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.