Shameless Idolatry

Clay Aiken, "Invisible"\nEven though he didn't win season two of "American Idol," Clay Aiken was clearly a better choice for mainstream success, and he proved that with his first single "Invisible." Aiken delivered his patented strong vocal in a simple pop song, and while the lyrics were a bit creepy ("If I was invisible then I could just watch you in your room") considering the constant rumors of his deviant sexuality, "Invisible" is the best first post-Idol single from any "American Idol" competitor. -- Cory Barker\nRuben Studdard, "Sorry 2004"\nRuben Studdard's first post-Idol single, "Sorry 2004" was mostly what people expected of him: a sappy ballad. However, the song featured "rougher" lyrics than most A.I. fans wanted, and that's why he could never recover after it. The lyrics were laughable ("It's like trying to build a new house with no roof and no doors / Damn I'm sorry"), but if you had a rocky relationship near the end of '04, this was definitely on the mix CD. -- Cory Barker\nTaylor Hicks, "Do I Make You Proud?"\nThe ultimate karaoke Idol, Taylor Hicks, made his single debut with this piece of extreme schlock and gave it his, er, distinctive stamp. After all his prancing onstage, Hicks attempted to do his best soul impression but couldn't resist his own goofiness. He can barely take himself seriously enough to slog through the lyrics. By truly embracing the karaoke aspect of the show and dumping as much faux growl and moan into his singing as possible, Hicks won the show and a No. 1 single. -- Peter Chen\nKelly Clarkson, "Since U Been Gone"\nThis 2004 single girl-empowerment anthem by the first winner on "American Idol" managed to gain the love of everyone from teenyboppers to hipsters. While it's hard to imagine the hit not being sung by Kelly Clarkson, it was originally written for Pink, after which Hilary Duff was considered. The writers of the song, Max Martin and Lukasz Gotttwald, have also noted that it is influenced by guitar jammers The Strokes. -- Stefania Marghitu