WHETHER HE WINS OR PLACES SECOND, LEE DeWYZE IS FIRST SEASON 9 CONTESTANT TO APPEAR ON A BILLBOARD CHART
By Fred Bronson, IdolsNow
Exclusive to MJ’s Big Blog
We don’t know yet if Lee DeWyze will be the winner of Season 9 of “American Idol” or the runner-up, but one thing is certain: he is the first finalist from the current year to show up on a Billboard chart. “Slumberland, ” a pre-Idol CD recorded by Lee and released in January 2010, debuts at #32 on the Heatseekers chart, a survey designed to highlight breaking artists. To be eligible to appear on Heatseekers, an artist must not have previously charted in the top half of The Billboard 200, the magazine’s official album chart.
Artists can remain on the Heatseekers tally until they break into the top 100 of The Billboard 200, at which time they “graduate” off of Heatseekers.
Lee is the 48th Idol finalist to appear on a Billboard chart. The season with the highest number of charted Idols is Season 5, with nine of the top 10 making at least one appearance on a Billboard survey. Season 3 and Season 7 are tied for second place, with seven charted Idols each.
Counting all Idol contestants, the number of charted Idols jumps to 51. The three non-finalists to see their names listed on a Billboard chart are William Hung, Josiah Leming and Frenchie Davis.
Here is a list of Idol finalists who have charted in Billboard, season by season:
List after the JUMP…
Season one: (five)
Kelly Clarkson
Justin Guarini
Tamyra Gray
RJ Helton
Jim Verraros
Season two: (four)
Ruben Studdard
Clay Aiken
Kimberley Locke
Josh Gracin
Season three: (seven)
Fantasia
Diana DeGarmo
Jasmine Trias
La Toya London
George Huff
John Stevens
Jennifer Hudson
Season four: (four)
Carrie Underwood
Bo Bice
Constantine Maroulis
Mario Vazquez
Season five: (nine)
Taylor Hicks
Katharine McPhee
Elliott Yamin
Chris Daughtry
Paris Bennett
Kellie Pickler
Ace Young
Bucky Covington
Mandisa
Season six: (six)
Jordin Sparks
Blake Lewis
Melinda Doolittle
LaKisha Jones
Phil Stacey
Chris Sligh
Season seven: (seven)
David Cook
David Archuleta
Jason Castro
Brooke White
Carly Smithson
Michael Johns
Kristy Lee Cook
Season eight (five)
Kris Allen
Adam Lambert
Danny Gokey
Allison Iraheta
Matt Giraud
Season nine (one)
Lee DeWyze
Fred Bronson is the creator of the IdolsNow app for the iPhone (www.getidolsnow.com) and the author of “The Billboard Book of Number One Hits” and “Billboard’s Hottest Hot 100 Hits.” He appeared on “American Idol” during seasons 2, 4, 7 and 9.