce the show. They started with a song they wrote in honor of George Strait and his “Cowboy Rides Away” tour. They then presumed to make fun of Strait when Paisley said, “usually when a cowboy rides away, he goes somewhere.” Then after a couple different jokes made towards Blake Shelton, Taylor Swift and democrats it was time set the stage for the baby sex reveal. The picture shown was Underwood’s immediate reaction after #bradblewit.
