Reality Roll Call

Thinking about which season of American Idol produced the most prominently successful careers beyond the obligatory summer alumni tour, I would have to say that season 3 stands out among the rest. That season gave us the winner, Fantasia Barrino, who became so popular that she decided to become a one named entity. She has had recording success, starred in a biographical movie on Lifetime, won awards, and has starred in The Color Purple on Broadway.

There also was runner-up Diana DiGarmo, who we last saw recently on CMT’s reality show, Gone Country. And the prematurely eliminated Jennifer Hudson, who wowed audiences with her Oscar winning performance in Dreamgirls. She continues to stretch herself creatively by choosing challenging movie roles. Even ex-football player Matt Rogers is doing just fine as the host of the Discovery Channel’s Really Big Things and getting gigs as a correspondent on various entertainment news shows.
The other thing about the third season, where is half of the top 12 were under 20 years old, is that there were two young girls from Hawaii: hip hop styler Camile Velasco, and Jasmine Trias.

Trias, who was 17 at the time, made it all the way to the final three, due to her mature and poised performances and the fervent support of her fans in Hawaii. Since then, she has become a superstar, not so much in Hawaii as you would expect, but in her mother’s native country, The Philippines.

Jasmine, who is 21 now has had endorsement deals for toothpaste companies, and even McDonald’s where in the Philipines they marketed the “Jasmine Trio:” a strawberry float, large fries and a cd of her singing the Filipino version of the McDonald’s jingle, “I’m Lovin’ It”. Her debut album release went platinum in the country, where she is set to kick off her tour. And she has also signed on to star as the love interest in a Filipino movie.

To read more about what Jasmine Trias has been doing, and her plans for her career in the States, click here.